JOIN USThe Supreme Court on Friday said a complete change in mindset is needed to deal with rising crimes against women as stringent laws and punishment alone cannot win the battle for gender justice.
Justice R Banumathi, who was part of the bench that upheld death penalty for four convicts in 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, suggested making gender equality a part of school curriculum.
“The battle for gender justice can be won only with strict implementation of legislative provisions, sensitisation of public, taking other pro-active steps at all levels for combating violence against women and ensuring widespread attitudinal change and comprehensive change in existing mindset,” she said, in a separate verdict.
The court cited National Crime Records Bureau’s ‘Crime in India 2015’ report, which put the total crimes against women in 2015 at 3,27,394 cases, an increase of more than 43% since 2011.
It also noted a change of 110.5% in the cases of crimes against women in the past decade (2005 to 2015). The overall crime rate under the head ‘crimes against women,’ was reported as 53.9% in 2015, with Delhi at the top spot.
Maintaining that the increased rate of crimes against women is an area of concern for the lawmakers, the court said, "Offences against women are not women’s issue alone, but a human rights issue.”