Syndromes of Patriarchy
The SDG-5, ‘gender goal’ exclusively deals with achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.
Gender-based violence was already a global crisis before the pandemic intensified since the outbreak of COVID-19. Lockdowns and other mobility restrictions left many women trapped with their abusers, isolated from social contact and support networks. Increased economic precarity further limited many women’s ability to leave abusive situations. Post-Pandemic there seems no respite!
In his address to the nation on India’s 75th birthday held on 15th August 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a “change in the mentality” towards women and asked citizens to fight misogyny.
“A distortion has crept in our conduct and we at times insult women. Can we take a pledge to get rid of this in our behaviour,” he suggested, urging people to “take a pledge to get rid of everything that humiliates women in everyday life”.
Of the six million crimes that police in India recorded between 1 January and 31 December last year, 428,278 cases involved crimes against women. It’s a rise of 26.35% over six years — from 338,954 cases in 2016. A majority of the cases in 2021, the report said, were of kidnappings and abduction, rapes, domestic violence, dowry deaths and assaults. Also, 107 women were attacked with acid, 1,580 women were trafficked, 15 girls were sold and 2,668 women were victims of cybercrime. With more than 56,000 cases, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which is India’s most populous with 240 million people, once again topped the list. It was followed by Rajasthan with 40,738 cases and Maharashtra with 39,526 cases.
Sleeping with the enemy?
As Gen Z assert itself in a landscape strewn with fear and misogyny, the Syndromes of Patriarchy’ are visible as they surface across the spectrum of both the elite and economically challenged backgrounds of the victims. Communication Design Students at ISDI | PARSONS continue speculating on a topic which needs to be addressed pan India.
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National Crime Records Bureau show that a crime was recorded every three minutes against women. Every hour at least two women are sexually assaulted and every six hours, a young married woman is beaten to death, burnt or driven to suicide. Shamefully 28.4 per cent of pregnant women also suffer from domestic violence.
Sakshi Shadija & Tanvira Khot conceptualize #Unlearn, a communication campaign that inspires women to rethink patriarchal brainwashing. Women are conditioned to tolerate and sacrifice their dreams and dignity for the people they love! Unlearn’ is a campaign that aims to create awareness in society that domestic violence is not limited to physical abuse but includes mental and emotional abuse as well. This hypothetical campaign is associated with the National Commission for Women, India. The objective is to inspire and educate that respect is a non-negotiable in any relationship and that the women and girls of the 21st-century must demand equality in all spheres of life. It’s time to Unlearn’ and change the narrative.
While practically every nation in the world considers nonconsensual sex between a husband and wife to be a crime, India is one of the 36 countries that has not yet criminalised marital rape.
Section 375 of the IPC defines the offence of rape. It lays down which physical acts are required to make out the offence, and it is a very broad definition. The second important element of this definition is consent. When acts are done without the consent of the woman, then the offence of rape is made out. This is the general rule, but there is an exception, which says that sexual acts by a husband with his wife if she is 18 years of age and above, would not be rape. While the rest of the provision is centred on consent, this exception does not talk about consent at all. It creates the legal fiction that a wife always consents to her husband, which in effect means that her non-consent is irrelevant.
Nidhi Shetty — Communication Design Student at ISDI | PARSONS based on her research into the attitude towards the criminalisation of marital rape in India and the lack of existing campaigns can deduce that a substantial number of people are not ready to have these conversations. It is a sensitive topic that lacks visibility. A Communication Campaign speculated association with Majlis showcases violence and forces people to consider the issue at hand. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!
Sexual violence is pervasive and manifests itself in several forms, which exist in all institutions of life including the most basic unit of human society, the family. The past few years have witnessed the growth of Indian judicial decisions towards a more liberal and open mindset of a changing society. Such decisions show how the country is moving away from the shackles of medieval India to a society where everyone’s rights are protected. Yet, the constitutionality of the marital rape exception in the Indian Penal Code is a substantial question that is yet to be answered.
The Constitution of India made the promise of equality to all citizens, irrespective of gender or caste. But the journey of Indian women since Independence has been a struggle to grasp equality, against the formidable weight of culture, patriarchy and economic deprivation ranged against them and ‘Syndromes of Patriarchy’ are evident even as we step into the 21st Century!
‘Gender Equality has been identified as one of the key agents for sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by the 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) on 25 September 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 goals and 169 targets provide the nations with a framework for advancing sustainable development in three dimensions –economic, social and environmental — over the next 15 years.
Education Reform | Indian Philosophy | Vivekananda Thoughts
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Creative Mentor: Utkarsha Malkar
UTKARSHA M. | Author | Design Thinker | Creator -
A desire to understand the world and to improve it always remains at the core.
Design is a managed process and my quest for knowledge is subject to an
inquiry of the apparent, the imagined and the recalled.
As I speculate and design, my liberty of self-expression is in direct
correlation to my existence and knowledge.
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