SHIFTING THE FOCUS: BEYOND HIGH-PROFILE CASES, A BROADER CRISIS OF ABUSE

The recent rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata has once again ignited national outrage, as protests and demands for justice sweep across India.

- JYOTI THAKUR

The brutality of this crime has understandably shaken the country's conscience, thrusting the issue of sexual violence into the spotlight. However, while it's necessary to condemn and react to such horrific cases, it's equally important to widen our focus and confront the pervasive and often overlooked crisis of violence against women in India.

Rape, though one of the most heinous acts of violence, represents only a fraction of the abuse that women in India face daily.

Women are subjected to various forms of violencewhether it's domestic abuse, sexual harassment, molestation, and more. According to 2022 data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cruelty by husbands/relatives accounted for 140,019 reported cases, making it the most common crime against women.

Sadly, even after more than 75 years of independence, in 2022, 6,450 women lost their lives to dowry-related violence, and 83,334 women reported assaults intended to outrage their modesty.

Yet, there remains a deafening silence from both the public and policymakers regarding these forms of violence, as they often take place within the confines of the "private sphere." Rape weighs heavily on India's conscience because chastity is upheld as a supreme virtue for women.