Promise to Stop Violence Against Women

Last year in December, whole country came under shock when a girl was brutally molested in a moving bus in Delhi. She later died due to serious injuries. From that day, we could find newspaper stories about brutal rapes, molestation cases, public humiliation almost everyday. Did they start after that Delhi case? No they were always there, they only came into limelight when we started taking interest in them. With these incidents, started the trend of candle marches, people putting a black dot on their Facebook profile picture, wearing black hand bands etc.

And even in these marches, which were supposed to be non-violent and peaceful, men were actually caught teasing girls. This amazed me. It defeated the whole purpose of the march. I think, a large number of unemployed people due to current market scenario, got a chance to pass time and clicking a picture to put on their Facebook profile showing how socially conscious they are. Ironically, many of them did not even know what exactly their demands were.

In the whole mess, opposition jumped into the scene and criticized the present government for improper security measures (as if these incidents did not occur when opposition was in power). Everyone was against government and they all shouted, destroyed public property, wasted a lot of time and money. Did they find a solution. Rather, I should ask, did they actually find the problem?

The problem is not solely with the government. Neither it is about men’s sexual desires. It is about the mentality which we all share to an extent.

The above incident was not a rape, neither molestation, it is clearly a case of violence. No need to charge the convicts under rape laws, charge them under violence, brutality. Using an iron rod to pull out one’s intestine, or inserting a candle in the genitals of a 5 year old is not molestation. It is brutality at its worst. And scarily, these people are living among us.

Once I watched a cannibal movie and I was scared to hell. Then I read about these brutal incidents and I am much more scared because former was a movie, and latter is reality.

A lot of men in our country are puffed with superiority complex and narcissism. They think they are supreme creatures in the universe and all other living beings (including the opposite sex) are meant to please them. They get a lot of this from movies and tv. But when they face the real life, they are unable to accept the ground reality. Those who have good character can adapt and evolve accordingly, and rest turn into animals.

I was stunned to find educated people actually beating their wives ruthlessly when they get angry. As was expected, I found them quite coward and inefficient in their work life. They used their wives to relieve their agony of being incompetent.

So, what we can do to stop this?

First of all, we need to find out, if we are also in this category. If yes, instead of being driven by male ego, we should immediately give away this mentality. If we are not among these, we are ready to fight for the right of women to live a life of peace and dignity.

Charity begins at home. We have to educate our children, younger siblings and cousins, friends and anyone around us about the importance of a good character. We need to create awareness in people around us.

The best way is “walking the talk”, or “leadership by example”. We cannot force people to be good or bad. But the young ones are still like wet clay. We can mould them in whatever shape we want and imbibing good character in them, teaching them to respect women is the least we can do.

Apart from this, we have to keep an eye out their and help women who are victims of violence. Usually, due to our culture, women hesitate to stand against men even if they are forced to live the life full of pain and sorrow. We need to provide them assurance by creating an environment around them where they can feel safe.

At the end of the day, being a human, it is our responsibility to make this world the best place to live and it is our business to flush those away who do not respect the beauty of life.