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Aktuelle Berichte
India: Violence Against Women. Current Challenges and Future Trends
Violence against women in India is an issue rooted in societal norms and economic dependence.
Discriminatory practices are underlined by laws favoring men.
Nr. 26 / 2013 |By Dona John, Omair Ahmad & Maria Schneider
Summary
Violence against women in India is an issue rooted in societal norms and economic
dependence. Discriminatory practices are underlined by laws favoring men.
Inadequate policing and judicial practices deny female victims proper protection and
justice. Although female participation in public life is increasing and laws have been
amended, India still has a long way to go to make Indian women equal citizens in
their own country.
Introduction
The issue of violence against women in India was brought to the forefront after the brutal gang-rape of
a 23-year-old woman in Delhi on 16 December 2012. The December incident led to a sudden
outpouring of anger and frustration about the situation that allowed such attacks to take place. People
took to the streets in large numbers calling for change. But the issues involved are complex and deeply
rooted. The challenges Indian women face include an often misogynistic society outdated and
sometimes repressive governance structures, an inefficient legal justice system, a weak rule of law and
social and political structures that are heavily male-centric.
Violence against Women Begins at Home
It is difficult and potentially misleading to make a culture-based argument
about the problems that women face in India because of the size and diversity
of the country. There is no one culture that is either exclusively Indian, or
covers the whole population residing within its borders. Generalizations that
ignore even one percent of the population leave more than ten million people
out of the calculation. Thus the situation of women varies within India.
Especially women from the north-eastern provinces as well as in the south
tend to be in a better position. Their share of the female work force,
especially in the service sector seems to be quite high. Moreover, they are
considered to be more visible and active in the public sphere. Moreover
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regressive social codes that disproportionately penalize women are not unique
to India, and have been a social hurdle in all countries when it came to
extending political, legal, and economic rights to women.
Nevertheless some numbers clearly indicate a large problem in Indian
societys attitude of women at the macro level. According to the 2011 census
the sex ratio between men and women indicates 940 women to a 1000 men
which is a definite improvement over the 2001 census where the ratio was
933:1000. However, India still has one of the lowest sex ratios on the world
with approximately 35 million women "missing". The highest number of
missing women at birth is in the north-western states of Punjab, Rajasthan
and Haryana, etc. Research indicates that 12% of this gap is found at birth
which increased to 25% in childhood
1
.
Some of the widely regarded key explanations for this missing number are sex-selective abortion and
possible neglect of young girls during infancy indicating a high preference for male children rather than
female children
2
.
This preference for boys is also evident in the gender gap in the literacy rate in the 2011 census which
shows that 82% of males and 65% of females are literate. The difference of 17% indicates that many
Indian parents still believe that educating the sons takes precedence over daughters while allocating
family resources. Nevertheless, it is considerable improvement over previous census data where the
gap was 27% (1981), 25% (1991), and 22% (2001).
Much of the violence against Indian women is in the form of domestic violence, dowry deaths, acid
attacks, honor killings, rape, abduction, and cruelty by husbands and in-laws. One of the key
challenges is dowry a practice of the brides family giving gifts of cash and kind to the groom and his
family. In some cases the grooms family mistreats the bride if such demands are not met. To protect
women against this threat the Indian government had enacted the Dowry Prohibition Act and the
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and cruelty under Sec 498A of the Indian Penal
Code. In 2012, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), dowry deaths or murders
of women by the groom or in-laws because of unmet high dowry expectations constituted 3.4% of all
crimes against women. In other words, last year in India on average 22 women were killed per day
because their families could not meet dowry demands.
The NCRB statistics indicate that an Indian woman is most unsafe in her marital home with 43.6% of
all crimes against women being "cruelty" inflicted by her husband and relatives. These numbers do not
include incidences of marital rape, as India does not recognize marital rape as an offence
3
. Of the
24,923 rape incidences in India in 2012, 98% of the offenders were known to the victim
4
, which is
higher than the global average of approximately 90%. This may also mean that children boys and
girls in India grow up in a situation where they see violence against women as the norm.
An Upsurge in Crime or Upsurge in Reporting on Crime?
The distribution pattern of crimes against women has not changed much in the last few years, but
between 2001 and 2011 the overall number of incidents of crime against women rose steadily, and was
59% higher than in 2001.
These figures are, at best, indicative. Rape and violence against women are
among the most under-reported crimes worldwide because of the social
stigma attached to the nature of the crime. The UN Office on Drugs and
Crimes records that in 2010 there were only 1.8 cases of rape
5
reported per
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thousand people in India; in Germany it was 9.4, in Norway the figure was
19.2, in the United States it was 27.3 and in Sweden it was 63.5 per
thousand. It is legitimate to question whether these figures represent the
number of crimes, or how easy it is for women in these countries to report
them to the police.
In India, where the culprits are largely known to the victim, the social and
economic "costs" of reporting such crimes are high. General economic
dependence on their families and fear of social ostracization act as significant
disincentives for a woman to report any kind of sexual violence or abuse.
Therefore the actual incidence of violence against women in India is probably
much higher than the data suggests.
Another barrier to reporting is the unwillingness of police officials to register complaints. If the case is
lodged, sub-standard investigative procedures and low conviction rates strengthen the impression that
there is little benefit in reporting the crime. Moreover, most police in India function within the
framework of the Police Act of 1861 which emphasizes enforcing order rather than upholding rights.
Therefore, if a police station registers many crimes within its jurisdiction, it is considered to be
incapable of enforcing law and order. This perception is a severe disincentive for a police officer to
record a crime in his jurisdiction, especially if the crime is seen as "less important".
The presence of more women police officers might help in dealing with the problems most women
encounter in reporting cases of rape, violence or harassment. Unfortunately there are only 84,479
women police personnel in India, constituting only 5.33% of the total police force. Nevertheless the
one positive note is that the NCRB noted that 72.2% of the total registered cases of crimes against
women in 2010 were investigated by 2011, making for a strong argument that if a case is registered by
the police it is likely to be investigated and disposed of.
The Nirbhaya
6
effect
On 23 December 2011 the Indian Government set up the Justice Verma Committee to propose
amendments to criminal law dealing with sexual offences. A month later, Justice Verma submitted its
report recommending wider inclusion to the definition of rape, changes to the medico-legal
examination procedures of the rape victim and the prosecution of members of armed forces/uniformed
personnel under ordinary criminal law in the case of rape.
In response the Parliament passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 which provides for
amendment of the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure. It
also enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prohibition, Prevention and Redressal)
Act 2013, 16 years after the Supreme Court directed the Indian Government to provide legal
framework to deal with the issue of sexual harassment.
7

Some of the positive measures in these amendments included recognizing acid attacks, sexual
harassment, voyeurism, stalking and trafficking of persons as criminal acts under the amendments to
the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Five exclusive fast track courts were set up to deal with cases of sexual
violence against women. Additionally a womens distress helpline number, 1091 was launched in
various Indian cities.
Unfortunately the incorporation of the majority of Justice Verma recommendations into the criminal
law amendments is not enough to change the fundamentals that drive anti-women discrimination.
Stories of harassment, the rape of women including of children as young as five or six years of age
and governmental incompetence or apathy continue to make their way into the front pages of Indian
newspapers on a regular basis.
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Laws on paper give little protection, if they are not enforced effectively.
1
The Age Distribution of Missing Women in India; S. Anderson & D. Ray; Economics & Political
Weekly; Dec 2012 Issue
2
Ibid
3
The Verma Committee suggested that marital rape should be recognized as a criminal offence but the
suggestion was opposed by all major Indian political parties.
4
Rapists known to the victims were parents/close family members (1.6%), relatives (6.4%),
neighbours (34.7%) and other known persons (57.2%)
5
The UNODC does not differentiate by how rape is defined in each country. These are merely the
number of cases recorded in the police records on 2010.
6
The victim of the brutal gang rape in December was named Nirbhaya by the national media. Nirbhaya
means fearless.
7
In the 1997 landmark judgment of Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan, the Supreme Court directed the
Indian Government to promulgate legislation on prevention of sexual harassment and issued guidelines
which would take the force of law until legislation is passed.
India: Violence Against Women. Current Challenges and Future Trends
Crisis in Law Enforcement
Without an independent, efficient, adequately staffed and technically well-equipped police force, rule
of law is weakened in a democratic society. The number of police personnel, and the resources at their
disposal, are currently woefully inadequate to deal with the challenges they face both related to
crimes against women and for other crimes. India deploys approximately 130 police per 100,000
people on par with Haiti (in the US the figure is above 250, and in Germany it is about 300), most of
them equipped with little more than their uniform and a baton, and without a means of transportation
or communication. At the same time the demands on the police to investigate the "more important"
crimes such as murder and armed robbery take precedence. Crimes against women account for less
than 10% of the crimes reported in India and even if they receive disproportionate attention that may
not be enough in the difficult law & order situation of India.
An over-stretched and politically controlled police force will have different priorities than what is
required for the protection of its citizens. Police excess and abuse affect the weakest the most
women and the under-privileged sections of the society. Redressal mechanisms against police abuse
are either slow or dysfunctional. A recent incident of police misbehavior occurred in November 2012
when an 18 year old girl who was gang-raped ended her life after being tormented by police officials in
Punjab.
8
In another case, in which a 5- year old child was raped and left to die, a policeman offered
two thousand Indian rupees (26) to the father to withdraw the case.
9
Sexual violence by the Armed Forces in insurgency-hit areas of North-East
India, Jharkhand and Kashmir has been heavily criticized because the human
rights violators enjoy impunity under criminal law. The suggestion made by
the Justice Verma Committee for soldiers to be subjected to criminal
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Student protests the rising violence
against women in New Delhi,
Copyright by Nilroy (Nilanjana Roy)
prosecution in cases of rape was rejected by all major Indian political parties.
The judiciary is working at its limit as well. Of all the positions of judges in
the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts, more than one quarter are
currently vacant.
10
Court cases often last for ten, twenty or more years.
11
Such delayed court decisions fuel the perception of impunity and lack of
justice among perpetrators and victims alike.
Change in Legislation Needed
One of the reasons that these changes do not take place is that political will
is absent. Most legislators at the national and provincial levels are men
and are often unaware or unsympathetic to the need for more gender-just
laws governing rules of marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession. They, or their principal
electorate, shy away from confronting issues of marital rape, molestation and rape by the armed forces,
and more so when it comes to confronting the difficult issue of misogyny in social structures.
An example of such an issue is the Personal Laws in India. These were first put in place by the colonial
administration in 1772, which decided that the rules of marriage, divorce and inheritance of Hindus
and Muslims would be decided by their religious-legal traditions. This was incorporated into the Indian
Constitution, with some changes, after Independence, effectively entrenching religious and social
law within a Constitution that is based on individual rights and responsibilities. This means that the
judiciary either interprets religious law, or accepts interpretations by clergy who are inevitably male-
dominated and conservative. This was infamously demonstrated in the Shah Bano case in 1985, when
the Supreme Court interpreted Muslim Personal Law to force a husband to provide maintenance to his
divorced wife over and above the earlier (very limited) amount. In response factions of the Muslim
clergy protested, and the government passed The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce)
Act 1986 which basically overruled the Supreme Court decision. While piecemeal amendments to
personal law do take place, the current legal system traps Indians, especially Indian women, into
religious / group identities that are based on centuries-old ideas (which may have been progressive at
their time but are regressive today) that are difficult to change.
Increasing political Participation of Women
Increasing womens participation in politics is essential to make the political environment more
gender-sensitive and democratic and bringing about legislative reform. In the 2009 general elections 58
women became Members of Parliament, the highest number ever elected. For the first time, the head
of Indias biggest political party, Sonia Gandhi, and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament,
Sushma Swaraj, are women. Some of the regional political parties are headed by women as well.
Nevertheless, these women are a small number of highly visible exceptions to the system, and account
for less than 10 percent of elected legislators at the national and regional levels.
In this context the largest positive move was the 2009 decision to reserve 50% of the positions in the
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) - locally elected political institutions at the village level - for
women. This reservation will mean that almost 1.5 million elected legislators in India will now be
women.
The New Media
The media is a powerful tool for social conditioning and can also be an agent of social change. While
patriarchal mores and repressive social structures continue to be reinforced through Indian cinema and
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Protesters in Bangalore, Copyright by
Jim Ankan Deka
television serials, nevertheless new independent movies, aimed at the more affluent urban audience,
are starting to make their presence felt. Moreover with the social reality of more and more women
playing important roles in the legal, economic and other professions, their representation is also
changing. The biggest change may be in the news media, where women journalists approach parity
with their male counterparts, making it more unlikely that crimes against women will be dismissed as
"minor topics".
With about 120 million active internet users in the country as of June 2013, social media has become a
major source of instant information dissemination and catalyst of activism against any regressive idea
or action. One such instance was of Nisha Susan, a reporter from Tehelka magazine organizing a Pink
Chaddhi (Underwear) Campaign in 2009 against the announcement of Pramod Muthalik of the Sri
Ram Sene an organisation expounding regressive chauvinist ideas in the name of the defence of
Hindu culture that his organisation would "take action", including forcibly marrying off, couples
found together on Valentines Day. The Sri Rama Sene had, in the past, also physically attacked
couples at pubs to discourage the mingling of unmarried men and women. The campaign encouraged
women to send pink underwear as a form of non-violent protest to Mutahlik, and received an
overwhelming response both in India and overseas. While it was a one-off campaign, with limited goals
(which it achieved by publicly shaming Muthalik, and forcing the government to put him and his group
into protective custody on Valentines Day) it shows the possibilities of action open to a new
generation of empowered, educated, media-savvy young Indian women. It is a new generation that
increasingly takes their future in their own hands by making one of the most important decisions in
their lives by themselves. They ignore the widespread tradition of arranged marriages and chose their
husbands on their own.
The Future
India remains a country that presents deep challenges to women. According
to the Global Gender Gap Report 2012 published by the World Economic
Forum, India ranked 105th out of 135 countries surveyed. In economic
participation it ranked 123rd, in Educational Attainment it ranked 121st and
in Health and Survival it ranked 134th. Only in political participation was
there any good news, where it ranked 17th. These numbers highlight the grim
social reality underlying the news stories that are now making it into the
media. By all indicators India is amongst the worst countries in the world to
be a woman, and despite some indications that these problems are slowly
being addressed, this reality will continue to manifest itself as reporting on India increases, and until
fundamental changes are made to make Indian women equal citizens in their own country.
Fortunately new economic, educational and political opportunities have created the conditions for a
growing number of women rights activists both men and women to raise the issues and address the
problems, either as part of the media, administration, political structures or as civil society activists.
While these have led to some progress, and there is hope for more, the first step towards righting the
situation will be in reporting and acknowledging how difficult it is. Therefore it is likely that bad news
on the state of women in India will outweigh the good for a considerable time to come.
About the authors:
Dona John and Omair Ahmad are FNF Programme Executives. Maria Schneider is the Project
Assistant South Asia. All three are based at FNFs Regional Office for South Asia in New Delhi.
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8
Tormented by police and 'rapists', Patiala village girl kills herself ;
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Punjab/Patiala/Harassed-by-cops-rape-victim-commits-suicide/SP-
Article1-981459.aspx
9
Five-year-old Delhi rape victim battles for life, family alleges cops' inaction;
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/fiveyearold-delhi-rape-victim-battles-for-life-family-alleges-
cops-inaction/1104889/
10
Department of Justice, Indian Ministry of Law and Justice, Vacancies as of July 2013:
http://doj.gov.in/?q=node/90
11
Government of India, Law Commission of India, Reforms in the Judiciary Some Suggestions,
Report No. 230, August 2009
Impressum:
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung fr die Freiheit (FNF)
Bereich Internationale Politik
Referat fr Querschnittsaufgaben
Karl-Marx-Strae 2
D-14482 Potsdam
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