The crime graph against women in the City simply refuses to drop down.  Women may be making their mark in hitherto male preserves but end up hapless victims of crime due to their gender.   On the occasion of the UN-declared International Day for elimination of violence against women which falls this Sunday (November 25), we checked out if the status of women has undergone a change for the better.  The answer sadly seems to be a big `no’.

Crimes aimed at outraging the modesty of women and cruelty against women by husband and other relatives top the list of crimes perpetrated against women in each of the years from 2005 to 2007. The number of rape cases registered have also risen in a big way with 52 cases registered upto October this year as against 33 last year and 38 in 2005.

Eve-teasing, abetment to suicide, kidnapping and other crimes against women have had almost stable figures during the last three years.

“Grievous forms of violence against women like gangrape and horrendous physical torture have thankfully shown a decline,” feels Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Alok Kumar. Another positive aspect is an awareness among women of their legal rights and their readiness to lodge a complaint if they are victims of harassment.

Crimes continue

The introduction of the Domestic Violence Act has also emboldened women to come forward and register cases against husbands and in-laws, he adds. However, the usual crimes against women do keep continuing.
Falling back on the cases handled by the Vanitha Sahaya Vani, run inside the Police Commissioner’s office, counsellor Iqbal feels that women do continue to suffer silently. There are so many cases that do not actually come to light at all, he added.

The enhanced educational status of women is definitely not making things better for them, he adds. Iqbal also cited a recent incident which involved the harassment of a woman doctor at the hands of her husband, an engineer as a case in point.

“One area that has shown a definite decline is murder of women for reasons other than dowry,” says Public Relation Officer at the Police Commissionerate N D Mulla.

The UN General Assembly has earmarked the day to raise awareness on violence against women. This followed the brutal assassination in 1960 of three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo.