Written By: Sana

Edited by: Niharika

औरत कभी खिलौना नहीं होती, वो तो परमात्‍मा के बाद वो पूजनीय व्‍यक्ति है, जो मौत की गोद में जाकर एक नई जिंदगी को जन्‍म देती है!

(translation)

A woman is never a toy, she is a revered person after God, when she goes to the lap of death, she gives birth to life!

We hear proverbs in almost every language every day based on women's empowerment. But the main question is how much of these proverbs are practiced practically. In 1921 people always aimed for women to be the main cause of miseries and vexation that thought is carried out to date..

Women are always thought of as objects of desire for men and used ruthlessly taking advantage of their compulsions. Several women are forced to take up prostitution against their will for various reasons. The most common reason being financial problems or the lack of education. Worldwide there is an estimation of 40-42 million prostitutes, 80 percent of the world population of prostitutes are female and range in age between 13-25. 90 percent of all prostitutes are dependent on a pimp. Within these millions of prostitutes, there are many depressed women fighting personal wars every moment with their bodies as victims and money as the guilty party. We always hear about the prostitution-related news regarding cultureless women but we never think about the compulsions leading the girls into destroying their lives. In every corner of the city, we see women being vexed by outrageous men, but the guilty party never gets punished. The victim being the woman is always rebuked about her dressing style and her behavior even though she is most of the times not at fault. Eve- teasing in public transports has become a really big deal in the past few years. Indian Penal Code deals eve-teasing cases through its sections 354 and 509 which show an increase of 13.05 percent in assault or criminal force against woman with intent to outrage her modesty; and 18.9 percent decrease in incidents of insulting modesty of woman, respectively, from the year 2015 to 2016.

With every women’s head falling, so does every man’s character. The women working daily at night undergo uncomfortable situations like flirting and just being very uncomfortable around men that see them as an object for people to toy with, etc. The mindset of women getting married at an early age to a man was present as a custom in every person’s mind in the 18-20th century. The saddening part is that such acts of women being married to men at early ages or women made as a continuous victim of domestic violence in every man’s house after marriage is practiced to date. After the man’s death, women were to give up their lives as well, to join their husbands in the afterlife, which was known as the “ Sati” system in the earlier days. The women in this generation are to depend on the men for their living and if any doomy incident takes place with the man the only person to be blamed as the pilot of the adversities in the family is the women. In their own house after the age of 18 however successful or educated the women are they are entitled as poundage upon the family. This thought is completely wrong as these thoughts are backward and invalid in today’s generation. If the men can support the family by working day and night by earning money so can the women. Without going out of the house women keep families together as a strong rope and never let it fall into pieces. The backward mindsets of old people in this generation still envision women as a piece of furniture lying in the house.

AFAB i.e., assigned female/male at birth is a statement that states that neither the women nor the man are responsible for the sex of the children born. Discrimination between boy and girl children is a backward mindset of aged people from the 19th century but it is depressing to see these in motion till today. Prices are also put on women like they are items to be bought from a shop and these prices are also known as dowry. Heavy dowries even though are made illegal by the constitution they take place in the rural villages of India like Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, etc., constant suicides and killings regarding money take place every day. Due to these old yet dull-witted mindsets regarding women being practiced even today women are forced into prostitution as escorts, sex workers, etc., hence advantages are taken of their poverty and, ruining their lives just to satisfy people’s hunger for lust and money. Women in these professions are seen as objects and toys of desire. This leads to constant torchers, rape, and dignity.

According to the latest NCRB report, 2019 saw over 4 lakh reported cases of crimes committed against women, up from 3.78 lakh in 2018 and 3.59 lakh cases in 2017. NCRB reported 32,033 rape cases which translate to a shocking 88 rape cases a day and this is just 10% of all crimes against women. Due to such incidents taking place every day, women are deprived of their basic rights of education, speech, etc. 4.6 crore women are “missing” in India over the last 50 years. Sex selection is prohibited by law in India. In its State of World Population Report, 2020, the United Nations Population Fund said globally, the number of “missing” women is 14.2 crore. The main reason is the poor and slow-witted mindsets and female foeticide is the easiest way for the people to get rid of the girl child and such ruthless practices take place till date.

Even if women are given equality till a particular stage, they are discriminated against for their gender. Intersectional feminism is practiced in large countries and monarchies, prioritizing the white and rich women over the lower or middle classes girls and women. Many organizations regarding women’s health rights are in the making across the world. These organizations save and protect women from the deprivation of their rights to study and the right to practice their religion and follow their cultures. They save them from suicide and depression caused by dowry, prostitution, rape, forced marriages, etc. They educate the world about the need for women and their respect. They protect them from domestic violence and educate them to pursue their passions and live life on their terms. Saini Nehwal, Malala Yousafzai, P.T. Usha, Sindhu, Michelle Obama, Rosa Parks, and millions of other women and young female revolutionaries still in the making are women who changed the perspective of the people towards women and whose names give us goosebumps till date. To make the feminine culture of India proud we must become our leaders and change our mindsets towards women.