'Inability of men to accept abilities of women biggest problem'

Inability of men to accept the abilities of women is the biggest problem today. Woman is a creator and a decorator. Man should help her and be along side of her, said Popular Marathi Writer Urmila Pawar.

She was delivering the keynote address at a seminar on 'Atrocities on women: Reasons and dimensions' at Mangalore University on Thursday.

Women have become a commodity in this globalized world. The increasing number of atrocities on women makes one feel demoralized with regard to finding remedies, she regretted.

Atrocities on women is not a new issue, but has been happening for centuries. However, women still respect their husband despite the atrocities. If her husband beats her, she will bring oil not to rub on her wounds but to massage the hands of her husband which are hurt due to the beating. Hence, a woman needs to be understood and taken care with love, she said.

It is very sad, that the society has become very nasty that the women is made responsible on safeguarding herself. She is asked not to dress provocatively, be home in time and also carry chilly powder and knife in her purse for self defense.

Citing a real life incident, she said that a bar girl faced a lot of atrocities to look after her son. The incidents faced by the bar girl affected her young son very badly. The son started looking at his mother as a commodity, a mere woman, and finally even he raped her, she said.

Women have always tried to voice out on women’s problems through literature. However, even this is not received well. Citing example from her own life, she said that she had written a story on a woman who was a mango seller. Men used to take the liberty to poke fun at her and use double meanings on pretext of buying mangoes.

This story showed the turmoil faced by a women and was chosen by the University as a lesson in the syllabus. However, there was severe agitation from various groups demanding the story to be removed from the syllabus as it was obscene.

Finally, the story was retained as the VC and women voiced out that the story showed the difficulty of a women in the society, she added.

Presiding over the programme, Mangalore University VC Professor T C Shivashankara Murthy said that every year there is a 10 per cent increase with regard to atrocities on women.

India ranks fourth in the world, among nations that are unsafe for women. It is shameful, that atrocities are on rise in a country were women are worshiped, he said. Mangalore University has always given importance to issues related to women. The University recently started a association called 'SPARSH' - Sensitisation, Prevention and Redressal of Sexual Harassment, he said.

Session on 'Atrocities on women: social outlook' was taken up by Neela K from Janawadhi Mahila Sanghatanay. Session on 'Atrocities on women: In family' was taken up by Madhubushan from Vimochana Organisation.

Sessions on Atrocities on women on caste grounds, work place harassment, police atrocities were also taken up.