Women safety in India is a big issue which has been a concern from many years. India is a most famous country because of its great tradition and culture where women are given most respected place of Goddess Lakshmi in the society from the ancient time.
The Indian constitution treasuresthe women with number of rights such as right to equality, including freedom of speech and expressions, movement and many other rights.Indian women are found working in all fields like aeronautics, space, sports, businesses, army, police,politics, banks, schools, and many more. We cannot say that this country has nowomen concern however we cannot ignore positive points for women in India.Whatever we see from our open eyes is not always true however if we see behind the curtain we will found all the crimes against women at streets,home, offices, etc. By seeing last few crimes against women in India such as rape cases,cruelty, acid attacks,etc., the safety of women has been in doubt.India is in renunciation of the fact that a majority of its women do not feel safe alone on the streets, at work, in markets, or at home, even though they have learned how to cope with this existential anxiety.In the last few years, crime has increased to a great extent against women in Delhi. According to the survey of women, it is found that they are losing their confidence in police.
Around 80% of the women in NCT Delhi be afraid regarding their safety. A huge fraction of women has no faith that police can curb such harassment cases. There is an urgent need to understand and solve this problem of women safety to make them grow equally like men in their own country. Every day and every minute woman of all walks of life are getting molested, assaulted, harassed and violated at various places all over the country. Areas like streets, public spaces, public transport, etc. Girls generally face acid attacks and kidnapping for the purpose of sex by the strangers. According to the statistics, it is found that every 20 minutes a woman is raped in India.
In the rural areas, women are still being raped by a family member, burned for dowry, beaten by husbands or parents-in-law, and so many cases. Nirbhaya gang-rape in the NCT Delhi was a dreadful event which can never be forgotten. Women are half participants in the growth and development of the country. We are running in the advanced era of 21st century; however, it is very disgrace to say about the doubtful woman safety in India. Urban girls are nearly equivalent in education like boys however in the rural areas there is still a huge gap.
On the other hand, the states like Kerala and Mizoram have attained universal female literacy. So, women in such states have high social and economic standing. Literacy rate of the females in India is still less because of the insufficient school facilities, increasing crimes against women, shortage of female teachers, sanitary facilities, gender discrimination in the society, etc.
There is a long list of safety laws for women in India working in the field to provide safety to the women.
Such as Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Indian Penal Code 1860, Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971,Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, Equal Remuneration Act 1976, Muslim women (protection of rights on divorce) Act 1986, National Commission for Women Act 1990, Prohibition of Sex Selection Act 1994, Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place Act 2013, etc. People have been asking the women to “cover themselves up”,or “ignore”cases of harassment, and to “stay in their limits”. These age-old methods are ineffective now. Experts have often stated that all acts of belligerence towards women are tools to proclaim power over a woman, be it rape, molestation or even ‘eve-teasing’.
The status of women has been declining from ancient to medieval period which is still continued in such an advanced era. It is true that women in modern India are joining high offices however on the back of curtain they are being exploited too. Despite of various effective rules and regulations by the government of Indian to handle and control the crimes against women, the number and frequency of crimes against women are still increasing day by day. We should not blame the government because safety of women is not only the responsibility of government, but it is the responsibility of each and every citizen especially men who are in need to change their mind set for women.
Read more: The True Essence of Women Empowerment.