Ever since the Narendra
Modi government has come to power, one can clearly see an agenda to improve
India’s global image.
However, continued global media reporting on violence
against women in India coupled with the Brookings
India paper titled Necessity
of a new conversation on Women in India published on June 23, 2014, brings
the spotlight back to a glaring gap that stands to tarnish India’s image. As
Indians, we do take immense pride in the diverse cultural fabric of our
society. That fabric is held together by the women of India.
On talking to my expat friends, the question of violence
against women in India tends to inadvertently come up. When I begin to explain
that its roots lie in the weak law enforcement (as is the case with most
crimes), I say it with degree of trepidation. The next question I would get
asked is on the kind of outrageous comments that some influential Indian
politicians have recently made, including the most infamous one by a former
chief minister that stand to trivialize rape as a mistake.
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| Images from 'Abused Goddesses' campaign of Save The Children India |
Clearly as a PR professional, I understand how deep an
impact such incidents and comments have on India’s image.
So, the fact that the issue of women’s safety was completely
missing from the Prime Minister’s 10-point agenda and was brought up as a
reaction to the politicization of the Badaun incident in the Indian state of
U.P., was not really the best way for a new government to tackle such a
socially critical aspect.
Can India really improve its image without addressing the
issue of women’s safety? We would be deceiving ourselves by believing so.
Some argue that by putting women in key ministries, the
present government has sent out the right message. While it’s a welcome step
but we must not forget that India has had a woman PM for over 15 years (Mrs.
Indira Gandhi) and most states have had women Chief Ministers. In fact, the
state of U.P., which recently witnessed the most heinous crimes against women,
has had two women Chief Ministers, Sucheta Kriplani (also India's first woman CM) and Mayawati. Sheila
Dikshit was Delhi Chief Minister for 15 years till 2013. Yet the situation
of women’s safety in India has deteriorated over the years.
So what’s the way forward?
Some people point to the re-introduction
of the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill
as well as reservation of jobs for women in public and private sector as a possible solution.
Sheryl
Sandberg, COO, Facebook and the author of "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will
to Lead" in a recent interview to CNBC TV18 said that quality
should remain the key criterion for women (or men) holding any office. She gave
the example of Norway which has a 40% reservation for women in parliament since
2003 yet only 3% of CEOs in that country are women. She argues that we need to get rid of the
inhibitions on women, in personal and professional life, rather than trying to provide any preferential treatment. Most of my women colleagues have often voiced their dislike for any sort of preferential treatment being offered to them in public life just because they are women.
When we
compare that thought to our experience with reservation or reserved quotas for
certain sections of society in India, it’s very similar. The beneficiaries of
most reservations have always been the creamy layer even within the Scheduled
Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Had the focus been on providing better
quality education in government schools and colleges rather than solely relying
on reservation for SC/ ST, their situation would have been far better. In fact,
reservation often makes these communities a subject of rebuke.
So, if the
Women’s Reservation Bill does get passed by the Indian Parliament, it may get
us some good media coverage but little results for the majority of women. It is
most likely to benefit women belonging to higher strata of society or wives of
existing politicians who would be fielded by their husbands to take advantage
of the reservation, as has been the case so far.
There is a dire need to encourage more women in cities and
particularly in villages to come forward and actively participate in public
life. But for that to happen, women’s safety is the most basic pre-requisite.
If we look at other countries facing women’s safety issues
such as Nigeria (in the limelight owing to the Boko Haram abduction
of over 200 girls), there is a common thread – weak law enforcement. Having
lived in Nigeria for over 12 years, I can say that for things to have reached
such a low point, it reflects the extreme situation that can happen with the
breakdown of an already weak law enforcement machinery. It’s a word of caution
for Indian governments that the women’s safety issue, if not addressed with the
utmost priority, can lead to far more serious crimes at a scale and severity
never seen before.
When governments lose their grip on law enforcement,
anti-social elements take the law into their hands with a sense of impunity.
For instance in the case of U.P., there is little that one expect from the
state government in managing law and order, an aspect that the Samajwadi Party
is notorious for messing up, thanks to its own unruly party cadre. Only
pressure from all sides – public pressure combined with Central government
pressure, can make it deal with law enforcement seriously.
Of course, there is a need for a mindset
change which I addressed in my earlier blog post Women’s and children’s safety
is impossible in a society that eulogizes aggression. However, that
may take a generation to fully address so let’s start with what we can do on an
immediate basis.
If there are people who still believe that the issue of women’s safety is not critical enough to
figure in the top 10 priorities of Central and State governments, it may just
be too late before we realize the damage to India’s culture, to its youth, to
the economy and, obviously to India’s image in the world.
