Freedom And Equality For Women – The Indian Lesson
By: BENJAMIN IIYAMBO
ON SUNDAY, December 16 2012, a major incident aroused India – a young medical student was gang-raped and brutally assaulted with an object. The male friend she was travelling with was beaten and unable to fend off the gang. The two were thrown out of the moving bus and for a long time remained at the side road in pain before they were finally assisted. Thirteen days later, the young lady succumbed to the injuries and died. Indian women are asking, for how long shall we fight for our freedom?
Since that dreadful night, the people of India from different cities rose up in a way that has never happened before. I live in Mysore, a city that is 2 474 km away from New Delhi, approximately one day and 11 hours by road. It was just over a week ago when a group of students in Mysore took to the streets to add their dismay to the many who have done so and are continuing to do so. At one point the traffic was halted in the city of Mysore itself due to peaceful protests in light of this gang-rape-cum-murder.
One thing for certain, this despicable incident will not leave the minds of many people in India until the matter is resolved in the court of law. The anger, the anguish and the pain as a result of this incident were reflected by people, men and women, young and old alike, who took to the streets to protest and call for nothing less than the death penalty for those who committed this crime.
This issue has been a subject of breakfast shows on various television channels in India. Of course the media have been following developments regarding this case from the onset. Whether Indian men and women are upset, the answer has been spoken by the multitude of those who took to the streets not only in Delhi but other towns around the country.
It is rare in India to find women getting called, followed or flirted with to the extent that I have seen in my own country, Namibia. My experience of the town where I live (Mysore), is that the people are somewhat conservative when it comes to the interaction between women and men. Most men appear not to know how to deal with the opposite sex at all. A woman cleaner gets paid less than her male counterpart even when they are doing the same work. All these suggest that India is stuck in a patriarchal society where a woman takes on an inferior position.
In 2011 India reported over 20 000 rapes, an indication that incidents are a common occurrence but you have to look at the size of the size of the population as well. Human rights reports in India indicate that rapes are highly under-reported given the stigma attached to it and because no appropriate action is taken to punish the culprits involved in previous incidents. Thus, the crimes have been repeated again and again.
I think India and Namibia have different approaches to gender issues. In most cases, parents arrange for marriage in India whereas in Namibia individuals decide who to marry. In India it is the woman’s family that is responsible for the payment of the dowry (same as lobola) whereas it’s the opposite in Namibia. In desperate efforts to get their daughter married, a family could go as far as taking a dowry loan or have an agreement to pay the dowry over a period of time. We have learnt through the media of various horrendous incidents of domestic violence as a result of unpaid dowries. Conventionally, young people are not allowed to have love affairs until such a time parents find them a wife or a husband. Indian human rights reports of 2012 have indicated that discrimination against women is systemic; it is embedded in socio-cultural norms and laws that structure the family, community, workplace and the state policies.
Both Indian and Namibian constitutions contain protection of fundamental human rights, among them equality, and freedom. The constitution is the supreme law of the country. A promise alone will not suffice until it is delivered. The legislator and the executive, the women, are asking; ‘’why are you failing us? Why are you failing to walk your talk?’’
The proposition that all individuals who inhabit planet Earth share inherent privileges and rights has great attraction. This commonality among all who reside on the planet, regardless of country, colour, or sex, aims to bring individuals closer together than might otherwise be the case. If this promise is upheld and fully delivered (for women and men), it can lead to better cooperation in resolving key issues affecting human existence. Let us be reminded that the mere presence of policies is not the end we seek; that the sense of urgency of the now is to implement social policies without delay.
* Benjamin Iiyambo is an M.S.W (Master of Social Work) student at the University of Mysore, Karnataka State, India.