International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women-25th November 2015: Prevention

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women-25th November 2015

Everyone has a responsibility to prevent and end violence against women and girls, starting by challenging the culture of discrimination that allows it to continue.

2015 Campaign

Prevention is the 2015 theme of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November and of the UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign’s 16 days call for action.

A staggering one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime—a pandemic of global proportions. Unlike an illness, however, perpetrators and even entire societies choose to commit violence—and can choose to stop. Violence is not inevitable – it can be prevented. But it’s not as straightforward as eradicating a virus. There is no vaccine, medication or cure. And there is no one single reason for why it happens.

As such, prevention strategies should be holistic, with multiple interventions undertaken in parallel in order to have long-lasting and permanent effects. Many sectors, actors and stakeholders need to be engaged. More evidence is emerging on what interventions work to prevent violence—from community mobilisation to change social norms, to comprehensive school interventions targeting staff and pupils, to economic empowerment and income supplements coupled with gender equality training.



16 days to “Orange the world”

From 25 November through 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence aim to raise public awareness and mobilising people everywhere to bring about change. This year, the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign invites you to “Orange the world,” using the colour designated by the UNiTE campaign to symbolise a brighter future without violence. Organise events to orange streets, schools and landmarks!

In India

A crime against a woman is committed every three minutes.

848 Indian Women Are Harassed, Raped, Killed Every Day

In 2013 over three lakh women were kidnapped, raped, molested—and in some extreme cases, killed—by men across the country. That's almost a 27 percent increase since 2012—and a year since

The picture in 2014 is no less grim. If you are a woman, whether you grew up in a rural or urban setting, lived at home or ventured into a new city away from family, work in an office or manage your house full-time—the fear of sexual harassment is real and constant.

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau—the government agency that keeps track of the country’s crime rate—cases of violent abuse of women have steadily increased since 2009. By 2013, the number of such cases has increased by over 50 percent. That's over 848 women who are either harassed, raped or killed after abduction every single day. Some are sold off to traffickers.

Delhi is the worst offender in such cases. India's capital city is the epicenter of almost thrice the amount of sexual crimes against women than the national average. Though Andhra Pradesh in south India and Uttar Pradesh in the north register more than one-fifth of the total crimes against women, Delhi has by far the worst crime rate. It has also recorded the highest increase in percentage of rape cases across the country.

In 2013, almost 34,000 women were raped. That's a 35.2 percent rise from 2012, with the highest rate of increase in Delhi.


A sizeable portion of the rape survivors—over 13 percent—are under the age of 14 years. If you count all the women who are raped by the time they turn 18, that's almost 40 percent of the entire demographic of women rape survivors. Worse, almost all of these women are raped by their neighbours, parents, a close family member or other relatives. Rapes in 15 out of India's 35 states and Union Territories are only committed by people known to the survivor.

Delhi in the north, Assam and Tripura in the northeast, and Rajasthan in the west are the most unsafe states for women in India.


In December 2012, thousands of protesters flooded the streets of cities across India, demanding a safer environment for women. A 23-year-old female student had died from injuries sustained 13 days earlier, when six men raped and savagely beat her on a Delhi bus. The case gained international attention, and since then South Asian media have reported dozens more horrifying instances of violence against women, several involving tourists: a Danish woman was gang-raped in Delhi after asking for directions back to her hotel, and an American was raped while hitchhiking in the Himalayas.



These cases may reveal an increase in violence—or perhaps they reflect increased reporting by women to police, or heightened media attention. But they have certainly made a big impact on policy discourse in India.

In his first Independence Day speech, India’s current prime minister, Narendra Modi, chided the entire country, saying, “Today when we hear about these rapes, our heads hang in shame.” And since December 2012, numerous policies have been proposed (and several enacted) to stop this “war on women.”

In Tamilnadu


Violence against women in Tamil Nadu includes molestation, abduction, dowry-related violence, and domestic violence. In Usilampatti Taluk, around 6,000 female children were killed in a span of 2 years during 1987-88, accounting to the single largest instance of recorded female infanticide.


A major underlying cause of violence against women is the perception that married women are the property of their husbands. Alcohol use and the portrayal of women in the society and cinemas as sex objects are also believed to be major factors.

Tamil Nadu is the first Indian state to set up "all women police stations" to deal with crimes against women.

After the 2012 Delhi gang rape case in 2013, in which a girl was gang-raped in a moving bus, leading to her death, the Tamil Nadu government unveiled a 13-point action plan including installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) in all public buildings and booking offenders in Goondas Act of 1982, that gives non-bailable retention up to 1 year.

Female infanticide



Female infanticide was more common during the 1980s in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. In Usilampatti taluk, a taluk in Madurai District, around 6,000 female children were killed in a span of 2 years during 1987-88. The crime was detected in one of the maternity homes that reported loss of 95% female children born during the period. The female infants were fed with the poisonous juice of oleander plant almost on the day of the birth of the child. The practice was reported even during 1993. The other districts which had prevalence were Salem, Dharmapuri, Vellore (formerly North Arcot), Erode, Dindigul and Madurai, with North Salem, South Dharmapuri, South Dindigul and West Madurai accounting for 70 per cent of all cases. The people considered marrying the girl in the future a menace on account of their financial constraints.

The then government headed by Jayalalitha launched a cradle baby scheme in 1992 in Salem district that urged the parents to drop the child in the cradles instead of killing them.

There were educational programmes launched by the child health and welfare department of the state to create awareness. Dharmapuri district recorded as many as 1,002 registered cases of infanticide, the highest in the state during the year and it reduced to one during 2012. During the simultaneous period, the cradles baby scheme had 1,338 children having 1,272 girls.

The Tamilnadu government also launched another campaign in which the parents of girls undergoing sterilisation were compensated and a gold ring was presented to the girl on her 20th birthday to ease her marriage expenses.
Acid attack

The attack involves throwing acid to dismember or mutilate women. As per a report published on the attacks between March 2014 to September 2015, 200 attacks were recorded, 70.2% were on women. The major reason cited for 51% of the cases involved disgruntled persons who were denied love by the women involved and 42% were attacked by anonymous persons. The state had three fatalities during the period of 2012-14.

Causes

An analysis by the government of Tamil Nadu states that a major underlying cause of violence against women is the perception that married women are the property of their husbands. Within this cultural context, suspicions of infidelity, alcoholism, antagonism over dowries, a couple's infertility, and instigation by a man's relatives can lead to episodes of violence against women. Violence in films and media portrayals of women as sex objects are also cited as contributing to violence against women. In Tamil Nadu's patriarchal society, women sometimes have been punished by men for not producing a male heir. .



Prevention of Violence against women In Tamilnadu



TamilNadu is the first state in India to set up "all women police stations" (AWPSs) to deal with crimes against women.

The scheme was initiated by the then-chief minister of the state, J Jayalalithaa, during her first tenure in 1991-95. As of 2003, the state had around 188 AWPSs all over the state, most of which were located in the same building as the regular police station.


The AWPSs were set to handle cases related to women like sexual harassment, marital discord, child abuse, eve teasing, trafficking, suicides and dowry harassment. Activists believed that after the establishment of AWPSs, women were able to come out and report dowry-related crimes freely to the police women. The police women also reported that they received complaints related to sex tortures, which otherwise went unreported to their male counterparts.

To prevent Crime against women J Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, announced in assembly on 23 February 2013 a 13 points program to prevent violence against women for first time in India. she said
"We will strictly implement the requirement of installing CCTV in key public places and buildings as it enables surveillance of sexual harassment against women and catching the culprits."


There is a wide consensus across the world that crime against women is often under-reported. It is also reported that every twenty minutes, a woman is sexually assaulted. Some sections believe that there is a skew in the reported crime data against women.

The Tamil Nadu police have reported that the awareness among women has improved and they were less afraid to file complaints. The 2012 Delhi gang rape case in 2013, where a girl was gang-raped in a moving bus leading to her fatal death, was reported to have increased the awareness. Activists in that state have reported that the police who were earlier not registering such cases, have started registering them.

The Chief Minister of the State, J Jayalalithaa, announced in the assembly that a 13 point action plan was unveiled by the government post the Delhi Gang Rape like installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in all public buildings and booking offenders in Goondas Act of 1982, that provides for non-bailable retention up to one year. The government ruled that educational institutions, hospitals, cinema theatres, banks, ATM counters, shopping malls, petrol bunks and jewellery shops would be covered under the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (Installation of Closed Circuit TV Units in Public Buildings) Rules, 2012. It also ruled that state and central government offices with 100 employees or more and having an area of 500 square metres (0.12 acres) or more would be covered under the rule. The rule also stipulated a time period of six months for the installation in existing buildings, failing which, the licenses would remain cancelled or suspended. During 2013, the state government also launched a 24 *7 women's helpline monitored by senior police officials. The government also ordered speedy investigation in all the pending cases related to crime against women and setting up of fast track district courts to speed justice. The state also proposed to the centre to modify existing rules to render heavy punishments to the offenders to the tune of death and chemical castration.


Violence Against Women is Preventable

Physical, sexual and psychological violence strikes women in epidemic proportions worldwide. It crosses every social and economic class, every religion, race and ethnicity. From domestic abuse to rape as a weapon of war, violence against women is a gross violation of their human rights. Not only does it threaten women's health and their social and economic well-being, violence also thwarts global efforts to reduce poverty.

Violence is, however, preventable. Although no silver bullet will eliminate it, a combination of efforts that address income, education, health, laws and infrastructure can significantly reduce violence and its tragic consequences. First and foremost, abusive behavior towards women must be viewed as unacceptable. Communities need to have an important role in defining solutions to violence and providing support to victims. And men must be engaged in the process too, as agents of change standing alongside women to end violence.