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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, May 9: Rape, molestation, eve-teasing, dowry death... heinous, as they sound, are only some of the categories under which cases of violence against women get reported and punished by law.
But, what explains the numerous cases of women, who land up in casualty wards with tell-tale bruises and injuries. And their excuses range from ``slipped in the bathroom'' to ``accidentally took insecticide thinking it was cough syrup''.
These were some of the questions raised by activists discussing Coordinated Responses in Dealing with Domestic Violence today at the India Habitat Centre. The panel discussion was part of a colloquium on Justice for Women Empowerment through Law, organised by the Lawyers Collective.
Within their limited time-frame, the panelists, shared their experiences. They reasoned that the more obvious cases of wife-beating, dowry deaths and sexual abuse was due to poverty, unemployment and alcoholic husbands, but couldn't explain the existence of such things in better-off families.
``In a number of cases that come to us, there is a `second woman' on the scene,'' said Mamata Saigal, member secretary of Delhi Legal Services Authority, adding, ``and what makes these cases very complicated and sad is that there is a lack of evidence to support the cause of the rightful woman. Considering that the other woman has already been accepted by society and she is the one living with the man and enjoying all the rights.''
Saigal is a former judge, who also has the credit of organising lok adalats for the National Council of Women (NCW). Anjali Dave, an activist from Young Women's Rights and a faculty member at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) gave out figures which showed that domestic violence was prevalent among women in the age-group 25 to 35, and 23 per cent were working women. ``It shattered the myth that if a woman is working and supposedly independent, she is free of domestic violence,'' she said.
And while on the topic of increasing crime against women, panelists were obviously divided over the role of the police. While Dave insisted the police lent credibility to the cause, others felt the force was not sensitive enough to offer the right solution.
V. Mohini Giri, former chairperson of the National Commission for Women, who chaired the discussion suggested that the family court system be revived to settle issues in the family. She stressed upon sensitisation and proper training for counsellors. ``If a problem can be solved amicably then why not. But first and foremost, a woman must learn to assert herself. Men are bullies, who push women and children around,'' said she. Dr Pradeep Agarwal, a consultant, expressed his concern at the lack of orientation among doctors, who simply chose to ignore the real reasons behind the injuries, when they got cases of domestic violence.
For solutions, the panelists said the victim must in all possibility come out and fight the problem. Maja Daruwala, Commonwealth Human Rights initiative, added that if the violence is of a greater degree then the victim be moved to a safe place at the first instance. And she clarified that contrary to what most people seem to think, an NGO is not a substitute for that place.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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