Since the fatal Delhi gang r*** there has been no sign of crimes against women and girls abating in India, and justice remains out of reach for most.
A series of r*** cases since 2012 have made global headlines for botched investigations, which in turn stymie prosecutions. And if the woman is poor – or from a tribe or at the bottom of India’s unforgiving caste hierarchy – the odds against her are stacked even higher.
“If there is something worse than corruption, it is callousness,” says Vikram Singh, a former director general of police in Uttar Pradesh. “We have not been able to recruit women prosecutors, police officers, judges and get our fast track courts in place. It’s tardy utilisation of the Nirbhaya Fund.”
A rally was organized on 16 December 2014 in Kolkata.image copyrightGetty Images
image captionProtests are still held on the anniversary of the 2012 gang r***
He says there is a “cult of masculinity” that goes all the way down to police constables and cannot be dismantled without serious reforms and accountability – such as an independent authority to investigate complaints against police officers.
The apathy and casual misogyny extends beyond the police to doctors and even judges.
There has, however, been no money set aside to train doctors, although doctors play a key role in r*** investigations and it’s easier for women suffering domestic abuse to reach out to a doctor than a police officer. Education also appears low on the list of priorities but campaigners say it’s crucial to change the way young boys think before they become men.
But gender rights advocates say funding is only one part of the challenge. The other is the continued emphasis on protecting women’s honour rather than empowering them to exercise their rights.
They point to a growing body of research that shows certainty of conviction rather than severity of punishment is the biggest deterrence against crime. And that will only happen if a woman can walk into a police station and register a complaint.
“You need someone to drive that process,” Ms Khera says. “There are ways to kill a programme while appearing to put all your weight behind it.”
BBC News
