Blog #1: Winds of Change For Women in India?
“Sociologists said recent street protests were
not just about the brutal gang rape. They said they also reflect growing
frustration and anger in a country where a huge, educated middle class has
emerged, but governance remains poor, police are insensitive and a slow legal
system often results in delayed justice.”
This 1/17/13 article from Voice of America reflects on how a
recent gang rape that occurred in New Delhi, India has caught the attention of
the world. Not because of the crimes
themselves, which included kidnapping, gang rape, assault and murder but
because the incident has sparked an outcry of anger and frustration from the
large younger emerging middle class in that country. While sexual crimes against women are not new
to India, this public reaction to it is new.
The article relates how young, educated men and women are starting to
push society for better treatment of women and girls which historically has
gone against them. This discriminatory culture starts within families, where
girls and women are often afraid to report violence and mistreatment, so it
persists.
As a woman close in age to
the girl who was raped and then died from the severe injuries she suffered, I
am angry. How can this happen? Where
were the police? Why didn’t anyone intervene on her and her friend’s
behalf? Surely someone heard her cries
and screams? But then I remember this
incident didn’t happen in the USA, where women have rights, and are accepted as
equals under the law. Here we are
protected from violence, and from people who try to hurt us. If we are attacked, the justice system is
designed to punish wrongdoing. In India, violence against women often goes
unpunished in a country where babies are killed or die of starvation or neglect
just because they were born female.
It is interesting to me how
the media coverage has fueled the outrage against this traditional and cultural
way of thinking in India. The WORLD is watching, and reacting, demanding
justice, so the government officials in Delhi have little choice in at least trying
to make a show of punishment for the men involved. If there was not this media
blitz to attract the world’s eye, would the men be punished? Most likely
no. In fact, the girl who was killed
might have her reputation smeared like other victims and her family shamed
because she “must have attracted the men’s attention and lured them into
believing she wanted sex” being given as the reason for the rape.
As the “global thinking” movement seems to be gathering
strength and media attention, will we see more stories like this as people
became more aware of the world outside their country? I know MY eyes are seeing things
differently-I can no longer pretend that the USA is even a good example for
other countries when our news headlines last month announced to the world how a
gunman forced his way into an elementary school and killed 20 children and 6 of
their caretakers-for NO apparent reason!
Shannon Yaw
1/25/13 11:06pm
Shannon Yaw
1/25/13 11:06pm
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