INDIA: Women in India Continue to Suffer, Says UN Rapporteur

Despite several amendments in criminal law, women in India continue to suffer, endure denial of constitutional rights and fall prey to the rampant sexual violence in the country, a United Nations rapporteur has said.

UN Special Rapporteur, Rashida Manjoo maintained that mediation and compensation measures are often used to address cases of violence against women, thus violating their fundamental rights.

"Despite numerous positive developments, the unfortunate reality is that the rights of many women in India continue to be violated, with impunity as the norm, according to many submissions that I received," Manjoo said.

She further regretted that recommendations of the legislative reforms of the country's new sexual violence act; don't fully reflect the Justice Verma Committee that was set up in response to public outcry over the brutal Delhi gang rape.

"Sexual violence and harassment in India is widespread and is perpetuated in public spaces, in the family or in the workplace. There is a generalised sense of insecurity in public spaces, amenities, transport facilities in particular, and women are often victims of different forms of sexual harassment and assault," Manjoo said.

The United Nations had sent Manjoo to India to investigate the rising cases of violence against women, four months after the fatal gang rape of a student sparked public outrage over the treatment of females in the country.

Indian girls and women face a barrage of abuses in the largely patriarchal country. These include female foeticide, so-called 'honour' killings, acid attacks, and rape, trafficking and dowry murders.

But the savagery of a December 16 assault, where a 23-year-old para-medic student was gang-raped on a moving bus by six attackers and tortured with an iron rod, shook the conscience of many Indians and stirred national debate about gender abuse.
India approved a tougher new law to punish sex crimes, including death for repeat rape offenders, ignoring the recommendations by the committee on the controversial Armed Forces Security Act.
On this score, she expressed her concern, which has eroded safety, security and bodily integrity, for women in Jammu and Kashmir and in northeastern states.

The National Crime Records Bureau says more than 24,200 rapes were reported in India in 2011, one every 20 minutes.
There were 228,650 reported crimes committed against women in 2011, an increase of seven percent from the previous year, according to the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB).
The testimonies, received by Manjoo, highlighted numerous instances of customary and religious practices such as child marriages, dowry-related practices, witch-hunting of women and communal violence perpetrated against cultural and religious minorities.

A recent survey by UNICEF shows that despite changing values in the young generation, 57% of Indian males between the ages of 15 to 19 believe that domestic violence against women is occasionally justified. 53% of females within the same age group feel the same, on par with rates of women from older age groups. (ANI)