{"id":3929,"date":"2013-01-07T09:22:21","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T03:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/?p=3929"},"modified":"2013-01-07T09:22:21","modified_gmt":"2013-01-07T03:52:21","slug":"dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/","title":{"rendered":"DNA Column – Out in the Open, what Next"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Column in today’s DNA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

2012 was the year in which the discourse on violence against women stepped out, from the dingy nooks and crannies that it inhabited, the hushed whispers it was talked in . to into the public space with a full blown agitation \u2013 a cry for reform.<\/p>\n

It began with actor Aamir Khan in his show Satyameva Jayate<\/i><\/strong><\/a> \u2013 discussing the issue of female foeticide and casting a glance at the attitudes of people from all sections of society towards the girl child. A Bollywood actor was able to achieve what crores of rupees on advertising,\u00a0 thousands of editorials and op-ed pieces, and a plethora of conventions could not achieve \u2013 get the discussion of foeticide from closed hierarchies, out into discussion in polite and not so polite society. Just as collective consciousness was recovering from the fact that everyone got rid of unwanted daughters, the Guwahati molestation<\/strong><\/a> case occurd. A teenage girl returning home was hunted, beaten, groped, molested, assaulted, stripped by a gang of well-heeled men, with a TV crew filming every little aspect of the girl\u2019s torture. So, it was no longer \u2018boys\u2019 from poor families who molested \u2013 it was everyone. And, then came the story of the girl in Kerala was raped by her father, brother and uncle<\/strong><\/a>. It was no longer a case of a girl going outside the house at strange hours to face rape \u2013 it could happen at home, by the very people who are supposed to protect you. And, finally the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back was gangrape, torture and murder of the 23 year old student in Delhi.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Suddenly the floodgates opened and every girl, every woman remembered every incident that made her feel unsafe, and came out on the streets to protest. Fathers, brothers, husbands and sons \u2013 joined in these protests fearful for their loved ones. We began hearing about case after case of goriness from across India. Infants, toddlers, pre-pubescent girls, teenagers, college students, wives, mothers, grandmothers \u2013 no one was safe. Given that sexual and physical abuse is now a part of mainstream conversation \u2013 there is no better time than now to push for systemic reforms that makes gives a fillip to women\u2019s rights, security and safety in modern India. But in addition to that there are some very basic steps that one can take to enhance this reform.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first thing to ensure is the sensitization of Police to gender issues that makes it easier for women to approach and file complaints. Both men and women in the police force need to undergo continuous training on how to approach cases of sexual and gender violence, so that women can approach them with confidence. The second thing is to simplify the laws governing violence and have them translated into colloquial languages. Most of the laws and rules are framed and written in language as it existed generations ago. Either provide translations or rewrite these in modern spoken language. Also, given the number of people who have bare bone literacy skills, the Government may want to look at providing audio recordings with translations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next thing is to build a social services team at the local government level.\u00a0 Their job is to identify at risk women, and children (and also senior citizens) and ensure that they remain safe. Currently this role is played by some police stations \u2013 but ideally it needs to be at the local Government level. \u00a0\u00a0Associated with this are safe houses and shelters for battered women and children. Ideally these will be run not by the State but by various other agencies \u2013 the Government will merely monitor.\u00a0 Small things like lit roads, more closed toilets and bath areas, neighbourhood patrols by people from the locality could also make that difference between safety and violence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Finally it is easy to pick on the Abhijeet Mukherjees<\/strong><\/a> and the Banwari Lal Singhal<\/strong> <\/a>and express outrage at their views. And outrage one must, because such views by elected representatives is simply not acceptable. However, the focus on the solely the negative, makes it the only point of view. But there are millions of people\u2013 including political leaders \u2013 who have a more progressive view of women. Who believe in women\u2019s rights, who believe in the capability and competency of women at work, who would not decry women. The regressive ones get the ratings, because they represent the prejudices of a certain section of the audiences. The progressive ones will actually make the change by being role models.
\nCan this prevent a random attack like the Delhi gangrape case\u00a0 – highly unlikely. But, can it prevent the hundreds of other every day incidents of violence against women\u2013 possibly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Column in today’s DNA 2012 was the year in which the discourse on violence against women stepped out, from the dingy nooks and crannies that it inhabited, the hushed whispers it was talked in . to into the public space with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,21,23,27,42],"tags":[477,478,755,1667],"class_list":["post-3929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles-in-msm","category-gender","category-india","category-media","category-society","tag-dna","tag-dna-column","tag-india","tag-violence-against-women"],"yoast_head":"\nDNA Column - Out in the Open, what Next - A PoV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DNA Column - Out in the Open, what Next - A PoV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My Column in today’s DNA 2012 was the year in which the discourse on violence against women stepped out, from the dingy nooks and crannies that it inhabited, the hushed whispers it was talked in . to into the public space with...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A PoV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-07T03:52:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@calamur\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@calamur\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"DNA Column – Out in the Open, what Next\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-07T03:52:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":792,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938\"},\"keywords\":[\"dna\",\"DNA Column\",\"India\",\"Violence against Women\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Gender Issues\",\"India\",\"Media\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/\",\"name\":\"DNA Column - Out in the Open, what Next - A PoV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-07T03:52:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/07\\\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"DNA Column – Out in the Open, what Next\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/\",\"name\":\"A PoV\",\"description\":\"Harini Calamur's Writings\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/calamur.org\\\/gargi\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938\",\"name\":\"calamur\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"calamur\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"DNA Column - Out in the Open, what Next - A PoV","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"DNA Column - Out in the Open, what Next - A PoV","og_description":"My Column in today’s DNA 2012 was the year in which the discourse on violence against women stepped out, from the dingy nooks and crannies that it inhabited, the hushed whispers it was talked in . to into the public space with...","og_url":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/","og_site_name":"A PoV","article_published_time":"2013-01-07T03:52:21+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@calamur","twitter_site":"@calamur","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"DNA Column – Out in the Open, what Next","datePublished":"2013-01-07T03:52:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/"},"wordCount":792,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#\/schema\/person\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938"},"keywords":["dna","DNA Column","India","Violence against Women"],"articleSection":["Articles","Gender Issues","India","Media","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/","url":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/","name":"DNA Column - Out in the Open, what Next - A PoV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-07T03:52:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2013\/01\/07\/dna-column-out-in-the-open-what-next\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"DNA Column – Out in the Open, what Next"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/","name":"A PoV","description":"Harini Calamur's Writings","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#\/schema\/person\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/#\/schema\/person\/60c3e7f79ef3b4745dac9f8dc29d3938","name":"calamur","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"calamur"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8df2f7268afd0d54952b80930a504251ec3e1609cb7cd609351520060f6006e?s=96&d=mm&r=g"}}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p22F9v-11n","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}