According to the National Crime Record Bureau crime against women has increased by 25 percent.
The data states that rape cases saw an increase of 43% from 580 till June 15 last year to 833 this year, molestation jumped by 39% from 733 to 1,022, kidnapping of women from 1,026 to 1,580, abduction of women from 46 to 159, and dowry deaths from 47 to 56.
Background
In spite of the fact that the women’s contribution to the country’s development is equal to that of their male counterpart, still they experience a number of limitations that restrain them from comprehending their potential for expansion.
The UN stated that ‘Gender Equality and Women Empowerment’ as one of the Sustainable Development Goals to be attained by the year 2030. However these goals are far from being realized in a country like India.
Infact often women in India are deprived of their fundamental right to dignity and also leave alone the question of gender equality.
Issues against Women
Missing of girl child: The idiom “missing women” was for the first time used by Nobel laureate Sri Prof. Amartya Sen when he showed that in many developing countries the proportion of women as compared to men in the population is suspiciously low.
Dowry deaths: The National Crime Records Bureau in India in its report had disclosed that in 2012 around 8233 newly wedded brides were killed for dowry.
Sati: The discourse on sati was invigorated in the post independence India in 1986 when a young bride from Rajasthan named Roop Kanwar was set on the pyre of her husband.
Child Marriage: According to the National Population Policy, “over 50% of the girls marry below the age of 18, resulting in a typical reproductive pattern of ‘too early, too frequent, too many’, resulting in a high IMR( Infant Mortality Rate )
Preference for a son: Even in many families today the preference for a son is a phenomenon which is historically rooted in the patriarchal system of the Indian society.
Female foeticide: In India it is estimated that around “10 million female foetuses have been aborted in the last 20 years”. “The child sex ratio in Punjab declined from 894 in 1961 to 793 in 2001. In Haryana, the child sex ratio plummeted from 910 in 1961 to 820 in 2001.
Education: the high rate of women’s education is still a distant dream. In spite of the fact that Sarva Shiksya Abhiyan to an extent has been successful in bringing the girl child back to the schools, yet their retention rate in the school is lower as compared to their male counterpart.
Forced evictions and exclusion: In India often the widows are evicted from their matrimonial home and are left alone to feed themselves and their children following the demise of their spouses. The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing argues: “In almost all countries, whether ‘developed’ or ‘developing’, legal security of tenure for women is almost entirely dependent on the men they are associated with.
Sexual harassment at the workplace: it was the passage of the ‘Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill 2013’ that helped in translating Vishaka guidelines into concrete rules that are to be implemented. But even today “the issue of sexual harassment has largely been swept under the carpet in India.
Rape: According to National Crime Records Bureau, in 2012, 25000 rape cases were The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 to deal with the rape cases in India.
Societal violence against women: Quite often the religious communities have made the life of the women worse by forcing them to adopt conservative practices that are harmful to women.
Women's human Rights provided by Constitution of India and legislations
The state is directed to provide maternity relief to female workers under Article 42 of the Constitution, whereas Article 51-A declares it as a fundamental duty of every Indian citizen to renounce practices to respect the dignity of women.
Indian Parliament has passed the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 for the proper implementation of Article 51-A.
The significant among them are the Equal Remuneration Act, the Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act, the Sati (Widow Burning the rights of) Prevention Act, and the Dowry Prohibition Act etc.
Apart from these, the 73rd and 74th Constitution (Amendment) Acts provided for 33% reservation for women in both panchayat and Nagarpalika institutions as well as for the positions of chairpersons of these bodies.
Besides this, the government in India has enacted a variety of laws like Dowry Prohibition Act, Sati prevention Act etc to guarantee the rights of women.
Apart from this, in India, the National Commission for Women(NCW) was established in 1990 to look into women's
NCW have engaged them to deal with the cases relating to the violation of women’s rights.
About NCRB:
The National Crime Records Bureau, abbreviated to NCRB, is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL)
NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
NCRB was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
Objectives of NCRB:
Create and maintain secure sharable National Databases on crimes and criminals for law enforcement agencies and promote their use for public service delivery.
Collect and process crime statistics at the national level and clearing house of information on crime and criminals both at National and International levels.
Lead and coordinate the development of IT applications and create an enabling IT environment for Police organizations.
National repository of fingerprints of all criminals.
To evaluate, modernize and promote automation in State Crime Records Bureaux and State Finger Print Bureaux.
Training and capacity building in Police Forces in Information Technology and Finger Print Science.
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