A safe India for women...

Day after day the country wakes up to news of horrific crimes committed against women, especially the rape and molestation. We also read how these women are totally shattered and bruised. We are witness to women being beaten by even policemen. Violence against women persists even in our homes and justice often falls through the cracks. Many a time the police force is seen to be insensitive and ill equipped as far as the women's issues are concerned.

The gang rape of thewoman in Delhi, which resulted in her death on December 29, 2012, has prompted widespread debate over the way the country handles sexual assaults and the treatment of women in India. Numerous protests have taken place and laws have been proposed and enacted. But this has not stopped such incidents from happening. In fact I dread opening the newspaper everyday lest I read about the horrific crimes perpetrated on women; even an innocent five year old is not spared.

It seems futile to give statistics on how many women are being raped every minute if nothing can be done about it. When a crime takes place we are quick to begin the blame game. Let us work towards speedy trial and justice for such crimes. Delayed justice is denial of justice. The wise king Solomon said long ago, "When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong" There has been lot of suggestions and ideas pouring out on how to stop this carnage on women.

Most of it is on how to equip women to retaliate or how not to dress inappropriately. But the crucial issue is when and how will the men change? When will they learn to respect the women � their body, their right to live and their dignity? What causes men to perpetrate such crimes against women? I was just thinking that if we can work on changing the men, we don't have to work on forcibly closing brothels and rescuing women from them. If you successfully close all the brothels without working on transformation of men, they will be on the roads roaming seeking which innocent woman to devour to satisfy their insatiable lustful desires.

The questions to be raised are what are being fed into their minds? The man who apparently raped the five year was watching lewd films on his mobile before he committed the crime. Can we stand up and prevail on the government to ban these websites which are allowed so freely to corrupt minds and not allow a healthy relationship to grow between a man and a woman? Can we take a stand and strongly protest against the free availability of these sites? Or will our 'liberalists' scuttle this idea in the name of freedom of expression?

The ongoing IPL dedicated a day for the safety of women and the organizers and the celebrities conveyed a message to the spectators and TV audience. Is that enough to change the situation? Will our celebrities from the entertainment and sports worlds, religious leaders and the mass media take an unequivocal position about the degrading portrayal of women? Can men really be transformed?

What really is the solution?

Can educating the young minds bring a change? The homes, schools and colleges have a big role to play. The gender bias in homes has to be rooted out. Often one can hear a mother proudly say, "My son will have his way at any cost". While he is young he may just crave for a toy but as he grows older what is it that he wants at any cost? Can good sex education in schools and colleges prevent the young minds from surfing net to find out what it really means? Recently, the Director of Higher Education, Andhra Pradesh had invited the Principals and senior faculty from select colleges of the State to deliberate on the introduction of Value Education in colleges in the light of depreciation of social values.

It surely is a good initiative by the Government but as a society we need to strive more and work hard to instill the values in our students and young people so that they would go out and make a difference in this country. We as citizens of the nation have a great responsibility to work for change. It is not enough to protest when things go horribly wrong. We should also be mindful of taking some preventive steps. We could begin by protesting against the vulgarity in the entertainment media and porn publications and simultaneously work for ensuring a responsible and responsive judiciary and an upright and proactive government.