Fizza and Gaziya’s presentation on violence against women in contemporary India provided an extensive look at the various forms that violence against women take place. These forms included rape, female infanticide, female foeticide, acid throwing, dowry deaths and some forms of sexual violence. In doing so, the group looked at some of the changing perceptions to these forms of violence in India and how these have been reflected in India’s Penal Code through amendments. They also provided many statistics to support their claims in regards to violence against women being a problem that affects all of India, rather than being exceptions and not the norm. As such, this review will discuss some of the main topics covered in the presentation, and
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She gave a statistic that said that one woman is raped in India every 29 minutes. She also stated that in contemporary India, rapes are being reported a lot more because people have more awareness now and are standing up for these injustices. The big example she cited was the Delhi gang rape case that gained mass coverage globally and saw the rapists being indicted. However, in their discussion of the various topics, both Fizza and Ghaziya made too many generalizations and presented many of their topics as being representative of all of India. In regards to rape, they assumed that because a few cases got fame in India, that there was wholesale change in the country in regards to this issue and in regards to Indians reporting these cases. In doing so, they neglected to take into account the ground realities and many factors that act as preventatives to women truly getting justice in India. They neglected to take into account important factors that revolve around patriarchy still being prevalent in Indian society. They neglected to talk about the role of the police and how women do not go to the police stations because they fear the police. Women fear the police because they are part of a patriarchal society that empowers them, and often sees them abuse their power and commit custody rapes. Thus, the group in talking about rape and other forms of sexual violence could have looked at some of the complexities as to why rape happens, whether the state provides support for women who are raped and why it so often goes
She gave a statistic that said that one woman is raped in India every 29 minutes. She also stated that in contemporary India, rapes are being reported a lot more because people have more awareness now and are standing up for these injustices. The big example she cited was the Delhi gang rape case that gained mass coverage globally and saw the rapists being indicted. However, in their discussion of the various topics, both Fizza and Ghaziya made too many generalizations and presented many of their topics as being representative of all of India. In regards to rape, they assumed that because a few cases got fame in India, that there was wholesale change in the country in regards to this issue and in regards to Indians reporting these cases. In doing so, they neglected to take into account the ground realities and many factors that act as preventatives to women truly getting justice in India. They neglected to take into account important factors that revolve around patriarchy still being prevalent in Indian society. They neglected to talk about the role of the police and how women do not go to the police stations because they fear the police. Women fear the police because they are part of a patriarchal society that empowers them, and often sees them abuse their power and commit custody rapes. Thus, the group in talking about rape and other forms of sexual violence could have looked at some of the complexities as to why rape happens, whether the state provides support for women who are raped and why it so often goes