Sir,
This has reference to the writeup ‘Crime against women’ (DE, Jan 31, 2020.) It is shocking to read that in a national survey, 14.8 percent of women over 17 years of age are reported having been raped once in their life and about 45000 to 50,000 women and children are trafficked annually to the USA and that a case of cruelty by husbands and relatives against women is registered every nine minutes.There is no doubt that condition of women has improved a lot over the last few decades due to various factors such as education, medical facilities, women centred schemes and above all, awareness in the masses regarding gender equality and girl education. In order to lay focus on the women issues and celebrate women empowerment, International Women’s Day is celebrated with enthusiasm and zeal on March 8 every year.On this day various programmes such as skits, symposia,debate competitions, seminars,rallies etc are organised in honour of women and distinguished women are felicitated for their exceptional services in their respective fields.It is an undisputed fact that women play a major role in shaping the society properly.Their multifarious role as mother, sister, wife, daughter etc cannot be defined in words. The Government has also launched various women oriented schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana and other such schemes aimed at empowering women and making them equal partners with men in the all round development of the country.Women in India have occupied important positions such as President, Prime Minister, Ministers, bureaucrats, civil and Police Officers.They have raised the glory of their motherland by clinching medals in international sports competitions and performed their duties so efficiently in the fields such as Armed Forces, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy etc which were considered exclusively for men a few years ago.Not only this, women have proved their worth as writers, enterpreneurs, bankers and in other spheres both in the Govt and private sectors.Yet,amidst all this rosy picture of women empowerment, there are disturbing reports of girls and women being raped, molested, gangraped, subjected to domestic violence and harassed at workplaces.All this is against our ethos and values in India where girls are reverred as incarnations of Goddesses.Though there are stringent laws for various sexual and other crimes against women,crime graph against women and girls has been growing up.Thus,there is need to take steps to change the mindset of people and teach our youth to learn to respect them.
Ashok Sharma,
Housing Colony, Udhampur
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