Women struggle to find place in modern India

NEW DELHI: From female deities worshipped at Hindu temples to revered historic figures such as Indira Gandhi and Mother Theresa, women have made their mark on India.

But not enough to stop widespread abuse and chauvinism.   

Pushpa, a 23-year-old housewife, is one of tens of thousands of battered wives in India, where many women are treated like their husbands' vassals under a tradition that once demanded widows immolate themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres.   

"It's not easy to talk to anyone about this. If my husband finds out, only God knows what he will do to me," Pushpa said, her voice trembling as she recounted the beatings and abuse she has suffered at the hands of her husband.   

Pushpa has been married for almost four years to a bank clerk. Like many victims of domestic violence in India, she is afraid to go to the police, almost resigned to her suffering.   

"He comes home from work, often drunk, and hits me with a wooden stick, once he pushed me down the stairs. But I have accepted it as I don't have much choice. What else can I do?" said Pushpa, who asked for her full name to be withheld.

More than 60 percent of married women, aged between 15 and 49, are victims of beating, rape or forced sex by their husbands, according to a study by the United Nations Population Fund.   

Government officials say a new domestic violence law passed in October empowers these victims by giving them rights over their abusers' assets and legal protection.   

The landmark legislation, which also applies to women in live-in relationships, mothers, sisters and daughters,- is one of many laws introduced in this patriarchal society to bridge the gender divide since India's independence almost six decades ago.   

But activists say India still has a long way to go to safeguard women's rights and security in a country where a woman is murdered, raped or abused every three minutes on average.   

India has a long list of legislation passed to protect the rights of women, but activists say the laws are rarely enforced.   

Legislation banning dowries, a custom that frequently lead to women being abused by husbands and parents in-law, was passed in 1961 but is still widely flouted.   

According to police records, a women is murdered every 77 minutes as a result of dowry-related issues.   

Sati was outlawed in 1987 but rare cases still occur in parts of rural India.   

And the rising number of abortions of female foetuses by parents preferring male babies has led to legislation barring the use of ultrasounds to determine gender of unborn foetuses.   

But such ultrasounds continue illicitly and a joint study carried out by researchers in India and Canada last year estimated that 500,000 unborn girls are aborted in India every year.   

At the same time, the role of women has changed since India's economic reforms began in the 1990s and increasing globalisation has opened up the traditional and largely conservative South Asian nation to the rest of the world.   

Today, there are an increasing numbers of women in the workforce, more girls in schools, more women holding senior positions in corporations and in government and thousands of organisations representing the interests of women.   

But in a country where the majority Hindus worship female deities like Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, or Saraswati, the goddess of learning and where the female form is revered as the Universal Mother, women continue to be abused and disrespected.   

Despite some of most powerful figures in India's political history being women India remains patriarchal.   

A bill to reserve about 30 percent of parliamentary seats for women was introduced a decade ago, but activists say it has not been passed largely due to male opposition to the bill.   

Activists say even after centuries of tradition where men have ruled over women in every sphere, women are still largely considered second-class citizens incapable of making decisions.   

"Women are discriminated against in every possible way in villages, in cities, in the home, in the work place, everywhere" said Brototi Dutta from Lawyers Collective, a national network of lawyers fighting for the rights of abused women.   

"They are beaten at home, sexually abused, face harassment on the streets and at the work place, even when they are raped, they are often treated by police as the culprit, rather than the victim and blamed for wearing provocative clothing."   

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, there were 155,553 crimes committed against women in 2005, but women's groups say the real figure could be ten times more as many cases go unreported with victims fearing social stigma.   

In one recent incident, a women was ordered by a village council to marry her father-in-law after he raped her.

And in another, a girl was burnt alive by her rapist after she refused to withdraw a complaint against him.

There are also frequent reports of spurned men disfiguring women by throwing acid in their faces due to unrequited love and of husbands and their families setting women ablaze for not providing sufficient dowry.

"The problem is the law enforcement machinery, the police and local judiciary, are not sensitive to crimes against women, especially in rural areas where the majority live," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, an independent think-tank on women's empowerment.   

"This is now slowly happening and more awareness is being created as women are breaking their silence and talking more about the abuse they face, but it will take time to change social attitudes."