INDIAN WOMEN - IN MOST PATHETIC STATE

Thomson Reuters Foundation made
a worldwide survey in the  safety  of
women. The key areas  were   health care,    discrimination,            cultural traditions,    sexual   violence,    non-
sexual        violence     and     human
trafficking.      According     to     this
survey  India  is  found  to  be      the
most dangerous country for women
in the world.

The details of the findings are:
The world's second most populous
nation, with 1.3 billion people, ranked
as the most  dangerous  on three of
topic questions - the risk of   sexual
violence  and  harrassment  against
women,    the  danger  women  face
from  cultural, tribal  and  traditional
practices,  and  then  country where
women     are   most  in   danger   of
human trafficking including   forced
labour,    sex  slavery  and  domestic
servitude.

The polling result:        (The number   given in each  category is the score of India.     01 is the worst)

Health - (04)    including     maternal mortality,   lack  of  access to health care,    lack   of     control            over reproductive health and    HIV/AIDS.

Discrimination - (03)    including job discrimination,   inability  to  make a livelihood,    discriminatory        land, property or  inheritance  rights,  lack of  access  to  education and lack of access to adequate nutrition.

Culture and Religion - (01)    including acid    attacks,        female     genital mutilation,    child  marriage, punishment/retribution        through stoning  or     physical      abuse    or mutilation  and  female  infanticide/foeticide.

Sexual Violence - (01)      including rape as a weapon of war; domestic rape; rape by stranger;    the lack of access to    justice  in   rape  cases; sexual  harrassment  and coercion   into sex as  a form of corruption.

Non-sexual Violence - (03).   including conflict  related  violence and     forms of  domestic  physical   and mental abuse.

Human Trafficking - (01) including domestic  servitude,  forced labour, forced marriage and sexual slavery.

It   is  an   infamous   title   for    our country  that    'India  is   the   most
unsafe  nation  for   women  in   the world.'  Whatever the  truth  may be    in it we  must  jointly  put  our  best
efforts to erase it.  The  first   effort
must be that both central and state
governments  should   tighten    the
existing   law  for  the  safety     and
protection  of    women.     All     the discriminatory matters prevailing in
our   social  estatablishments   that
need to be   corrected,   what are to     be added to uphold the prestige  of
women and to bring up  the women
to the forefront should be included
in the school syllabus  from  class I
to     class     XII     at      appropriate       intensities.    Educated, well placed
and socially reputed   women   may
go  to  the  lower  strata     of      the
society to educate, strengthen  and
protect     the  suffering  ones.  And also the NGO's  in  the  field    must
offer    adequate   legal              help
to the victims.  Religious     leaders
too can do immense assistance in
this   direction,   at   least, to    their
respective communities.

Let  us  all  put  our  best  efforts to
make India the safest    country for
women in the world.

KV George