Indians view rape as big problem

WASHINGTON, April 23 (AP): A new poll shows that Indians view rape as a big problem in their country and think the criminal justice system is inadequate to deal with it.
The national survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center one year after the December 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi unleashed a wave of public anger about sexual violence in India. The results were published Tuesday.

The survey shows nine in 10 Indians agree that the crime of rape is a “very big problem.” About eight in 10 say the problem is growing. And despite some legal reforms after the Delhi case, about three in four Indians say laws are too lax and faulted police for not being strict enough in investigating rape cases.

The survey was based on 2,464 face-to-face interviews with adults across India between December 2013 and January 2014. It found the concern about rape cuts across gender and party lines, and is shared by urban and rural Indians. Some 91 percent of men said rape was a very big issue, and 89 percent of women.

The nationwide outcry following the Delhi gang rape led the federal government to rush legislation increasing prison terms for rapists and criminalizing voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women.

In September, a special fast track court sentenced four of the perpetrators of the Delhi case to death. And earlier this month, a court sentenced to death three men who raped a photojournalist inside an abandoned textile mill last year in Mumbai, India’s biggest city, under a new anti-rape law. The victim of that attack survived.

The Pew poll found that only 7 percent of Indians rated the current laws as “about right” in dealing with cases of rape, and only 6 percent said the police investigated rape cases adequately. Some 18 percent thought the laws were too tough. The margin of sampling error was 3.8 percentage points.

 

 

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS): Rights practitioners, lawyers and thought leaders Wednesday asked why was women’s safety not of pivotal concern in the ongoing elections, and called for greater awareness about the issue.

“The Indian election manifesto is short. According to a poll, 91 percent of the voters said in these elections, violence against women was the number two priority, after corruption,” Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nandy said, also stressing why governments need to be pressurized into working on women’s safety issues. She was speaking here at the inaugural session of the “Catalyst Conference: Igniting Leader to end Sexual Violence”. She added that each one has an important role to play in ending the existing patriarchy in the society. “The issue of patriarchy runs deep in our system and is the root cause of all challenges faced by women. Each one of us has a responsibility, and a role to play in dismantling the patriarchy within ourselves and outside. It is also true that the government has to lead this in a significant way,” she said.

Echoing her sentiments, Naina Lal Kidwai, who is country head of HSBC India, called for increased awareness and action against sexual violence. Speaking at a session titled “Economic Empowerment: Is a Job Enough”, social worker Mirai Chatterjee said that economic empowerment is the “key”. “Economic empowerment is not just about putting money in a woman’s hand, but is also about food, basic social security, child care, pension and housing. Then, when she has money in her hand, that’s when we see a transformation,” she said.