The article that I chose this week is Urging Action,
Report on Brutal Rape Condemns India’s Treatment of Women. Last December, a 23 year-old woman
was gang raped on a private bus and due to her injuries from the rape, died in
an Indian hospital. This brutal story has prompted an international call to
action for clearer and more direct laws surrounding sexual violence and women's
rights in India. A "three- person commission, led by... retired chief justice, J.S. Verma" has been
pushing for changes, and has already submitted recommendations for what needs
to be done to make the laws more widely enforced. "India does not lack adequate laws on sexual violence
or gender bias, the commissioners found, but rather lacks the political and
bureaucratic will to enforce them."
While tragic and brutal, this gang-rape victim and her story have
done more for sexual-violence and women's rights under the law than many others
in the past. I appreciated this article because instead of just
summarizing the situation at hand, it gave insight as to what is being done
about the problems in this country. I didn't realize that there were laws and
policies in place that promoted gender equality and supported victims of sexual
violence, but I cannot say that I was shocked to read that there is little
enforcement of these policies. In the article the journalist notes that the
above listed commission is pushing not only for changes in policy, but also
mass- education of the policies in place. I was absolutely shocked by the
apathetic views that Indian citizens had on the situation; "many motorists
drove past the half-naked victim and her beaten male friend after the suspects
had dumped them on the side of a busy highway."
Maybe it is not just policy reform that is needed, maybe in
this particular country it is stricter law enforcement and education that will
benefit women and sexual assault victims the most.
Caroline Dawkins
2/1/2013
2:06am
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