Dr. Shweta Krishnan, If gender violence is a symptom, what is the cause?

If gender violence is a symptom, what is the cause?

When the last century dawned on India, there were 972 women for every 1000 men, a ratio -adverse as it may be- has, over the years, begun to look like the best we have had in a long time. In 1951, four years after our tryst with destiny, the sex ratio had fallen to 946; in 2001, it steeped further to 933. Whereas countries in the west, are recording a healthy ratio (female to male) of 1.05, India is not only well below the mark, but also sinking quickly, with estimates telling us that over a hundred million girls are missing from our population, of whom at least ten million have been lost in the last two decades alone.

What do these missing girls have to do with gender violence? Biologically, the female child is a better survivor. In any healthy population, male infants outnumber the females 105 to a 100. But more females survive to adulthood and the ratio reverses (105 women to a 100 men). So an adverse sex ratio and that too one as shockingly low as in India, is a clear indictor of two of the most unpardonable practices in the country: sex-selective abortion and female infanticide.

And ask the women named ‘Draupadis’ (yes, named after the celebrated and often misconstrued wife of the Pandavas of Mahabharata fame) in rural Punjab, and they will tell you how the survivors of – what I can only call a- holocaust are being forced to enter polyandrous relationships with men, leading to a life of domestic violence and sometimes captivity, in order to make up for this shortage of women.

Here, I must mention that Punjab and Haryana, with disturbingly adverse sex ratios of 793 and 819 women to a 1000 men respectively are among the richest states in India. So, if poverty – the often alleged companion to crime- cannot be indicted as sole accomplice in this one, then what other forces actuate this persisting and ineradicable epidemic that threatens to rank woman high on the list of endangered creatures in the country?

In the list of aetiologies everything seems secondary to a more fundamental – alternatively condemned and celebrated – cause for gender violence - the belief that the male child comes with the promissory note. Parents hope that by having a son they will have someone, who will not only carry on the family name and inherit the family assets, but a person who will give them a home when they are old and take care of them until they die. Some people go as far as to believe that when he lights their funeral pyre, he will give them moksha and set them free from the strenuous karmic cycles of life and death.

This renders the male an unjustifiable upper hand in the society and at home. Also, according to our beliefs, the woman’s identity becomes subsumed under her patriarchs, automatically making her the ‘weaker’ sex in need of protection and also in the eyes of the ‘stronger sex’, the easy target for violation. This subsumed identity makes her answerable to the men in her lives, often the cause of physical and sexual abuse at homes. Again, the illegal but rampant system of Dowry only adds to her list of vulnerabilities.

The general assumption that man is better and stronger than his female counterpart, presents itself largely in the society as various forms of bullying including forms of harassment and violence against women as well.

There is only one way to eradicate these beliefs. Education. And I hope that in time we will learn to accept that both man and woman are equals in the eyes of law and nature, and it would be a huge mistake to believe otherwise.

 

Jenith Sekar, If gender violence is the symptom, what is the cause?

If Gender Violence is Symptom, What is the Cause?

 For every single move, there must be a mover. For every cause, there must be some one to cause it. I am sure and certain that each and every one of us living in the patriarchal society is responsible cause for gender violence.

The existence of patriarchy mediated through structural and ideological forces makes tremendous impact on the life of women in the society. The ideological formulation and reinforcement of patriarchy precipitate ripple effects in families, societies etc. In families, women are economically dependent on men who happen to be the legitimate property owners and bread winners of the family. Women are condemned tobe by all means submissive to men and tolerant to the atrocities caused to them. The prime cause for gender violence is the structure of patriarchy which pervades not only in household, but also at every walk of life, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, so on and so forth. Women are thus constantly subjected to oppression in the private as well as in the public sphere.

1.      In the Name of God

Most of the religions portray God as typical masculine. The projection of God as a patriarchal male is simply the exposition of the same patriarchal hierarchy of male over female. The myths and statements systematically constructed around this conviction make women inferior to men in the order of creation.

In the name of God, gender violence and inferiorization of women are faithfully advocated in almost all of the major religions. Rules and norms of the religions are always framed in a way that would pin down women in the dusty soil of oppression. Forbidding women to enter into the core part of the temple and restricting them to become religious priestess are some of the discriminations inflicted upon women in the name of God. It is painful to note that the religious leaders and fanatic groups make women subordinate to their beck and call. No religion has ever given equal rights and dignity to women. If at all there have been some traces of equality and affinities favouring women in the religions, it can be only called as ‘anaesthetizing religious lullaby”. Religions can never favour women as long as the patriarchal society attributes masculinity to God.

2.      In the Name of Philosophy

Ideologies constrain realities. Philosophy, the offspring of patriarchy, logically depicts women as the by-product of men. Aristotle defines women as “misbegotten males” who lack full rationality. It is philosophy that always attributes rationality to men and sensitivity to women. As a result, sexism has been seen through the periscope of the concept of dualism. This concept of dualism fabricates men and women as body-soul, becoming-being, carnality-spirituality, seeming-truth, life-death and female-male. As a result, the terms and proverbs used in our language belittle the dignity of women and reduce them to mere commodities. The concept of dualism carefully pictures out male as the prime and supreme being in the world. Thus in the name of philosophy, ideological hegemony overshadows the brilliance of women and makes them every submissive and subordinate beings.

3.      In the Name of Politics

A new paradigm shift is possible when women get their rightful place in the society. But today women are deprived from politics. Though few numbers of women arise now and then in the public sphere, equal placements in politics are still a far cry. “We need more women in politics, they will make it sober”, remarked T.N. Seshan, former Chief Election Commissioner. Even though the 81^st amendment bill in parliament to give 33 percent reservation for women was introduced, it was a pity that the bill could not be passed. If the bill would have been passed, there will be 181 women in LokSabha.. Deprivation of women from politics is a curse to humanity. In the name of politics, Bharat matha is being discriminated, victimized and finally put in shame.

4. In the Name of Community

“Gender violence, in the name of the community, haunts women and makes their life a series of traumas or lucky escapes” (The New Indian Express / Nov. 25, 2008). Today Dalit women are more vulnerable to violence. Caste and caste structures are the great impediment for the free mobility and freedom of women. In some part of India, Dalit women are forced into “Devadasi” system and for prostitution. A report released in February 2007 by the centre for human rights watch said “India had failed to uphold its international legal obligations to ensure the fundamental human rights of Dalit women”. We have to note that the increase of violence and crimes against women of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, have been perpetrated in the recent past.

In the name of community, Dalit women are isolated from the main stream of women welfare. Easy and free access to employment and justice has been denied to them. Domestic and public violence take places in every walk of their life.

5. In the Name of Us all.

Though women activists have been tirelessly campaigning against sexual and domestic violence discriminate at the work place, dowry and other forms of sex discriminations, we, the patriarchy would always drag down the development of women in various realms. A nation’s development is based on the equal rights and dignity given to women in every sphere of life.

It is a loud call to women that they must emerge as a great force in all possible fields to grab their freedom and rights. The collective energy of women and men must find an alternative to seal the concept of patriarchy. The suppressed feminine qualities must evolve with creative expressions in order to challenge and change the attitude of the male dominant society.

Men and women together with collective spirit uproot the stereotype and oppressive patriarchal thinking. The cause for gender violence against women in any form must be vehemently condemned.

It is not enough to talk or write about violence on women, the impressive need of the hour is to decide that how can each one of us, directly or indirectly the cause for women oppression, treat or look at women.

 “If we want to clean the whole world, clean the front of your door first”.

Sundari Ravishankar, If gender violence is the symptom, what is the cause?

If Gender Violence is the symptom, what is the cause? 

Karma, Fate, Destiny……….. These are words that have been grilled into our psyche from the day that we are born. These are the main reasons that instill and condone gender violence.

The inequality of gender has been instilled into us from our childhood. Take for instance, breast feeding, Education, Household chores etc. etc A male child is breast fed, sent to school whereas a female child knows her place, i.e. she has to help her mother in the household chores. The choicest morsels are given to the man of the house and the male child while whatever is left over is shared by the females. This was brought into vogue when the man was the bread winner of the family and the woman the home maker. But is that true? In the urban scenario every other woman works to augment the family income and also in the rural scenario too the women go and work in the fields. We see women knitting, weaving, buying, selling and also nowadays we see women in the high end industries. On the one side we find pride that women can fly airplanes and also are astronauts and on the other side we find dowry deaths, sexual abuse, rampant in our society.

The causes for this are many, but the main culprit is “Karma, Fate, Destiny” We say that the arranged marriage system is the best as it does not break up marriages, but in an arranged marriage the woman who brings in the dowry, car/two wheeler, jewellery does not have any right over the property that she has brought into the marriage. This may be used to marry off the husband’s sister and she cannot even cry foul because it is her karma. She is ill treated by her husband, her in-laws but she cannot go and complain because it is her fate. Her parents do not want her back because she is a burden now- a married burden and the “ society” will not approve. It becomes worse if she has children. For the sake of the children she stays on, being abused, physically, emotionally and sexually.

Acceptance to me is a word to abhor. Do not accept anything blindly, fight for your rights. But, do women know their rights? Our system of education does not teach us our rights. Do we object if someone touches us when we are young, do we complain and are we taken seriously if we do complain against maybe our grandfather or a close family relative? Gender abuse starts at a very early age and women do not know their rights to stand up to. If a mother knew the rights of a girl child then she would take action and not hide behind family honour and society backlash.

The so called arranged marriage, the greatest boon that even the Western countries are trying to emulate now- we find great pride in telling this: But, in an arranged marriage who gets to spend/ the groom or the bride? Is it not an equal partnership? Forget arranged marriage. We find the so called love cum arranged marriage nowadays, meaning fall in love and the parents agree and perform the marriage. In this too the bride’s parents shell out money for the marriage. The boy who knows to run around with the girl and who works in the US( the so called “educated elite”) keeps mum and the girl too remains mum and lets her parents spend their hard earned money on a marriage fiasco where inequality is the forte. Though the wife earns the same salary she has to do all the cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children sans sleep.

We women accept our roles and put the blame on karma, fate, destiny. If the husband is an alcoholic, if he traipses behind another woman, we accept it and to add fuel to the fire we blame ourselves that it is our fault that the husband is going behind another woman or that he is drinking. We think that we have created a bad atmosphere in the house which has made him seek other pleasures. And god forbid if he dies, then too it is because of our bad stars that one is a widow. We have this function called “ sumangali prarthanai” where we invoke the blessings of all the ladies who died before their husbands and this is enforced by none other than the women themselves. It does not matter if the husband married another promptly.

Apart from the above three causes there is the most important culprit of all. Chastity, morality. This fuels honour killings, this makes even a judge ask the victim to marry the rapist to clear the stain, this makes men rape and abuse women to make them feel small. If chastity is insignificant then rape becomes meaningless. Morality is to be applied to both men and women.

Women need to be educated on several things instead of the text book curriculum. Some are as follows

¨     Right to food: Demand equal food between siblings

¨     Right to clothes and footwear:

¨     Right to Education: You are not just a commodity to be married off

¨     Right to Family property: Women are entitled to equal shares

¨     Right to your own body: Say no to an abusive marriage

More than all these learn to love yourself- you are not an extension of your husband or his family. Learn to question “Why” and “Why not”. Learn that beauty is only skin deep and that jewellery, submissiveness and acceptance is just an escapist attitude.

Society should laud women who question injustice and not brand them as troublemakers.

Do not believe in “Karma”. Make your own karma and path your destiny

Dr. S. Saraswathi, If gender violence is symptom, what is the cause?

If gender violence is symptom, what is the cause?

The concept of patriarchal society goes with male domination in letter and spirit, and female subordination in overt and covert forms.  This concept and its practice have  not only   outlived their relevance, but have become convenient cover for unspeakable violence against women in tradition bound families.

Belief in male superiority by birth, widely prevalent in oriental countries including India has led to advantages for men against women in appropriation of rights, opportunities and choices pushing women  to subordinate position.

The special ritual status accorded to male in some societies has furtherenhanced the importance of the boy over the girl. The girl baby is less welcome if not ‘unwanted’ in many families as the man is  still the main bread winner. The worst manifestation of this male superiority is in the form of violence against women to  assert one’s dominant position  though dominance need not necessarily involve violence.

Gender violence against woman is possible primarily due to physical strength of the male and is seen among animals, birds and insects.  Female cats, dogs, and even lions and snakes are subject to violent behaviour of their mates.  In the human world, physical prowess  is supported by cultural factors to justify male assertion and perpetuate female submission without question.  When and where questioning starts with or even without action, the ground for violent reaction of the male is laid.

Some proverbs such as the one in Tamil meaning that it is the hand that beats is the one that caresses is an outcome of patriarchal patronage mentality that establishes the right of the man to beat the woman – generally his wife.  The concept of ‘pativrata’ elevating the husband as ‘the God’ for his wife, notions of chastity and modesty restricted to women, self-denying attitudes infused as typical women’s character are repeated not only in old time stories. and legends, but are alive in cinemas and present day television serials not to mention commonplace observations.  These nullify the effects of equalitarian laws made to correct social inequalities.  In such a situation, wife beating becomes part of normal family life.  Those who retaliate are few.  Vast majority of the victims get only sympathy and advice to be patient to hope for the dawn of better days.  Lack of awareness of their own situation and a will to change this on the part of women are due to defects in early socialisation.

However, gender violence does not happen as a rule but happens under certain  conditions only.   Foremost among these are provocation from the female, and injury to the natural pride of the man.  Lack of understanding between a man and wife, greed and frustration, wants and privations result  in the outburst of violence which may be physical or psychological .  Violence is common in economically lower classes and uneducated and illiterate families which points to a strong link between  poverty and violence.  Desires beyond the economic capabilities of the family, lack of proper priorities in spending on the part of both man and woman lead to marital discord and consequent violence.Such violence is two-edged – mental anguish for both man and woman and physical injury to the woman.   Wife beating goes with alcoholism particularly in the poorer sections and slum dwellers.  The Police does not act on complaints of alcohol caused domestic violence.

Human beings are by nature violent and are tamed by social factors. Where sex determined division of labour beyond biological functions,and sex determined virtues, rights and obligations are not consistent with mutual respect, understanding and cooperation, there is possibility of gender violence.  It may find resistance or silently suffered.

Dr.  S.Saraswathi 

Chennai, 29 November 2008