Women Harassment

Right from the time of her birth or even before a girl could become victim of a crime or target of a crime. Lets look at the stages in a woman’s life and discuss the threats briefly. Just as the stages vary, nature of crimes vary too. Below are illustrations/tables that highlight important aspects of the issue. The 2012 National Crime Records Bureau report of India states a reported crime rate of 46 per 100,000, rape rate of 2 per 100,000, dowry homicide rate of 0.7 per 100,000 and the rate of domestic cruelty by husband or his relatives as 5.9 per 100,000. A 2014 study in the Lancet states, “Whereas an 8·5% prevalence of sexual violence in the country [India] is among the lowest in the world, it is estimated to affect 27·5 million women in India [given India’s large population]. Further, the 2006 survey found that 85% of women who suffered sexual violence, in or outside of marriage, never sought help, and only 1% report it to the police.”

Stage 1 : Foeticide and infanticide: Where there is an economic or cultural preference for sons, the pregnancy diagnostic tools can lead to female foeticide

Stage 2 :School going age: Many Girls are not given the access to and completion of proper primary and secondary education as compared to boys and otherwise may also suffer from discrimination at the hands of parents and teachers in their upbringing.

Stage 3 :Adolescence: Many adolescent girls become victims of sexual abuse both on internet and otherwise, exploitation and violence, acid attacks, rape ,early marriage, or even HIV/AIDS.

Stage 4 :Marriage: Many women are tortured physically, economically and emotionally after their marriage by their husband and inlaws.

Stage 5 :Motherhood: Women are sometimes not provided proper medical care and healthy food during and after her pregnancy .She is often compelled to abort a female foetus.

Stage 6 :Workplace : often women suffer from exploitation , unequal pay for equal work , lack of promotions despite merit and physical, economic and emotional abuse

All these stages woman quietly suffers or even if raises her voice it is silenced or suppressed… she neither knows she has rights to fight these crimes and what remedies are available in law to protect herself .It is time women rise to protect themselves.Report any incident of cruelty, or crime to firengo.com.

In its first ever gender gap study covering 58 nations, the World Economic Forum has ranked India a lowly 53. The report titled ‘The Women’s Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap,published in 2005 measures the gap between women and men in five critical areas like economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, access to education and access to reproductive health care. The report is based on United Nations Development Fund for Women’s findings on global patterns of inequality between men and women. The low ranking reflects the large disparity between men and women in all five areas of the index.

CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN

Sexual Harassment at Workplace : Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 was passed with the objective of providing protection to the women at workplace. Sexual harassment is when one person subjects another person to an unwelcome act of physical intimacy like grabbing, brushing, touching, pinching, eve teasing, makes an unwelcome demand or request directly or by implication for sexual favors from another person, shows a person any sexually explicit visual material, in the form of pictures/cartoons/pin-ups/calendars/ screensaver version computers/any offensive written material / pornographic e-mails or any other form of unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, eve teasing, jokes likely to cause awkwardness or embarrassment, innuendos, sexist remarks.This statute superseded the Vishakha Guidelines for prevention of sexual harassment introduced by the Supreme Court of India. Every employer is required to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.The Act covers students in schools and colleges as well as patients in hospitals, employers and local authorities will have to set up grievance committees to investigate all complaints.Any aggrieved woman may file a complaint in writing to the Internal committee/ Local Committee within 3 months from the date of incident or the date of the last incident in case of a series of incidents. The victim can also file a complaint with Police under Indian Penal Code 1860 under Sections 294,354, 354A, 509.

Acid Attack : Acid throwing, also called an acid attack is a form of violent assault defined as the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill. Perpetrators of these attacks throw acid at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bones.The long term consequences of these attacks may include blindness, as well as permanent scarring of the face and body, along with far-reaching social, psychological, and economic difficulties. Section 326A and Section 326B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 provide the punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid and voluntary throwing or attempting to throw acid respectively. Section 100 of the Indian Penal Code allows the right of private defense to the extent of causing death if there is acid is thrown or there is an attempt of throwing acid.

Rape : Rape is one of the most heinous atrocities committed on a woman in our society .It is known to be the fourth most common crime against women in India.Rape takes place if a man has sexual intercourse i.e, penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person; or inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, not being the penis, into the vagina, the urethra or anus of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person; or manipulates any part of the body of a woman so as to cause penetration into the vagina, urethra, anus or any part of body of such woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person; or applies his mouth to the vagina, anus, urethra of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person, under the circumstances falling under any of the following seven descriptions

: Against her will.

: Without her consent.

:With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested, in fear of death or of hurt.

:By getting her consent by pretending to be her husband.

:When she does not understand the nature and consequences of what she has consented to because of unsoundness of mind or under the influence of alcohol.

:With or without her consent, when she is under eighteen years of age.

:When she is unable to communicate consent.

A rape victim can file an FIR in the local police station under following Sections of Indian Penal Code.

: 376-Punishment for Rape

: 376A-Punshment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative stage of victim.

:376B- Sexual Intercourse by Husband upon his wife during separation

: 376C- Sexual Intercourse by Person in Authority

: 376D-Gang Rape