Protesters

"We want justice! We want justice!"
"Hang the rapists! Hang the rapists!"
"Enough is enough!"
"Respect - give women respect!"

"Excuse me, excuse me. Can you tell our viewers why you're here today?"
"Because enough is enough! The women population can't go on being attacked like animals!"
"So that's why you've been out here all night and today? Ma'am, what about you? How long have you been out here?"

"Over 18 hours and we'll stay until the animals who did this are caught and the police apologize for the lack of care! Their apathy might be costing another life! Our society is not breaking, it's broken and we are here, so many women and so many men, because we want to fix it! It is simple, the solution is simple!"

"What is the solution?"
"Stop treating us women like we are lesser than men! Simple!"
"And you, ma'am, what's your view?"
"We want justice for the victims, compassion and action from the police and accountability from our judicial system. Nine times the amount of recorded rapes go unreported and of those that do, only 25% of those rapists actually get prosecuted! We need fast track, special courts that speed up such cases and encourage more victims to come forward and feel confident they will get justice!"
"Are you not afraid that such a fast track system might though, ma'am, bear with me, please, ma'am, some say, it might increase false accusations?"

"No one is saying we want to increase those wrongly accused. Absolutely not! And the women who do use laws meant to protect them as tools of vengeance should do time themselves! I have no issue with that. They are a menace to society who only hurt truly vulnerable women in the end. But let us not assume they are the majority or even anything other than a minority. Let us not use the police's line that, 'These women are really asking for it, they just use rape to get money from their men.' As soon as you believe that, that the majority of rape victims are, you know, like 'bhediya aaya, bhediya aaya,' crying wolf or liars, basically, then we are all done for. You really think in this country a woman wants to lie and shout, 'I was raped?' It is not an easy thing to say, believe me! Not so many would lie about such a thing!"

08
Table Of Contents

JAW DROPPING ENLIGHTENMENT

Some of India's less progressive minds tackle
the problem of rape

"It is sometimes right and sometimes wrong." -
Babulal Gaur, Home Minister Madhya Pradesh
"Boys will be boys, they make mistakes... Will you hang them for rape?" -
Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief
"Just because India achieved freedom at midnight does not mean that women can venture out after dark." -
Botsa Satyanarayan, INC legislature from state assembly of Andhra Pradesh
"Rapes take place also because of a woman's clothes, her behavior and her presence at inappropriate places." -
Asha Mirje, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and a member of the Maharashtra Women's Commission
"I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady." -
Manohar Lal Sharma, defense lawyer in Delhi Dec 16, 2012 gang rape case

For more read:

Short skirts, bad stars and chow mein: why India's women get raped - Reuters

Political potshots: Why me, asks modern woman - Times of India

Shut up, please! - Newslaundry.com

C R Y I N G   W O L F

P R O S T I T U T E

A T T E N T I O N
S E E K E R

J I L T E D
F I A N C E

V E N D E T T A

M E N D A C I T Y

F I R E D
M A I D

D I S A P P R O V I N G
P A R E N T S

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The tyranny of tradition

"What drives otherwise-decent people to suffocate or drown newborn girls? Simply put, girls are often an unbearable burden. The practice of giving dowry for marriage is entrenched in all strata of society, and dowry demands can financially cripple poor families. In some parts of India, ancient property laws mean that only sons can inherit land. Through this cultural lens, sons are inevitably viewed as a form of family insurance. Sex-determination techniques mean that parents don't even need to wait for their girls to be born before killing them." (The Lancet 2/2011).
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TO BE USED

Click on the pictures for more.

Artist: Siddharth Sarathi

"Nirbhaya" is one of the many nicknames given to the Dec 16 rape victim as it's illegal to publicise a rape victim's real name. Other nicknames were, Damini (lightning), Jagruti (awareness), Amanat (treasure).

child_marraige Form Video Sexual Abuse cradle_to_grave HITTING FETUS RIP

The tyranny of tradition

"In countries like India, female infanticide is perpetuated by a fierce social pressure that favours boys. But what drives otherwise-decent people to suffocate or drown newborn girls? Simply put, girls are often an unbearable burden."
(The Lancet 2/2011)
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Women in India are routinely asked to give their husband or father's name on forms and applications - whether it be official tax forms, bank applications, a doctor's office registration, even resident association membership forms - underlining the inference that women are not individuals of equal status to men, but the possession or wards of men.
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CRADLE TO GRAVE

Many Indian women are trapped in the
dark ages

"It's a miracle a woman survives in India. Even before she is born, she is at risk of being aborted. As a child, she faces abuse, rape and early marriage and even when she marries, she is killed for dowry. If she survives all of this, as a widow she is discriminated against and given no rights over inheritance or property." Read more