Violence against Women
Violence against Women
Religion,
community, rural-urban divide , even women's employment status. In West Bengal,
18 per cent of the respondents had experienced beatings an physical mistreatment
(lower than the national average of 21 per cent) and in nine out of ten cases
this violence had been inflicted by
the husband. However, incidence of this type of violence seems to fall
appreciably with rise in the standard of living and with women's access to
higher education. Illiterate women in West Bengal were almost nine time more
likely to experience violence as compared to women who had completed high
school. These findings have obvious implications for the need to strengthen
women's basic capabilities.
The
various types of crimes committed against women (CAW) as recorded by the police
can provide a rough yardstick of
violence against women, although it must be remembered that only a fraction of
the actual incidence is captured in these statistics. Although women maybe
victims of robbery or murder, CAW usually refer to a number of specific crimes
under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as noted below. Additionally, there are
certain gender specific laws under which crime statistics are recorded as SLL
(special local laws) crimes :such as Immoral Traffic prevention Act of 1956;
Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961; Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment )Act of 1979
and Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act of 1986.Since that SLL crimes have a
very low incidence in West Bengal they are not discussed here.
Table
V 2 provides crime figures relating to incidence of CAW for the years 2000-2003
and also the rate of CAW per one lakh population in West Bengal and India in
2001, as these rates indicate a more realistic comparative picture of crime. It
will be seen that that West Bengal is better situated as compared to all-India,
with respect to the rates for total Caw
(8.2 per lakh population), as well as individual components of CAW (except dowry
death, which is on par with all-India).It will also be seen in Table V 3 that
West Bengal's share of the all-India incidence of rape, dowry death and total
CAW has remained below the state's share in the all-India population (roughly 8
per cent ). However, CAW as proportion of total IPC crimes in the state
(9-11 per cent) has remained the comparable all-India figures (6-8 per
cent).
Table
V 4 presents state wise figures
for 1988 and 2001 relating to incidence of CAW in 12 selected states ,
each state's rate of CAW , its share in all-India CAW as well as its ranking
among 28 states of India in its terms of the last two criteria.
Among
all crimes perpetrated against women, the most heinous are crimes of rape and
dowry death. "The threat of rape clips the wings of a woman ready to take
flights into freedom and achievement. It cripples her mentally and hurts her
physically beyond the imagination of anyone. Dowry death, on the other hand,
arises out of a mentality that denies the woman unequal status and respect even
in supposedly her 'own house' [Leela
Mehendale, "Crime, Women and Justice Delivery : the System Speaks ', Mainstream, 8 January 2001, p. 17].
Table
V 5 provides statewise figures for these two crimes per one crore
population. Only three or four states have recorded figures that lower
than those for West Bengal. This Table also underscores the fact that the
conviction rates for CAW - for example rape - tend to be appreciably lower than
those for IPC crimes as a whole. A worrisome trend is the proclivity towards
imposition of dowry in communities where it was once conspicuous by its absence.
As part of a project on the status of Muslim women in West Bengal, the Women's
Studies Research Centre of Calcutta University undertook a village
survey in the district of
South 24 Parganas in 1998. Almost all the Muslim families reported dowry
transactions in cash or kind or both while elderly women over 70 years of age
reported that they had never encountered dowry or 'groom price' in their
youth[The Challenges Ahead : Executive Summary, p. 50].Dowry has also begun to
make its appearance among the tribal communities of West Bengal[see Vina
Mazumdar (ed), Dui Prithibir Uttaran, Kolkata,
2000].
Table V 6 shows the rising incidence of sexual assault against women in West Bengal districts in the form of rape(including gang rape), molestation and eve-teasing , together with then numbers persons arrested. According to information available for 2003, CAW were more pronounced in the districts of North and South 24 Parganas , Bardhaman , Murshidabad, Nadia , Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar. District-wise incidence of torture/cruelty, dowry death and total CAW in West Bengal and number of persons arrested for CAW during 1995 and 2003 are provided in Appendix Table AV 1.