Trigger warning: violence against women, acid attack
Acid attack us a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another, with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill. Every year, 250-300 incidents of acid attacks are reported by Indian women.
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Violence against women is a worldwide problem. Women account for half of the world population. Violence against women is not a new phenomenon. It is being perpetrated against women in various forms.
History bears testimony to the fact that women have been the most oppressed and marginalised section of society. The “othering” of women has been canonised through the distorted, historical facts and myths, to justify oppressive social norms and customs that clog their freedom.
This is done so that the illegitimate power of patriarchy can be legitimised insofar as women unquestioningly follow the commandments of men. Incidents of violence against women are skyrocketing day-by-day.
It is because she is considered as an enfeebling and submissive creature on earth. Indeed, it is such inferiority and superiority complexes, which makes them prone to violence.
Women Are Seen As Subservient To Men
Even though men have been given authority over women, socially, this doesn’t mean that they should use their power to satisfy their rapacious and egoistic interests… To satisfy their unquenchable thirst.
Authority of men should operate within the boundaries. Once they transcend these boundaries, it eventually leads to conflict and creates mayhem. It pulverizes the peaceful life of women.
According to Penelope Harvey and Peter Gow, “The history of violence against women is tied into the history of women being viewed as property, and a gender role assigned to be subservient to men.”
It is because of this oppressive and brutal culture that women are still not in a position to live a dignified and honourable life. The institution of patriarchy has made her life very awful and maladroit.
Girls And Boys Are Raised Differently
Violence can’t be merely confined to social and political institutions. Language is a gigantic instrument to justify brutal forms of violence. Even our mental setup is biased to the extent we consider a woman’s clothes to be entirely responsible for disseminating venom and evils in the society.
Contrary to this, a man is hardly held responsible for it. It is preposterous to blame a particular section of society for disseminating venom and evils in society. Having too much prejudice and stereotypical notions regarding women is a faulty process.
It is through this biased process that we are battling the mindset of the upcoming generations, so that the legacy of bias against women will diminish.
Girls, from their very childhood, are encouraged and rewarded for internalising feminine traits, like submissiveness, emotiveness, tenderness, modesty, patience, etc. Whereas, boys are encouraged to be assertive, domineering, aggressive, competitive and ambitious.
The Binary Of Pink And Blue
Hence, a boy acquires masculinity, while a girl acquires femininity, through the process of socialisation. American sociologist and feminist scholar Jessie Bernard argues that everyday life, especially for children under age five, is divided into a pink world for girls and a blue world for boys.
The pink world encourages girls to be emotional and submissive, while the blue world encourages boys to be assertive and independent.
For example, kitchen sets, doll-like real babies etc. are bought for girls, reinforcing the idea of femininity and about being a wife and mother who cares for others.
On the other hand, toys such as model train sets, cars, tools and heroic action figures, present a masculine life centred on active work and adventure, to boys.
Women Are Harassed By In-Laws
Further, the process of reward and punishments tends to reinforce the idea of masculinity and femininity among young children. For example, a boy is rewarded for displaying risk-taking adventurous behaviour, while a girl is discouraged against such behaviour.
Violence against women also takes place in Jammu and Kashmir, on a large scale. It is not only happening within the families, but it also takes place outside the family setup.
Studies carried out regarding violence against women reveal that many women in the region have been physically or mentally abused by their husband, or by their in-laws. In Jammu and Kashmir, 9.6% of women in the age group of 18-49 experienced domestic violence in 2019-’20.
Some of the reasons for violence against women include demands for dowry, interference by in-laws, misunderstanding between the husband and wife, scuffle over giving birth to daughters etc.
Acid Attack In Srinagar
The Jammu and Kashmir State Commission for Women sees thousands of cases of violence against women, every year. A majority of the cases come from the Kashmir valley. As per the commission, harassment by in-laws and demands for dowry, are two of the main reasons for female suicide.
In October 2017, the government of Jammu and Kashmir had launched a women’s helpline number (181) to provide round the clock assistance to women in distress.
According to the data provided by the women’s helpline number, 922 distress calls were recorded between April and September 2020. Purina Dhar, manager at the women’s helpline number, said that her team registers 10 cases on an average, every day.
Adding to this context, the recent acid attack over a 24-year-old woman in Kashmir’s Srinagar, turned the heads of the people of the valley, specifically those families which have more daughters than sons.
IPC Amended To Criminalise Acid Attacks
This attack followed a girl being gruesomely attacked with acid a couple of months ago, in the Shopian district. The acid attack has become a dreadful issue. Men have discovered a sick way of destroying women’s faces and lives.
The motivation behind this crime is very basic: refusal to marry, have sex, indulge in romance, rejection of love proposals etc. Hatred, envy and humiliation instigate the perpetrators to hurt women.
Although, in 2013, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act was passed by the legislature, which inserted Sections 326A and 326B under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), particularly to deal with the cases of acid attacks in India.
This modification includes the various injuries inflicted upon women, the punishment for an attempt to attack, the pre-planning or administering of the act, and the compensation to be awarded to the survivors.
Merely Framing Laws Is Not Enough
This amendment also inserted provisions for the compensation to the victim i.e., Sections 375B and 357C of the CrPc (Code of Criminal Procedure). Not only will compensation be provided by the state, but it will also provide the survivors with free medical treatment.
Also, the right of private defense under Section 100 of the IPC was extended. But, are these laws successful? Why is this crime not changing its position? The laws which were formed to deal with the acid attacks were strong steps taken by the judiciary.
But, there was no significant drop in the number of acid attack cases in India. The laws focused mainly on punishing the convicts rather than eliminating this problem, or preventing the attacks. The laws have not been so successful.
Just framing the laws is not a solution. For a law to be successful, it needs proper implementation and enactment. The Indian judicial system is always overloaded with cases. So, it takes years for one case to be solved.
What About The Survivors’ Right To Life?
If there is an acid attack, and the survivor files a case to get the convict punished and compensation for the treatment, then it will take a minimum of two to three years (or more) to get justice.
Till then, the survivor would have gone through various kinds of trauma, pain, and will be forced to live with a disfigured face and/or body till she receives the compensation. This is why these laws have not been so successful in fighting this problem.
It is pertinent to note that this has augmented a black stain over Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Article 21 states that, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
“Life” in Article 21 is not simply about the physical act of breathing. It does not connote mere animal sensibility, or a continued struggle through life. It has a much broader meaning, including the right to live with human satisfaction, livelihood, health, pollution-free air etc.
End Acid Attacks Now!
In Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court noted that:
“By the term ‘life’ as here used, something more is meant than mere animal existence. The inhibition against its deprivation extends to all those limbs and faculties by which life is enjoyed. The provision equally prohibits the mutilation of the body by amputation of an armoured leg or the pulling out of an eye, or the destruction of any other organ of the body through which the soul communicates with the outer world.”
So, why is such violence and deprivation of life inflicted on a particular section of the society? When will women stop being dragged into the margins of the superiority-inferiority prism?
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About the authors:
Mir Tajamul Islam is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in legislative law from the school of law, University of Kashmir. Mir can be reached at mirtajamulislam2@gmail.com
Aarif Rashid Malik has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Kashmir. Arif can be reached at arifrashid636@gmail.com