Violence Against Women: Backlash and Resistance
Violence Against Women: Backlash and Resistance
Webinar held on 25 November 24 organized by PUCL
By Dr Shalu Nigam, Vice President Delhi PUCL
Good evening to
all of you. Today we have gathered here to celebrate 16 days of Activism on
Gender Based Violence which commenced every year on 25 November the
International Day of Violence Against Women and ends on 10 December the Human
Rights Day. This campaign was launched globally during the decades of 1990s to highlight the centuries of oppression against
women and that violence is the most pervasive breach of human rights
worldwide. It advocates for the rights of women and demands the elimination of
violence against women and girls (VAWG). The theme for the year 2024 is “Every
10 Minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse.
UNiTE to End Violence against Women”.
This year is also special because the world is
approaching to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing
Platform for Action in 2025. This is the blueprint for achieving gender
equality and women’s rights everywhere.
The reports say that Nearly one
in three women experience violence in their lifetime.
Girls are at particular risk of violence—1
in 4 adolescent girls is abused by their partners.
In 2023 at least 51,100 women were murdered by their partners
and family members.
16%
to 58% of women globally experience technology-facilitated gender-based
violence. Young people are the most affected.
70%
of women in conflict, war, and humanitarian crisis, experience gender-based
violence. In Gaza, the world has witnessed how women and
children are specifically targeted and deprived of basic necessities such as food
and medical aid. Historically, sexual violence is a common factor in all wars. The
war machines work in a way to destroy women and children the most.
The data on the crime against women in India as
recorded by the NCRB shows that India recorded 51 cases of crimes against women
every hour and these are the reported cases.
And when I say VAW, it entails not only physical,
economic, sexual, or psychological violence but also denial and discrimination
of the rights of women everywhere. For example, the women in the tribal areas
are being forcibly denied their rights to land and forests. We should also take these forms of violence into account. Rather, New India is every day witnessing severe forms of violence and
simultaneously fierce resistance by women. These images (women resisting the demolition by bulldozer and the policeman holding a pistol towards
the women voters in UP during the election in November 2024) of women’s
resistance are etched in the history and memories of India of the 21st
century and will remind the future generations of the stories of oppression and
resistance.
Moreover, globally with the rise in authoritarianism,
women are facing severe backlash where misogyny pervades not only in the language and actions of political leaders but also among common men on the
street and online. We have seen how sexism is threatening women in digital
spaces.
We know how in recent years, the
Supreme Court of the United States overturned the decision in Roe and Wade
to deprive women of their abortion rights when Trump came into power. Also, in 2024, a few hours after Donald Trump’s victory in elections in
the USA, the far-right slogan “Your body my choice” spread around
sparking the misogynist trend[1].
Messages such as “You no longer have rights” were sent to women users of
social media. This onslaught of violent unchecked misogyny and resentment
reveals that men do not treat women with dignity as equals. Rather, these men
view women as inferiors.
In response, the 4B or 4 No’s digital movement started
trending in the USA. This
radical movement was initiated in South Korea earlier and propagates no sex, no
dating, no marriage, and no procreation with men gained trend to combat the
patriarchal state and conservative society[2]. It
was started to combat the patriarchal state and the conservative society. This
movement rejected the heteronormative expectations of state and society around
women’s bodies and articulated the concerns around patriarchy, precarity,
consumerism, and capitalism[3].
In Afghanistan, we all know how the Taliban is denying
women their right to education. The reports say that in their rules for three
years, the Taliban has deliberately deprived 1.4 million girls of their right to
education putting the future of the entire generation in danger[4].
In Iran, a few days back, the world witnessed how
a student was harassed for hijab by the dress code enforcers and she protested
in a unique way. She was later arrested. The Iranian government later declared
that the girl was mentally unstable. Several reports later say that Iran is
planning to send women revolting against hijab to mandatory psychiatric
facilities. Rather the hijab removal treatment clinics have been specifically
set up to defend and forcibly enforce a piece of clothing on women[5].
Meanwhile multiple women political prisoners are
facing the risk of execution in Iran based on false charges. The Center for
Human Rights in Iran said that four women have been accused of manufactured
charges of armed rebellion, a charge often used by authorities against
dissenters and sentenced to death in July 2024[6]
After decades of deliberations on human rights and
raising slogans such as Women’s Rights are Human Rights, a few handfuls of men are
deciding what should women wear, when they should marry, and even controlling
the wombs of women. India has also imposed such a ban when young Muslim girls
were denied entry into the educational institutions because they insist on
wearing hijab. So the question that arises here is that in a democracy how come
a few men are deciding what women should do or not do. The women’s movement
globally and locally is demanding various freedoms but the handful of men in power are doing exactly the opposite.
In recent years, within homes, digital spaces, or
public spaces, violence is ever expanding not only in terms of numbers but also
in its severity, scope, and outreach. When over the past few decades, the UN and
other agencies have been generating literature and developing indexes to measure
progress and empowerment, demanding safety and determining rights at the same
time extreme form of violence is being normalized and legitimized.
Resistance and oppression continued simultaneously. With
brutal violence, resistance becomes fierce leading to further violence and this
spiral of violence against women continues.
In France, the case of Gisele Pelicot, a 72-year-old
woman who was
sedated, drugged, and raped by her
husband and fifty other men for nine years, shows how women are deceived by the
systems and institutions, which promise them safety, comfort, and justice. The
trial of this case is still going on. However, the video records and the
documents found during investigations presented before the court indicate the
terrible nature of violence. This case has raised questions
about consent, betrayal in marriage, digital violence against women, toxic
masculinity, pornography, and pervasive rape culture. It shows how the masculine code operates, where none
of the men invited to rape her complained against it. This case shows that any
man can be a predator, or as Ms Pelicot says he can be any man in the
family, among our friends.”
Important in this case is Gisele
Pelicot’s reaction, her courage and determination to speak for all women
victims and survivors of violence, despite being hurt, and her zeal to support
the cause of survivors of violence are empowering. In her response to her
ordeal, she said that she felt betrayed, broken, and completely destroyed. She
precisely stated that the `shame should change sides’. She rightly challenged the system to ascertain that
all men who stayed silent should be shamed for their violent acts.
The world has also
witnessed how women in the Parliament of New Zealand resisted the
anti-people law.
Globally, governments are paying lip services to the issue of women’s empowerment but they have failed to stop the culture of
violence with impunity. The backlash is evident from the fact that when women
become vocal in the public domain, in politics, in journalism, or women
human rights defenders are targeted intentionally both online and offline. With
increasing digitalization, videos of horrific crimes are being circulated
around in the social media without any restriction or control. The spectacle of brutal violence evokes
sadistic pleasure and not only the bodies of women are objectified or
commoditized but repeated pleasure is obtained in sharing such dreadful images
while normalizing and legitimizing violence.
The misogyny is so deeply permeated that last week in
India a huge crowd gathered in Patna to see the film trailer of movie Pushpa 2
which was deemed as a deeply misogynist movie by the critics. However, no such
crowd gathered to demand justice against violence in Manipur.
The incidents of VAW that took place in Unnao, Hathras,
Karnataka, the wrestlers’ case and various other cases show how justice remains
elusive. The complaints or FIRs are not registered. The police and the
administration stand with perpetrators of violence, rather women victims are
being compelled to bow down to the demands of perpetrators and their families. The
voices of women are being forcefully silenced. Women in many cases are
penalized for demanding justice.
Not only in the case of
Bilkis Bano but in many other cases we have witnessed how the rapists and
murderers have welcome
and garland after
being released on bail. The society which still prefers sons is complicit in
the crime when it takes pride in such violent toxic masculinity. The political
parties which weaponize VAW to target their opponents is as guilty of the crime as the criminals themselves. The institutions such as the courts, police,
the national commissions are much part of larger network which silence
women complainants and therefore are guilty of crime.
The humanity is doomed when during the pandemic the political
leaders decided to play Twitter Antakshri and those in their ivory towers
clapped when thousands of women and children walked down the road for thousands
of miles with no support or facilities and several women were forced to give
birth to children on roads.
When women demanded Bekhauf Azadi, as we have
witnessed during the Nirbhaya protest, the state denied autonomy to women by
giving the law of love jihad.
Tragically, we are living in country where the judges
rely on the divinity and not on the constitutional values while pronouncing
judgements. More so, in the matters pertaining to women, religion,
superstitions, myths and misogyny all work together deny justice. From Mathura
to Manorama and Hathras case, we have witnessed how justice is denied to women.
Women in police stations, courts, and communities are chasing justice but more
they chase father it goes. The apathy, indifference and hostility exist within
public spaces, in courtrooms, police stations, creating a disillusion of
justice.
The more we the women demand rights, more the
misogynist forces suppress our voices. And to counter such violence, in several
cases, women have deployed diverse and unique methods as we have witnessed in
the case of protests by Naga mothers or in the case of Akku Yadav, where the
accused person was protected by the police and judiciary and yet he was
murdered in the courtrooms by the survivors who were frustrated by the
indifference of the system.
In India, generally, we assume that once the law is
made, justice will follow. However, this is not happening.
Ironically, in the contemporary situation we are
living in a society where the pain and suffering are categorized into
hierarchies based on the caste, sex or religion of the victim. Frequently
women’s issues are sidelined. The pain of a woman who is raped in home day in
and day out by her so-called protectors in no way receive sympathy or empathy from
the state or society. Hence, all the institutions which silence the voices of
women are complicit in crime because they embolden men and create a culture of
impunity where men feel entitled to violate the mind, body and the soul of the women
as per their whims and fancies.
Lastly, I will end with the point that there is debate
on social media regarding `#Not All Men’ to depict that not all men are violent. It is in
response to discussions regarding misogyny or abuse, which blame men as
perpetrators. The proponents of this phrase ignored the feminist voices, which
have been highlighting that violence is not a man versus a woman issue.
Violence against women is about patriarchal oppression and the culture of
impunity, which harms society at large. This is depicted from the responses of
women who initiated the hashtag #YesAllWomen and #MeToo movement. In both these online movements, women shared their
experiences of sexism, harassment and discrimination they faced because of
persistent misogyny in some way or the other.
More specifically, in
India, it is the culture that tolerates and promotes practices such as dowry violence, female foeticide, son-preference, honour killing,
forced marriages, child marriages, witch hunting, widow discrimination, and
girl-child discrimination is guilty of perpetuating violence with impunity. All men and women who stay silent in situations
of VAW are complicit in the crime. A few days back, a video was circulated on
social media where a woman was raped on the road in the day light and no one
came to rescue her. Hence, a society that tolerates misogynist speeches and
sexist jokes every day is guilty of perpetuating the culture of violence with
impunity. `Not all men’ but `Yes, all men and women who stay silent’ propagate
the culture of violence with impunity, and this should end.
So, what is the solution
to stop violence – It is to speak out against violence. We women refused to be
silenced till the VAW ends. While a multi-pronged approach is desirable and may
go a long way to rethink laws and policies, we need to stop the culture of
violence with impunity. Speaking out against violence is as important as
supporting the survivors, their agency and resilience. We don’t need false promises or lip services by the state. We demand
concrete and collaborative actions to end violence against women.
I will end with the slogan Leave
no one behind by the UN.
In Solidarity and
support to end violence against women, I end this session here. We can take
further questions.
Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUBpNjGSgBU&ab_channel=IMPRIImpactandPolicyResearchInstitute
https://www.youtube.com/@dissentingvoices-r3v
[1] Ramos
Andrew (2024) Misogynistic Social Posts, bullying of women and girls have
spiked since election, CBS News, November 13, https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/misogynistic-phrases-bullying-women-girls-since-election/
[2] Lee, J.,
and E. Jeong, (2021). The 4B movement: envisioning a feminist future with/in a
non-reproductive future in Korea. Journal of Gender Studies, 30(5)
633–644.
[3] Shamim
Sarah (2024) What is the 4B Feminist movement from S Korea that’s taking off in
the US? Aljazeera.com, November 9, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/9/what-is-the-4b-feminist-movement-from-s-korea-thats-taking-off-in-the-us
[4]
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/15/taliban-deliberately-deprived-1-4-million-girls-of-schooling-un
Labels: backlash, resistance, VAW
posted by Adv Dr Shalu Nigam @ November 25, 2024
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