Response to rape-outrage: Jaya off to a flyer, but will it do?

It’s not surprising that Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa acted faster than the central government, in responding to the outrage against the Delhi gangrape, with a 13-point plan. Jaya’s swift action, while Delhi is still dragging its feet, makes a strong political and administrative point for other states to follow - that bulk of the violence against women, and rapes, happen in the stats and hence the responsibility to address them lies with the states. She has also shown the rest of India that except for the IPC, the states have complete freedom to do whatever they want on the issue. Jaya’s action was not surprising for two more reasons: one, her past record on women’s welfare; and two, the impressive strides the state has made on women’s empowerment in the last two decades. With an overall gender-disparity index of 2, that is second only to Kerala, the state’s record of violence against women - whether it’s rape or domestic violence - is significantly lower than that of most big sized states. When it comes to the number of rapes, the same is much lower than even its neighbour, Kerala. [caption id=“attachment_576222” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Protests against the rape of a 23-year-old in Delhi. Agencies.[/caption] Her latest response was quick, strong and unequivocal; but does it have an all-encompassing logic of protecting women and preventing violence against them? Here are the highlights of the plan: fast track women’s courts in each district, women police and women lawyers; helplines, CCTV and state-undertaking for treatment and rehabilitation of rape survivors; periodic review of sexual offence cases by SPs and DIGs; inclusion of rape in Goonda’s Act; non-bailable preventive detention; and deployment of plainclothes personnel in crowded public places. These certainly will put Tamil Nadu light years ahead of Delhi and other states in better prevention, better conviction and an overall sense of security. But is that enough? Frankly, not. Because the plan is mostly a law-and-order fix, and rape or the general violence against women is not an entirely law-and-order issue. Scouting for sick and criminal men and instilling a sense of fear among them or strengthening the confidence of women is only one part of the solution because the real problem is sociological. And it is a scientifically established fact the world over. The UN General Assembly resolution on the “Declaration of the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993)” articulates this point clearly: “Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over, and discrimination against, women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women; and that violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men.” If law and order fixes worked, a country with extensive surveillance systems and tough cops, courts and jails such as the US wouldn’t have had such a large number of rapes and severe under-reporting. This is where the Tamil Nadu plan might not pass muster in terms of substantial results. It might make the women, at least in the cities, a little more secure; but wouldn’t prevent the sick and criminal men stalking them and pouncing on them at convenient police blind-spots, or intimidating and violating them at home - because their social values and mindset will still be the same. The only thing that might change is the fear of law, but when the instincts are so overpowering and conditioned by generations of male-dominance and culture of violence, women will still not be safe. That too if all the measures that the chief minister has announced work to a fault. Not that Jayalalithaa, in her previous tenures, and other governments in Tamil Nadu, haven’t done enough for women’s empowerment. The state, in fat, has a number of innovative initiatives aimed at girl children and women. Cash transfers that are aimed at encouraging their education and protecting family lives; support for widow-remarriage; cooperative societies, self help groups, capacity development and distribution of implements for employment generation; supportive legislation (Domestic Violence Act and Dowry Prevention Act) and enhanced access to better social security and healthcare are among the model efforts that have worked in the state over the years. Based on a 25-year study in six villages in Karur and Tiruchirapalli districts, the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) wrote in March 2011 that rural Tamil Nadu has witnessed a silent revolution in women’s empowerment. “One of the most significant social changes over the past 25 years in Tamil Nadu is the entry of women into the local political bodies at the village and village union levels through the 33 per cent reservation system. Simultaneously, women are now, to a significant extent, organised in self-help groups. Through these about one-fourth of the households can access loans for small entrepreneurship or, rather more frequently, for smaller emergency/consumption loans. There has also been increased participation of women in the non-agricultural labour market and the emergence in Tamil Nadu of a rudimentary “barefoot” welfare state,” the EPW reported. In short, although the state still has a long way to go (e.g. sex ratio, female literacy, maternal mortality rate etc), it’s still ahead of most other states in improving the status of women. And this achievement resulted from systematic and long-term interventions that were aimed at social change, and not from overnight quick-fixes. Given such a past, the state will be well-advised to extent its long-term socio-economic approach to handling violence against women as well. Along with effective law-and-order measures, it has to teach its boys and men to treat women as equals. If the boys and men change, mothers-in-law and patriarchal households do not matter. If the boys and men change, they won’t make movies where stalking, eve-teasing, and vulgarly exposing women and dominating them are the standard social values. If boys and men change, they will not make lewd and obscene gestures at women and aggress them even if they are alone in the dark corner of a street at midnight. Since it will take at least a generation to show results, the state has to start at once. In international development parlance, making things sensitive to women’s concerns is called “gender mainstreaming.” Gender-mainstreaming of boys and men is long overdue. Perhaps the Tamil Nadu government should start with a programme, for both school-based and out-of-school boys, this academic year itself. If their values can restrain them, a large number of men may not need chemical castration.