MONDAY BLUES (47)

CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN.

Hi Friends,

Rising crime against humanity is a matter of great concern.

According to Britannica Encyclopedia, a crime is the deliberate performance of an act that is generally regarded as socially  destructive or dangerous and is expressly banned by, and subject to, criminal  sanctions.

There are different types of crimes committed globally which include human trafficking, illegal dealings in arms, drugs, minerals and wildlife; production and trade of counterfeit goods; fraud and extortion; money laundering, cybercrime, terrrorism, acts of violence, intentional homicides, crimes against women and children. (www.sipri.org).

Here’s the statistics on Intentional homicides as per the Wikipedia.

Wikipedia

These are the countries reporting maximum number of crimes according to a survey by https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/crime-rate-by-country.

I am going to discuss each of these crimes in my subsequent posts. Since we celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2023, I am going to focus on crimes against women.

BBC.com

According to the statistics revealed by BBC.Com, the crime rate against women has seen a steep hike from 338,954 cases in 2016 to 428,278 cases between January to December, last year.

These are the crimes committed against women:

( IMAGES AND InFO: WIKIPEDIA)

This is the data for overall crimes against women. These crimes are subdivided into the following categories:

1. Murders of Women:

1. Dowry Deaths

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reported 6,589 dowry deaths in the year 2021, which saw a gradual decline of 3.85% from 6,843 in 2020. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of dowry deaths, 2,222 dowry deaths) and highest dowry death rate(per 1,00,000 population) was recorded in the state of Haryana.

2. Honor Killings

An honour killing is when a family member is killed because they are seen to have brought disgrace and dishonour upon the family. An arranged marriage refusal, infidelity, selecting a spouse the family disapproves of, and being raped are a few examples of causes for honour killings. In some parts of India, khap panchayats, or village caste councils, routinely sentence people to death if they disobey their gotra- or caste-related decrees. The Delhi-based volunteer organisation known as Love Commandos has a helpline whose sole purpose is to rescue couples who fear being attacked for getting married outside of caste boundaries.

A father beheaded his daughter in June 2012 for dating a man against his wishes. Unfortunately, honor killings are supported by local and neighbouring villagers. Honor killings are rampant in the states of Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh

3.Witchcraft related murders.

Women in some villages are still killed on the suspicion of practising witchcraft.

4. Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion.

Undue importance is given to male progeny. They are bestowed with all the rights like right to inherit father’s property, performing last rites, continuing family legacy but many people continue to forget that without a woman, none of these could be achieved. So, people desire a male child. According to one of the surveys, 7,997 of 8,000 abortions have been found to be female fetuses.

2. Sexual Crimes against women:

In a society where women are supposed to be revered as Goddesses, the situation is very very pathetic. These statistics reveal shameful figures of the perpetrators of sexual crimes against women. Unfortunately, marital rape is not a criminal offense in India

Insult to Modesty

Human Trafficking

3. Domestic Violence. 86% of Indian women, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from 2016, did not report domestic abuse to anybody,  not even to friends and relatives. Because of the social norms that teach them to believe  they are bad wives who should be punished,  many victims of domestic abuse defend the  violence, in large part because they feel that it is their fault. 

According to a survey, 45% of  Indian wives  defend the physical abuse they receive from  their husbands. According to the National  Family Health Survey (2019-21) a higher percentage of wives in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana (four  southern states) than in other Indian states  (80%) believe their husbands have a legal  justification for hitting them.

Other crimes include :

Forced child marriages in which 7.84 million girls under the age of 10 are married.

Acid Attacks

According to data from the National Crime  Records Bureau, 1,483 victims of acid  assault were reported in the country over a  five-year period between 2014 and 2018. Although there are more acid assaults, fewer persons are being charged with crimes by  the police. The three states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Delhi account for 42% of  all acid assaults in India. Rarely is the offender  punished. For instance, only 33 of the 734 cases  that went to trial in 2015 were  successfully resolved.

Abduction :

A report in 2021 revealed that a total of 28,000 women were kidnapped for forced Marriage.

The patriarchal society turns a blind eye to the gender discrimination and the perpetual violence being committed against women in the name of culture and traditions. After going through all these statistics, how can we call ourselves a developing economy? It’s time for us to raise our voice against these issues and come forward to report any act of violation of human rights to safeguard women and children against these gory crimes.

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