'Safety measures make women more unsafe'

Freedom is taken away from women, on the pretext of tradition, and her rights are denied in the name of safety, said All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) Secretary Kavitha Krishnan.

“These steps – which are meant to ensure the safety of a woman – however, make her more unsafe,” said the women’s rights activist.

She was speaking at a programme organised at St Aloysius College in Mangaluru on Monday by the Citizen Forum for Mangalore Development and St Aloysius College Women’s Cell.

Stating that instilling fear is a method used to forcefully discipline women and to curtail their rights, Kavitha said that a woman’s ideas are not accepted in spite of knowing that she is correct. She demanded that women be allowed to safeguard their freedom. “Dress code and time limitations, which are forcefully loaded on them, do not mean to make them strong. Owing to their selfish motives, some forces do not want women to progress. Women are, instead, disciplined on the pretext of tradition and this happens in most of the religions,” Kavitha said.

“Even in the modern global market, women workers are not allowed to use mobile phones and they are made to stay in hostels so that they do not socialise with people or form unions, flouting labour laws. This is done only with an intention of making profits. This kind of situation exists in garment factories in Karnataka and other states,” the activist said.

She lamented that those who fight for the rights of adivasis and dalits are branded as anti-nationals. “Even during the regime of the UPA government in the Centre, the activists of Kudankulam nuclear plant, who protested against the project in Tamil Nadu, were foisted with cases of sedition, by the government,” she reminded.

Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim and Citizen Forum for Mangalore Development President Vidya Dinker were present during the talk.
DH News Service