Unit 20: FORM & EXTENT OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Structure
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Objectives
20.3 Forms and Magnitude of Gender Based Violence
20.4 Caste Based Violence
20.5 Communal Violence
20.6 Gender Based Violence by security Forces
20.7 Witch Hunting
20.8 Let Us Sum Up
20.9 Answers to Check your Progress
20.10 Unit End Questions
20.11 References

20.1 INTRODUCTION
The term gender-based violence (GBV) is used to distinguish violence that targets
individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender from other forms of
violence by individuals and collectivities. It includes acts that result in, or is likely to
result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm. A threat of such acts, coercion and
arbitrary deprivation of liberty are also forms of gender-based violence. Such gender-
based violence might occur within the family, in the community during “peace times” or
times of conflict, or by state agents. It may be perpetrated by family members,
acquaintances, strangers or intimate partners including husbands.

Gender-based violence is perhaps one of the most widespread and socially tolerated
forms of violence prevalent in the world. Gender-based violence occurring in the family
includes domestic violence, sexual abuse of children in the household, dowry-related
violence, rape and incestual rape by family members, „honour killings‟, female genital
mutilation and other traditional practices that are harmful. Violence perpetrated in the
community includes rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment at workplace and other public

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places, acid-throwing, „witch-hunting‟, trafficking in women and children and forced
prostitution. In addition, gender-based violence is also perpetrated by / in connivance
with state agencies, or condoned by them, either through explicit / implicit policies or
through actions of public officials. Further, it is perpetrated in contexts of war and
internal armed conflict, where women are targeted for special forms of sexual and
gender-based violence as a way of punishing the enemy or teaching the enemy a lesson.

While violence is a traumatic experience for anyone – man, woman or child – gender-
based violence is predominantly inflicted by men on women and girls by reason of their
gender. It impacts women‟s dignity, security, sexuality, reproductive capacity and their
right to control over their own body (autonomy), apart from its over-arching impact on
physical and mental health of women. Gender-based violence stems from the power
inequality between men and women, exacerbated by socio-economic, cultural and
structural inequalities. Rooted in women‟s subordinate status, it is linked both to the
institution of patriarchy as well as the concept of masculinity. Violence against lesbians,
gays, bisexuals and transgendered people is an illustration of how gender-based violence
also results from the tension between mainstream and alternative understandings and
practices related to sexuality.

Part I of this Unit focuses on witch-hunting and gender-based violence in contexts of

mass crimes such as communal violence, caste-based violence and violence by security
forces, while Part II of this Unit focuses on other forms of gender-based violence
perpetuated by the family and community, including female genital mutilation, “honour”
killings, domestic violence, sex-selective abortions, violence against adivasis and
trafficking in women.
20.2 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this unit are as follows:
 To illustrate forms of gender-based violence and the extent of their prevalence in
India and elsewhere;
 To identify causes and consequences of such violence; and

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  To highlight various ways of addressing and responding to such violence, including
through law and social action.

. 20.3 FORMS & MAGNITUDE OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Gender-based violence has been shrouded by a culture of silence and tolerance for a long
time. It is difficult to access reliable statistics on the same, as the violence is under-
reported due to stigma, shame and fear of reprisal. However, some facts & statistics
about gender-based violence are as follows:
 Domestic violence is the most common form of gender-based violence. Based on a
survey, in various countries, 10% - 65% women are subjected to domestic
violence;1
 In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, between 40 and 70
per cent of female murder victims were killed by their male partners, many of them
when they try to leave an abusive partner or soon afterwards;2
 Worldwide, an estimated one in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted
rape in her lifetime;3
 One in three will have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused, usually
by a family member or an acquaintance;4
 More than 60 million girls are "missing'' in Asia as per 2005 statistics, due to sex-
selective abortions;5
 Sex selective abortions and female feticide are also prevalent in China, Eastern
Mediterranean and a few East Asian countries;6

1
Heise, Ellsberg, and Gottemoeller 1999. Cited in: UN Millennium Project 2005a, p. 113.
2
Krug, E., et al. (eds.). 2002. World Report on Violence and Health. Geneva: WHO.
3
UN Millennium Project. 2005a. Taking Action: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women.
Task Force on Education and Gender Equality. London and Sterling, Virginia: Earthscan.
4
Heise, L., M. Ellsberg, and M.Gottemoeller. 1999. "Ending Violence against Women." Population
Reports. Series L. No. 11. Baltimore, Maryland: Population Information Program, Johns Hopkins
University School of Public Health.
5
The Hindu, 14 October 2005
6
Ibid

3
  Between 100 and 140 million girls worldwide have been subjected to female genital
mutilation, by which external female genitals are partially or totally removed for
non-medical reasons;7
 Between 600,000 and 800,000 individuals are trafficked each year for forced
labour, the majority for commercial sexual exploitation; approximately 80% of
them are women and girls, and 50% are minors;8
 „Witch-hunting‟ is now an international phenomenon; women and children have
been murdered, humiliated, tortured and persecuted after being accused of being
witches, destroying lives of millions of people;
 In India, adivasi, dalit, single and elderly women are the worst-victims of witch-
hunting, which is often a ploy to grab their property, camouflaged by superstition
and traditional practices;
 At least 5000 „honour killings‟ (where predominantly women are killed by family
members in order to save perceived family honour) take place worldwide every
year;9 and
 Sexual harassment at workplace is a form of gender-based violence prevalent in
many countries; about 47% of working women in India have experienced some
form of sexual harassment over the course of their work.10

Statistics derived from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) give an indication of
selected gender-based crimes against women in India over the years. Table 1 below
gives the statistics for selected crimes against women in 2008. (Statistics of 2009 have
not been published by NCRB yet). The table indicates that among various categories of

7
World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/index.html
(accessed on 14 October 2009)
8
United States Department of State. 2005. Trafficking in Persons Report: June 2005. Washington, D.C.:
United States Department of State.
9
^ "A Human Rights and Health Priority". United Nations Population Fund.
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2000/english/ch03.html. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
10
Study conducted by National Commission for Women, referred to in
http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=6140&rss=ec-main.xml. (accessed on 27

January 2009)

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gender-based violence, the highest number of cases have been reported of domestic
violence (cruelty by husband and relatives), yet the conviction rate (rate at which the
accused persons are held guilty of the crime by courts of law) is lower than most other
categories. Table 2 below provides a snapshot of the incidence of selected crimes against
women registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, in the years 2000-
2007. The comparative figures reflect a steady increase in crimes against women over
the years in most categories. This is further reiterated through Graph 3 below, which
indicates the incidence of selected crimes against women in the years 2003-2007. The
limitation with these statistics is that they reflect only the crimes registered with the
police. Since there are many cases of crimes against women which go unreported /
unregistered, the statistics are only an indication and not a true reflection of the extent
and magnitude of gender-based crimes against women in India.

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 Table 1
CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA, 2008

Crime heads Cases % to total Rate of Charge- Conviction

reported crimes crime sheeting rate
registered rate
under
Indian
Penal
Code
Cruelty by husband and 81344 3.9 7.1 93.7 22.4
relatives
Rape 21467 1.0 1.9 93.9 26.6
Molestation 40413 1.9 3.5 96.1 31.7
Sexual harassment 12214 0.6 1.1 96.8 50.5
Kidnapping & Abduction 22939 1.1 2.0 74.1 27.1
of Women & Girls
Dowry deaths 8172 0.4 0.7 92.8 33.4
Importation of girls 67 0.0 0.0 72.2 12.3
Total Crimes Against 195856 9.4 17.0 92.5 30.1
Women (IPC crimes +
Special Laws)

Source: National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi

Note: These statistics are derived from complaints registered with the police; there are
many more crimes under each category that are unreported / where complaints are not
registered, which are not reflected by these statistics.

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 Table 2
INCIDENCE OF SELECTED CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN
REGISTERED UNDER THE INDIAN PENAL CODE, 2000-2008

Year Cruelty by Rape Molestation Sexual Dowry Importation

husband & harassment deaths of girls
relatives
2000 45778 16496 32940 11024 6995 64
2001 49170 16075 34124 9746 6851 114
2002 49237 16373 33943 10155 6822 76
2003 50703 15847 32939 12325 6208 46
2004 58121 18233 34567 10001 7026 89
2005 58319 18359 34175 9984 6787 149
2006 63128 19348 36617 9966 7618 67
2007 75930 20737 38734 10950 8093 61
2008 81344 21467 40413 12214 8172 67

Source: National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi
Note: Crimes such as acid-throwing, honour-killing, sex-selective abortions and witch-hunting have not been categorized separately
in the statistics of NCRB.

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 Graph 3: Incidence of Crimes Against Women 2003-2007

Source: National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi

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CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. How is gender-based violence different from other forms of violence?

2. What is the impact of gender-based violence on women?

3. Why does GBV occur?

4. Name some forms of GBV.

20.4 CASTE-BASED VIOLENCE

Historically, India has a highly stratified social structure with a hierarchy of castes. Though
it may have started as a system for allocation of work, the caste system now has pre-
determined and hierarchical division of rights. The „untouchables‟ (dalits), placed at the
bottom of the caste hierarchy, have been deprived of basic human rights including the right to
live with dignity. Strong social and religious norms, including social ostracism, have
supported such a deprivation of rights and enforced the caste system. Support for such caste-
based and gender-based violence is often derived from Hindu religious texts such as the
Manusmriti, which states: “A Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya man can sexually exploit any
Shudra woman.”11

Violence has been used to prevent dalits from moving up the social, political and economic
ladder and to maintain status quo. Further, for the vast majority of dalits who are agricultural
labourers, inequitable distribution of land, and preventing them from tilling the land or taking
its produce has resulted in flash points of violence, particularly when dalits try to assert their
rights. In states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, when the established and exploitative feudal
systems were challenged, this met with violent and brutal resistance from the landlords,
through formations of private militias of „upper castes‟ such as the Ranbir Sena.

Dalit women, who constitute atleast 80 million and form about 48% of the dalit population,
face brutal sexual assault due to a combination of their caste, class and gender identities. For

11
Manusmriti IX.25

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this reason, it has often been asserted that dalit women are a distinct social group who cannot
be masked under the general categories of „women‟ or „dalits‟. Dalit women are often a soft
target for violence, as they lack the power of retaliation. Apart from a denial of access to
public places such as places of worship and wells, gender-based violence on dalit women
include extreme filthy verbal abuse of a sexual nature, naked parading, dismemberment,
forced to drink urine and faeces, branding, pulling out of teeth/tongue/nail, rape, rape in
public and in the presence of family members, other forms of assault and violence including
murder by proclaiming them as witches. Most economic, social, political, educational and
personal avenues for dalit women‟s empowerment are closed to them due to social structures
and systems.

Major contexts for gender-based violence include demand for payment of wages, land and
property disputes, bonded or forced labour, access to water, indebtedness, compulsion to
perform traditional and degrading jobs. For example, at least 1.5 million women are involved
in manual scavenging. Manual scavenging is the manual removal of human excreta from
“dry toilets”, and is a degrading job. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and
Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition Act) 1993 is a law that bans manual scavenging
and punishing offenders for employing manual scavengers and for construction of dry
latrines. Despite the law, the degrading practice continues.

Gender-based violence has been further institutionalized through the devdasi and jogini
systems, which perpetuate sexual exploitation of women from weaker sections of society,
including dalits. Under such system, though the girls and women are notionally married to
god, they are forced to offer sexual services to members of “upper”castes. According to a
Human Rights Watch report of 1992, approximately 50,000 girls sold to Hindu organizations
per year.

Perpetrators of caste-based violence against dalit women are largely members of „upper
castes‟, with the support of public officials including the police. Though the flashpoints of
caste-based violence, particularly on dalit women, may sometimes be spontaneous and at
other times planned, what generally follows is a pattern of police connivance with the
dominant community, indicated by a failure to register cases, lodging false allegations and
complaints against the victims / survivors and human rights defenders who support them.
Such practices have made implementation of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe (Prevention

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of Atrocities) Act (popularly referred to SC / ST Act) – a law that recognized the need for
extra protection to vulnerable groups – weak and ineffective. While no perpetrator practised
untouchability when it came to rape, „untouchability‟ has often been used as a defence by the
perpetrator during trials for such crimes.

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 Box:1 CASE STUDY 1: SEXUAL ASSAULT OF BHANWARI DEVI

Bhanwari Devi was a saathin worker – worker of the Women‟s Development Programme of
the government of Rajasthan. She educated villagers about the evils of child marriage, in a
conservative society where child marriages were predominant and the caste system practiced
rigorously. She belonged to a community of potters, considered low in the caste system. The
“upper” caste men of the Gujjar community were angered by her work, and decided to teach
her a lesson by 5 men brutally raping her in the presence of her husband in 1992. Instead of
leaving her village, she fought for justice through the criminal legal system. The trial court
judgment went against her and all 5 persons were acquitted, and the judgment said that since
she was a dalit and the accused persons were “upper caste” men, they could not have possibly
raped her. Later, the High Court judgment stated that it was a case of “gang rape committed
out of vengeance”. As a part of the campaign, women‟s groups filed a petition before the
Supreme Court, leading to the historic judgment in Vishakha vs. State of Rajasthan, where
the court issued guidelines for preventing sexual harassment at the workplace.

Her rapists offered her compensation to withdraw the case. Her reply to them: "Tell our
village elders you raped me, restore my dignity." Her entire family withdrew support because
they felt she should have compromised and withdrawn the case. Bhanwari was not able to
get her rapist punished. But her fight has resulted in a law for sexual harassment against
women all over India and she has become a source of inspiration for lot of rape victims. And
she fought against her rapist all along, living in the same village with her head held high. Her
husband stood by her throughout the process. Bhanwari Devi continues to have the courage
and the humanity to continue her social work in her village, and to talk of rights and change
and laws...

Bhanwari Devi‟s traumatic experience in being targeted for gender-based violence by “upper
caste” men for being an agent of change, and her subsequent struggle for justice, where she
challenged patriarchal and castist mindsets with regard to violence against dalit women and
the need for protection from the state, illustrates to us the enormity of the problem and the
difficulties in addressing the same.

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 Box :2 CASE STUDY 2: THE KHAIRLANJI MASSACRE

On 29 Sep 2006 – 4 members of the Bhotmange family were killed in Khairlanji, a small
village in Bhandara district in the state of Maharashtra. The victims were Surekha – the
mother, aged 44 and Priyanka, daughter aged 18, and sons aged 23 and 21. The father –
Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange – a dalit farmer – was the sole survivor of the attack. All four victims
were stripped naked, dragged to an open ground, Surekha and Priyanka were brutally raped
and sexually assaulted in a barbaric manner in full public view for over an hour, before all
four victims were hacked to death. The sons too were stabbed repeatedly and their private
parts mutilated. The family belonged to the Kunbi caste, considered a “backward” caste.
Their bodies were thrown into a canal.

The barbaric attacks stemmed from the family‟s act of resisting land-grabbing of five acres of
land they owned, by “upper caste” members of the community they lived in. The family
reclaimed the land that was encroached upon by the villagers, and farmed the entire five acres
of their land in 2006. Surekha had testified against the villagers who had assaulted her cousin
for supporting her fight in getting back their portion of land. This had led to the villagers‟
arrest, who avenged the humiliation after getting bail. Bhaiyyalal is reported to have said that
Surekha‟s “fault” was that she challenged the village “upper-caste” landlords, who wanted
their land to have a road built over it.
Although investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) revealed that the
women were not raped, there are allegations of bribery of doctors who performed post-
mortem, and that the local police shielded the alleged perpetrators in the ongoing
investigation. The state Home Minister R R Patil admitted to initial lapses in police
investigation and said that five policemen suspended in killings have been sacked. Though
the crimes were committed in full public view, there were hardly any witnesses as the
villagers were under strict orders not to speak about the incident. Despite this, the verdict in
this case, pronounced on 15 September 2008 by the Bhandara sessions court, held eight
people guilty of murder and acquitted three. Six out of the eight persons were subsequently
awarded death sentence, while two others were given life imprisonment.. Appeal against the
judgment is pending.
This case study highlights the following facts:

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 Vulnerability of dalit families who challenge established norms and unjust practices by
members of the dominant castes and classes;
 Brutality of attacks on dalit women, and the sexual nature of such brutalities;
 While predominantly women are targeted for attacks of a sexual nature, these are
sometimes committed against men too, such as those against the sons whose sexual
organs were mutilated in this case;
 Absence of witness protection laws makes further exposes victims to the risk of reprisal;
and
 Connivance of dominant castes and the state administration in the crimes, including the
police and the doctors, which makes justice more difficult.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

5. Why are dalit women considered a separate social category, distinct from
‘dalits’ and ‘women’?

6. Who is Bhanwari Devi? What does her experience teach us?

7. What happened in Khairlanji? Why is it an example of GBV?

20.5 COMMUNAL VIOLENCE

The common understanding of the term „communal violence‟ is commission of crimes on a

group of people based on their religious identity. There has been a historic neglect in making
persons accountable for gender-based violence in contexts of communal violence in India.
The Partition of British India in 1947, which created the two independent states of India and
Pakistan, was followed by extreme violence, mass migration and ethnic cleansing. The
religious fury and violence that it unleashed caused the deaths of some 2 million Hindus,
Muslims and Sikhs. An estimated 12 to 15 million people were forcibly transferred between
the two countries. Thousands of women were raped; many were tortured, abducted and
looted. In totality, it left the whole population fully terrorized with chaos and confusion
prevailing all over the place. In the context of the Partition, gender-based violence against

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women, though individual in character, was mass in scale. No prosecutions have been
initiated against the perpetrators and like in most cases, perpetrators have escaped with
impunity. Justice for the crimes against women became impossible because many
perpetrators were across the border, and the needs of women survivors came to be accorded a
low priority. In the joy of independence, justice for gender-based violence was side-stepped.

The post-independent era has seen many situations of communal violence. In the Nellie
massacre of 1983 in Assam, where Bengali-speaking Muslims were targeted and killed in
thousands, women were attacked in barbaric ways. Mass crimes against women were also
committed in the context of the anti-Sikh massacre in Delhi in 1984, which took place after
the assassination of erstwhile Prime Minister Ms. Indira Gandhi. The struggle for justice has
extended beyond two decades, with little justice being meted out. Even sixteen years later,
survivors of sexual violence hoped for justice when the Nanavati Commission was appointed
in 2000, and five specific affidavits on sexual violence were filed.

In 1992, subsequent to the destruction of Babri Masjid, communal violence erupted in many
parts of the country, including in Mumbai and Surat, where again, women were targeted for
specific kinds of brutalities. During the Gujarat carnage of 2002, gender-based violence and
sexual violence were not only widespread, but also played a fundamental role as an engine
for mobilizing hatred and destruction against religious minorities. The communal attacks in
Kandhamal, Orissa, in 2007 and 2008, again illustrate the targeting of women for gender-
based violence. The experience of a Catholic nun - Sister Meena - of being molested and
gang-raped by a raging mob with police as by-standers illustrates to us the brutality of attacks
against women in communal contexts, and the complicity of public officials in the same.

While there have been a few success stories of women survivors‟ struggle for justice, such as
that of Bilkis Bano from Gujarat, for every woman survivor who speaks out, there are
hundreds and thousands more who have suffered in silence and who have been unable to
demand justice for the violations inflicted on them. Lack of political will to prosecute
perpetrators, inadequacy of laws and procedures to deal with mass crimes, lack of impartial
investigation and prosecution of such crimes and a lack of sensitivity to victims‟ experiences
and needs have been among some of the major hurdles in women‟s access to justice in
contexts of communal violence.

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Gender-based violence in communal contexts that has been documented in recent times in
India, include public and mass acts of sexual violence such as cutting off breasts and uterus,
forced nudity, stripping and parading women naked, forcible pregnancy, exhibiting sexual
organs in the presence of women and mutilation of women‟s genital organs. Against this
backdrop, the existing criminal law has been found grossly inadequate as it does not capture
the various kinds of violence inflicted on women in communal situations.

Further, in situations of communal violence, women‟s access to police stations (for lodging
FIR), government hospitals (for medical examinations) and the confidence / ability to pursue
legal procedures is substantially reduced during the period of the violence and until the return
to a safe and non hostile environment for the survivors of the violence. Hence, appropriate
evidentiary and procedural standards are imperative, including conducting of investigations
in a gender-sensitive manner.

Pursuant to its assurance in the Common Minimum Programme in 2004 that a model
legislation on communal violence would be enacted, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
government had introduced two versions of the Bill – Communal Violence (Suppression) Bill
in July 2005, which faced heavy criticism and was improved and re-introduced in the
parliament as Communal Violence (Prevention, Control & Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill in
December 2005. Due to severe public criticism, this latter version of the Bill was referred to
a Parliamentary Standing Committee for Home Affairs for its consideration. The Committee
gave its recommendations to the government, which were tabled in the Parliament
subsequently. Meanwhile, civil society groups had a series of public meetings in many cities,
rejecting the Bill in its present form. In January 2008 the Prime Minister‟s office requested
some civil society groups which had been closely engaged with the Bill for a new draft of the
law, which was then submitted to the government on 24 January 2008. The government is
yet to formulate and present a new draft law on communal violence in the Parliament.

One of the major criticisms against the government drafts is that they make sexual and
gender-based violence against women in communal contexts invisible, by failing to
acknowledge, address or remedy the major hurdles that have contributed to women‟s poor
access to justice in the context of communal violence. It has also been stated by members of
civil society that the Bill has dealt with gender-based violence in general, and sexual violence
in particular, in a callous and casual manner, despite the fact that gender-based violence has

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played a fundamental role as an engine for mobilizing hatred and destruction against religious
minorities in recent times.

Box:3 CASE STUDY 3: GANG RAPE OF BILKIS YAKUB RASOOL

Bilkis Yakoob Rasool alias Bilkis Bano, a resident of Radhikpur village in Dahod district of
Gujarat, was 19 years old and five months pregnant in March 2002. She along with 16 others
including her mother, sisters and three year old daughter, fled from their village on 28
February 2002 when rampaging mobs attacked the village. They hid in a field, hoping to
escape, but were attacked the next morning by a mob of 20-30 men carrying swords and
sickles. Bilkis, her mother and sisters were gang-raped. Her daughter was killed after being
„smashed‟ on the ground. She was gang-raped by fellow villagers - people she had known
since her childhood. In the violence, she lost 14 family members. Bilkis survived the attack
by pretending that she was dead. Then with the help of a home guard and along with her six-
year old nephew and a three-year old boy who survived the attack, Bilkis courageously
walked to a police station in a traumatized condition to lodge a complaint, borrowing clothes
from an adivasi woman on the way to cover herself.
She filed a complaint with the police, accusing 14 men of rape, murder and rioting. Initially,
she was coerced into withdrawing her story. When she refused, the police delayed the
investigation, refused to believe Bilkis‟s complaint. Their laxity eventually resulted in the
accused securing bail. Subsequently the Gujarat government closed the case citing technical
reasons.
With support from various activists, organizations and the National Human Rights
Commission, Bilkis petitioned the Supreme Court, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of
Investigation. Based on a report from a senior police officer in Gujarat, which pointed out
several acts of negligence on the part of the local police, the Supreme Court directed the CBI
to investigate the case. The CBI discovered that local policemen had buried some of her
relatives' bodies with salt to speed up decomposition. In addition, after post mortem, the
heads of some bodies had been severed to avoid identification. The agency exhumed the
skeletons and sent them for forensic tests. Subsequently, 20 persons were accused and
charge-sheeted by the CBI, including six police officials for tampering with the investigation
and shielding the guilty, and two doctors for fabricating the evidence. In the meantime,
taking cue from the Best Bakery case involving Zahira Sheikh, Bilkis sought a transfer of the
case outside Gujarat saying that conditions were not suitable for a fair trial. In August 2003,

17
the Supreme Court transferred her case to Maharashtra, as it apprehended harm to the
witnesses if the trial continued in the Gujarat courts. This was based on Bilkis testifying to
the court that she, her relatives and other witnesses had been threatened by the accused and
their supporters.
In January 2008, 12 persons were convicted by the sessions court in Mumbai, including a
police official for lodging a false First Information Report (FIR). Bilkis, in a statement soon
after the transfer of the case to Mumbai, said, "Today, along with a sense of hope I am also
filled with sadness because I know the manner in which sexual violence was systematically
used against so many women of my community in the Gujarat carnage of 2002. I am not the
only one. There are many women out there whose names and faces I do not know but whose
pain I can feel."
Many factors contributed to attaining justice in Bilkis‟ case, including the incredible courage
and determination that Bilkis had, the continued support from her husband, relatives, friends,
activists and organizations, the decision to hold the trial in camera (behind closed doors)
which instilled confidence in the witnesses, and positive interventions by the CBI and the
Supreme Court.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

8. Why is it so difficult for survivors to access justice and to make perpetrators

accountable for gender-based violence in contexts of communal violence?

9. What are the shortcomings of the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control

& Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill 2005, with particular reference to gender-
based violence?
20.6 GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE BY SECURITY FORCES
The history of South Asia is marked with internal conflicts, in which women have often not
been merely incidental targets. The Bangladeshi independence struggle in 1971 was sought
to be crushed by Pakistani forces through an extermination of students, intellectuals and
women. Women were targeted for systematic brutality, resulting in a mass rape of 200,000 –
400,000 Bangladeshi women. Reports state that 80% of raped women were Muslims, but
Hindu and Christian women were not exempt. In Nepal, the decade long armed conflict
between the government and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was characterized by
consistent patterns of impunity for serious human rights abuses, including sexual violence. In

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Afghanistan, systematic rape campaigns and widespread sexual violence against women has
been a feature in all recent stages of political upheaval in Afghanistan - the Afghan civil war
between 1979 and 1989, the infighting among various mujahideen warlords after the Soviet
withdrawal, during Afghanistan's civil war period in the early 1990s, and subsequently under
the Taliban regime with its tyrannical policies on women. In Sri Lanka, rape has been used
as a weapon of war in the conflict, both by government forces (to subjugate the Tamil
population and in retaliation of the LTTE) and by LTTE. Many women are reported to have
joined the LTTE to protect themselves against sexual violence. Moreover, the role of Indian
Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) from 1987 onwards in raping women in Sri Lanka, till the
troops were withdrawn in 1990, cannot be forgotten. In Pakistan, in a long-standing
simmering violence between Balochis (tribal militias) and security / paramilitary forces, the
political demands of Balochis have been violently crushed by the government through
various tactics that include sexual violence against women. The brutal rape of Dr. Shazia
Khalid is one such example. In Burma, since 1990s, the Burmese military regime has given a
license to rape, as indicated by systematic sexual violence by military against Chin minority
women, against women in central Shan state, and in Karen state. The practice of conscription
of women for sexual slavery and forced labour by Burmese military regime is reported to be
rampant.
India is not without its share of gender-based violence by security forces, including the
police, armed forces and paramilitary forces. There is a heavy deployment of armed forces in
the state of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the North Eastern states, in an effort to address
insurgency. There have been violent confrontations between the poor - whose agricultural
lands are sought to be acquired by the state in the name of “development” - and the rich and
powerful corporations, backed by police – who appropriate such lands for industrial and
mining purposes. Singur and Nandigram (West Bengal) and Kalinga Nagar (Orissa) are some
sites of violence. In addition, an armed offensive takes place in the adivasi-dominant areas of
Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and other states in the „Red Corridor‟, purportedly to counter
Naxal violence. In Chhattisgarh, many members of Salwa Judum – a state-backed local
militia created purportedly to counter the Naxals – have been hired and armed by the state
police as Special Police Officers (SPOs).

Though these contexts seem disparate, they share two commonalities: a) the use of state-
initiated and state-backed violence against a section of India‟s own people; and b)

19
targeted sexual attacks on women, more as a rule than an exception. Women are pitted, on
one hand, against the might of the state, armed with physical, financial, military power as
well as the power of the law, and on the other hand, against armed opposition groups that
have a variety of demands ranging from greater autonomy within a state to secession and
creation of an independent state. Women are often impacted by both the parties to the
conflict. However, far from the notion of women being passive and helpless victims, women
have been survivors and active agents exhibiting resilience, demanding justice and
accountability, and negotiating peace with both sides to the conflict.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern states (Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and
Tripura in particular) have witnessed a violent state repression of voices of political dissent
for many decades now. In both these situations, the security forces as well as armed
opposition groups have inflicted gender-based violence on civilian women. The rape, torture
and custodial killing of Thagjam Manorama in Manipur on 10 July 2004, who was shot in her
vagina, allegedly by members of Assam Rifles (a paramilitary force), is an example of the
impunity with which security forces operate in North Eastern states. It was not an exception
but part of a consistent pattern of violations. Torture and sexual abuse of women in the
village of Oinam (Manipur) in 1987 and the gang rape of women of Ujanmaidan (Tripura) by
security forces in 1988 are some of the widely known incidents in North eastern states. The
abduction, rape and killings of two young women – Asiya and Neelofar - in Shopian,
Kashmir, in May 2009, allegedly by the police or security forces, highlight the complicity of
the police in shielding the perpetrators. The police, during the stage of investigation,
deliberately destroyed / tampered / diluted the evidence, prompting the Jammu & Kashmir
High Court to observe that either the concerned policemen were involved or know the guilty.

In recent years, India has seen an increase in Naxal violence. According to a report, upto
November 2007, 1385 incidents of Naxal violence were recorded in which 418 civilians and
214 security personnel were killed. The degree of violence in Naxal-hit states in 2008 was
reportedly higher than that witnessed in either Jammu & Kashmir or in North eastern states.
While J & K recorded 1,092 terrorism-related incidents and 271 fatalities in 2007, North-
Eastern states were relatively more violent with 1,316 incidents and 501 deaths upto
November 15, 2007.12

12
„Chhatisgarh Government Defends Judum‟, Times News Network, 29 January 2008

20
While violence by Naxals and Maoists poses a serious threat in many states of the country, so
is the issue of state-sponsored private army called the Salwa Judum – which is unleashing
violence on the civilian population in the state of Chhattisgarh. Police and security forces,
Salwa Judum as well as Naxals have committed widespread sexual violence on women and
girls, including abduction, rape, gang rape, maiming, torture and illegal detention by security
forces.13

Box:4 CASE STUDY 4: RAPE, TORTURE & CUSTODIAL KILLING OF

THAGJAM MANORAMA

On 10 July 2004, Thangjam Manorama, a suspected activist of the banned Peoples Liberation
Army, an underground outfit operating in the state, was picked up for interrogation at
midnight by a team from Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force. Her family members witnessed
her being brutally assaulted in a corner of the house for almost half an hour after blindfolding
and tying her hands and feet. The security personnel assured the family that Manorama would
be handed over to the nearest police station the next morning. However, the next morning,
before the family could approach the police, news came that Manorama's body with multiple
signs of torture and bullet marks was found lying at a village nearby on the roadside. Post
mortem reports indicated that she had been raped before being killed.

The Assam Rifles claimed she was associated with the outlawed People‟s Liberation Army
(PLA) and was an incendiary expert. It claimed that during interrogation, she confessed to her
links with the PLA and agreed to take the jawans to a hideout of the insurgents. On the way,
she was allowed freedom to ease herself. She used the opportunity to run, forcing the jawans
to open fire.

There are no takers for the Assam Rifles‟ story. For one, it does not explain the torture marks
that her body bore. Also, she was shot from the front and not from behind. More importantly,
Dr. Ksh Manglem, who conducted a second post-mortem in the case, testified before an
official commission that Manorama had been shot in her genitals, and that bullets had been
lodged in her vagina.

13
„War in the Heart of India: An Enquiry into the Ground Situation in Dantewara District, Chhattisgarh‟,
Independent Citizens‟ Initiative, 20 July 2006

21
The torture, rape and killing of Manorama led to a huge public protest in Manipur and
extending beyond. Thousands of civilians, including men, women, school children, human
rights and women‟s groups, took to the streets, demanding accountability for the heinous
crimes, and a repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). On 15 July 2004,
many old women from the Meira Paibi women‟s movement of Manipur stripped themselves
naked in front of the Kangla fort (the then headquarters of Assam Rifles) and carried a banner
stating “Indian Army Rape Us”. The extreme step taken by the Meira Paibi women is
indicative of the level of desperation and frustration among them with repeated incidents of
gender-based violence on women and the growing sense of insecurity among the women.

In response to the strong protests, the government set up a Commission of Inquiry into the
incident. However there has been no positive outcome so far. It also set up a Committee to
review AFSPA, headed by Justice Jeevan Reddy (retd.). His report, submitted to the
government in June 2005, recommended a repeal of the draconian law.14 However, the
government has persisted in its failure to repeal the law despite the recommendations of a
committee whose members were handpicked by it.15

Box:5 PROFILE: IROM SHARMILA

Irom Sharmila is an iconic figure and a symbol of the suffering and resilience of the people of
Manipur against decades of state repression. Sharmila, a young poet, began her indefinite fast
on November 2, 2000, in protest against the Malom massacre by the army, in which several
civilians in a Manipur village were killed. She demands for a repeal of Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) which is a draconian law that gives state agencies unfettered
powers including the right to shoot to kill on mere suspicion, often abused and misused
against innocent civilians.
For the past 9 years, she is imprisoned & force-fed a cocktail of vitamins, minerals, laxatives,
protein supplements and lentil soup through the nose with a rubber pipe. Unlike other hunger
strikers, she has not allowed even a drop of water to cross her lips all this while. She cleans
her teeth with cotton and not water. She is continuously detained under various laws for her

14
A full report of Jeevan Reddy Committee that reviewed AFSPA is available at
http://www.hinduonnet.com/nic/afa/ as retrieved on 27 Feb 2008
15
See Siddharth Varadarajan, „Does Anyone Care about Manipur?‟, The Hindu, 10 October 2006, where he
powerfully argues for a public debate on AFSPA in the light of Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee‟s report.

22
“crime”. Time and again, courts release her, and she is re-arrested on charges of attempting to
commit suicide and other such charges. Even in the hospital, she is kept a virtual prisoner as
people cannot freely meet her. They have to take permission from government agencies,
which may take several days. The attempt is to weaken her spirit, rather than take a serious
note of the concerns expressed by her.
As part of these concessions, AFSPA has been repealed for certain parts of urban Manipur.
Activists against AFSPA have rejected these concessions as inadequate and demand a
complete repeal. On December 2, 2006, Irom Chanu Sharmila rejected Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh‟s assurance to 'dilute' the AFSPA and announced her intention to continue
with her fast until complete repeal of the law.
She was released from judicial custody on the eve of International Women‟s Day – 7 March
2009. Sharmila‟s protest is remarkable for its insistence upon the Gandhian ideals of ahimsa
(non-violence) and satyagraha (insistence upon truth). Though her protest is ignored every
day in the world‟s largest democracy, Sharmila is determined and says: “Unless and until
they remove the AFSPA, I shall never stop my fasting.”

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

10. Which countries in South Asia have witnessed gender-based violence in

situations of armed conflict?

11. Who is Irom Sharmila? What is she opposing?

20.7 WITCH HUNTING

Hunting of persons branded as witches in India is a phenomenon that is reflects on a

combination of oppression by patriarchy, subjugation by caste and repression by class,
aggravated by socio-economic factors. The pretext for witch-hunting could be anything such
as a bad crop or death / illness in the family. However, research studies highlight the fact that
land-grabbing, property disputes and patriarchal vested interests of preventing adolescent
girls and women from transgressing social norms are the major causes behind the crime. The
crime is executed by exploiting the religious and superstitious beliefs of the people. Branding
a girl or a woman as a witch is also used as a weapon of control in situations where she
refuses sexual advances, attempts to climb the social ladder or to assert her rights as she is

23
seen as a threat to maintaining maintain caste, class and gender hierarchies or local power
equations. Though conventionally, elderly and single women have been the targets of the
crime, adolescent girls are increasingly being targeted for refusing to marry at a young age
and perform traditional roles in society, and for accessing education and aspiring to work in
several capacities in villages – as teachers, anganwadi workers and gram sevikas. Dalit and
adivasi women who have dared to contest elections, thereby directly challenging the political
power of the landed caste-Hindus, have been branded as witches and attacked.
Extent of Prevalence of Violence: According to official figures 2,556 women were branded
as witches and killed in India between 1987 and 2003.16 In 2006, about 700 women were
killed in the country under suspicion of being a witch, according to news media reports. 17 A
survey conducted in 2006 has revealed that out of 32,615 villages in Jharkand, 20,000 women
were reportedly branded as „witch‟ and thousands of families were affected.18 More than 300
cases of witch-hunting and resultant deaths of more than 100 women have been reported
since 2005 in Chhattisgarh.19 While these statistics give an indication of the extent of
prevalence, this crime, like many other crimes against women, is considerably under-reported
as it is sanctioned by the victim‟s community. Hence the enormity of the offence is likely to
be much more in reality.
Response of the Law: Bihar was the first to pass a law called the Prevention of Witch
(dayan) Practices Act, 1999. After the state of Jharkand was created, the law was adopted by
the state in 2001. Chhattisgarh Tonhi Atyachar (Niwaran) Act was passed in 2005. There
have been efforts to formulate and adopt a similar law in Rajasthan, and a central law for all
the states in the country. The significance of enacting a law on the subject is that it passes a
message to the potential perpetrators that the state will not tolerate such crimes.

20.8 LET US SUM UP

16 www.religionnewsblog.com, July 2004, cited in ‘India’s Witch Hunt Leaves Children Orphaned’ , 21 March
2007, available at
http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/community/heritage/s/524/524855_indias_witch_hunt_leaves_children_orp
haned.html, accessed on 8 February 2010

17 Swati Saxena, ‘Recourse Rare for Witch Hunt Victims in India’, 16 July 2007, available at
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3241, accessed on 8 February 2010
18
„Adivasis and Harijan Worst Victims of Witch-Hunting: Survey‟, 29 October 2006, available at
http://news.oneindia.in/2006/10/29/adivasis-and-harijans-worst-victim-of-witchhunting-survey-
1162125890.html, accessed on 9 February 2010
19
Shib Shankar Chatterjee, „Dark Spell of Witch-Hunting‟, 8 November 2009, available at
http://newsblaze.com/story/20091108150914shan.nb/topstory.html, accessed on 8 February 2010

24
Inter-Linkages between Gender-Based Violence & Gender Development

We may think that gender-based violence is purely a criminal act, or a human rights / civil
and political / social justice issue. However, while the pursuit of gender equity remains
firmly embedded within the framework of human rights and gender justice, it is increasingly
realized that GBV adversely impacts sustainable development in many ways. GBV
negatively impacts women‟s fertility, morbidity and mortality, indicating that it needs to be
recognized as a public health issue with an increased focus on women‟s health care. GBV at
the workplace makes women vulnerable and adversely impacts their productivity and
efficiency at work. Fear of violence deters women from asserting their right to land and
property. It is a well-known fact that education of girls brings positive returns both to the
girls themselves (as it enhances their earning capacities, opportunities in the labour market,
decreases health risks associated with pregnancy and gives them a greater control over their
lives) as well as the society at large. Incidence of GBV and the fear of GBV in contexts of
communal violence, caste-based violence and armed conflict push many women and girls
back to their homes, and makes education inaccessible for them, thereby forcing poor women
and girls to become poorer.

Strategies to confront GBV – whether legal / social action / political – would be successful
only when they address the root causes of the violence, in addition to meeting the needs of
victims / survivors. This involves challenging the patriarchal mindset that provides a
subordinate status to women in society, and re-negotiating power balances between men and
women at all levels in society.

25
Box:6 SUMMARY OF LEARNING POINTS
The main learning points in this unit (Part I) are as follows:
 The term gender-based violence (GBV) is used to distinguish violence that targets
individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender from other forms of
violence by individuals and collectivities. It includes acts that result in, or is likely to
result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm, as well as a threat of such acts, coercion
and arbitrary deprivation of liberty.
 GBV stems from the power inequality between men and women, and is rooted in
women‟s subordinate status, exacerbated by socio-economic, cultural and structural
inequalities.
 Many forms of GBV exist, including female genital mutilation, “honour” killings,
domestic violence, sex selection, violence against adivasis, trafficking in women as well
as gender-based violence in contexts of communal violence, caste-based violence and
violence in situations of armed conflict.
 Domestic violence is the most common form of gender-based violence.
 Dalit women face brutal sexual assault due to a combination of their caste, class and
gender identities, and are often a soft target for violence, as they lack the power of
retaliation.
 There has been a historic neglect in making persons accountable for gender-based
violence in contexts of communal violence in India, including GBV during the Partition,
Nellie massacre of 1983, anti-Sikh massacres in Delhi in 1984, post-Babri Masjid
demolition in 1992-93, Gujarat carnage 2002 and communal attacks in Orissa in 2007 and
2008.
 In situations of armed conflict, women are adversely impacted by the acts of the state on
one hand, and of armed insurgency groups on the other hand.
 Women have not been passive and helpless victims in situations of armed conflict; they
have been survivors and active agents exhibiting resilience, demanding justice and
accountability, and negotiating peace with both sides to the conflict.
 The civil society has strongly demanded the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers)
Act (AFSPA) which is a draconian law that gives state agencies unfettered powers

26
 including the right to shoot to kill on mere suspicion, often abused and misused against
innocent civilians.
 GBV has many development implications including on poverty, health, education,
livelihood, access to property rights and financial resources of women.
 Strategies to confront GBV would be successful only when they address the patriarchal
mindset that attributes a subordinate status to women in society, in addition to meeting
the needs of victims / survivors.

20.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. While all violence results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological
harm, the term ‘gender-based violence‟ (GBV) connotes violence that targets
individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender.
2. GBV affects women‟s physical and mental health, as well as women‟s dignity,
security, sexuality, reproductive capacity and their right to control over their own
body (autonomy).
3. Gender-based violence occurs because of the power inequality between men and
women that exists in society, which is further exacerbated by socio-economic, cultural
and structural inequalities. Rooted in women‟s subordinate status, it is linked both to
the institution of patriarchy as well as the concept of masculinity.
4. Some forms of GBV include female genital mutilation, “honour” killings, domestic
violence, sex selection, violence against adivasis, trafficking in women as well as
gender-based violence in contexts of communal violence, caste-based violence and
violence in situations of armed conflict.
5. Dalit women are considered a special social category as they are burdened with a
combination of gender, caste and class identities.
6. Bhanwari Devi was a saathin worker – worker of the Women‟s Development
Programme of the government of Rajasthan. She educated villagers about the evils of
child marriage. Her experience indicates how “low caste” women are vulnerable to
gender-based violence by members of the dominant communities, the difficulties in
making the perpetrators accountable in courts of law and the failure of the
government to fulfil its obligation in providing security to women working on its
projects.

27
 7. Four members of a “low caste” family were killed in Khairlanji, as they resisted a take
over of their agricultural land by members of the dominant community. It is an
example of GBV as the women were targeted for specific brutalities, including
stripping and parading them naked, and raping them in public before killing them.
8. Lack of political will to prosecute perpetrators, inadequacy of laws and procedures to
deal with mass crimes, lack of impartial investigation and prosecution of such crimes
and a lack of sensitivity to victims‟ experiences and needs have been among some of
the major hurdles in women‟s access to justice in contexts of communal violence.
9. One of the major criticisms against the Bill is that it makes sexual and gender-based
violence against women in communal contexts invisible, by failing to acknowledge,
address or remedy the major hurdles that have contributed to women‟s poor access to
justice in the context of communal violence. It has dealt with gender-based violence
in general, and sexual violence in particular, in a callous and casual manner, despite
the fact that gender-based violence has played a fundamental role as an engine for
mobilizing hatred and destruction against religious minorities in recent times.
10. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma and India are some of
the South Asian countries that have witnessed gender-based violence in situations of
armed conflict.
11. Irom Sharmila is a poet, whose indefinite hunger strike enters its tenth year. She
demands for a repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) which is a
draconian law that gives state agencies unfettered powers including the right to shoot
to kill on mere suspicion, often abused and misused against innocent civilians.
20.10 UNIT END QUESTIONS
1. Explain the different forms and magnitude of Gender Based Violence
2. Do you agree with Witch hunting? Why women are forced to do this? Substantiate your
arguments with some examples.

20.11 REFERENCES

28
Books
1. Anuradha Chenoy, Women and Militarism in South Asia (2002), New Delhi: Kali for
Women
2. Flavia Agnes (ed.) (2002), Of Lofty Claims and Muffled Voices, Mumbai: Majlis
3. International Initiative for Justice in Gujarat (2003), Threatened Existence: A
Feminist Analysis of the Genocide in Gujarat, Mumbai: Citizens‟ Initiative
4. Kalpana Kannabiran & Ritu Menon (2007), From Mathura to Manorama: Resisting
Violence Against Women in India, New Delhi: Women Unlimited
5. Manoj Mitta & H S Phoolka (2007), When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage
and its Aftermath, New Delhi: The Lotus Collection
6. Roshmi Goswami, MG Sreekala & Meghna Goswami (2005), Women in Armed
Conflict Situations, Guwahati: North East Network
7. Siddharth Varadarajan (ed.) (2002), Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy, New Delhi:
Penguin Books India
8. Urvashi Bhutalia (ed.) (2002), Speaking Peace: Women’s Voices from Kashmir, New
Delhi: Kali for Women
9. Vrinda Grover (ed.) (2010), Saumya Uma, Kandhamal: The Law Must Change Its
Course, New Delhi: Multiple Action Research Group

29
Articles
10. Barkha Dutt, Women‟s Panel, PUCL Vadodara and Shanti Abhiyan, „Nothing New?:
Women as Victims‟ in Siddharth Varadarajan (ed.) (2002), Gujarat: The Making of a
Tragedy, New Delhi: Penguin Books India, pp. 214-245
11. Prem Choudhry, „Enforcing Cultural Codes: Gender and Violence in Northern India‟
in Mary E. John & Janaki Nair (eds.) (1998), A Question of Silence?: The Sexual
Economies of Modern India, New Delhi: Kali for Women, pp. 332-367
12. Roshmi Goswami, M G Sreekala and Meghna Goswami (2005), Women in Armed
Conflict Situations, Guwahati: North East Network
13. Ritu Menon & Kamla Bhasin, „Recovery, Rupture, Resistance: The Indian State and
the Abduction of Women During the Partition‟ in Mushirul Hasan (ed.) (2000),
Inventing Boundaries: Gender, Politics and the Partition of India, New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, pp. 208-235
14. Shib Shankar Chatterjee, „Dark Spell of Witch-Hunting‟, 8 November 2009, available
at http://newsblaze.com/story/20091108150914shan.nb/topstory.html, accessed on 8
February 2010
15. Swati Saxena, „Recourse Rare for Witch Hunt Victims in India‟, 16 July 2007,
available at http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3241, accessed on 8
February 2010
16. Urvashi Bhutalia, „Community, State and Gender: Some Reflections on the Partition
of India‟ in Mushirul Hasan (ed.) (2000), Inventing Boundaries: Gender, Politics and
the Partition of India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 178-207

Reports & Statements

17. The International Center for Research on Women (2002), Men, Masculinity and
Domestic Violence in India – A Summary Report of Four Studies
18. Committee Against Violence on Women (2006), Salwa Judum and Violence Against
Women in Dantewara, Chhattisgarh, Report of a Fact-finding by an All India
Women‟s Fact-finding Team, available at
http://cpjc.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/cavow-sj-ff-report.pdf (accessed on 2
November 2009)

30
19. Amnesty International, India: Government of Manipur Must Release Irom Sharmila
Chanu, ASA 20/003/2010, 29 January 2010
20. Independent Women‟s Initiative for Justice, Shopian: Manufacturing a Suitable Story,
14 December 2009, available at http://www.kashmirtimes.com/shopian-report.pdf,
accessed on 15 June 2010
21. Human Rights Watch, We Have No Orders to Save You: State Participation and
Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat, 30 April 2002

31
Annexure to Unit 17
Negative Impact of Globalization on Social Justice
Globalisation is riding on the back of millions of poor women and child workers in the
margins of the economy. The structural adjustment programme has forced working women
into the unorganised sector and deprived them of their rights
In response to a mounting burden of debt, leading to a balance of payment crisis, the
Government of India embarked on a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in the 1990s.
This included reductions in public investment, devaluation, cutting food and fertiliser
subsidies, dismantling the public distribution system, reducing budgets for the social sector,
promoting capital-intensive and „high-tech' production, and increasing bank rates and
insurance charges. The SAP policies aim at capital-, energy- and import-intensive growth
with the help of devaluation, deregulation, deflation and denationalisation. Mainstream
economists call these processes “economic reforms”. Globalisation also means that a new
international division of labour has emerged. Economic globalisation, deep economic
restructuring across countries and neo-liberal economic policies have led to informalised and
decentralised processes of production that have transformed labour markets and the world of
work in industrialised and developing countries. In the process, social security and statutory
protection to workers have been dismantled.
Impact of SAP
Studies have shown that the burden of poverty falls more heavily on women than on men.
The inequality in income and consumption levels between women and men has also been
documented. At least 11% of households in India are supported solely by women's income. In
other words, they are “female-headed households” (FHH) -- households run by widows,
single women, deserted or divorced women. FHH are usually the poorest of the poor. The
combined effects on these households of the new economic policies, which translate into
(among other effects), reduced PDS (Public Distribution System) quotas, reductions in
healthcare facilities and educational facilities are crushing. Children of FHHs suffer more due
to nutritional deficiency, inadequate primary healthcare facilities, and cuts in expenditure for
the education sector. In the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Women (1988-2000), the
government responded quite positively to demands from women's groups for State support to
FHH. But the SAP works against the objectives of the NPP.
The inflationary impact of the SAP and the reduction in paid work reduces the purchasing
power of a household, which, in turn, increases the unpaid labour of women. For example,
buying cheaper food requires more time for procuring, cleaning and preparation. The unpaid

32
labour of women in cooking, cleaning, caring and doing chores that augment family
resources (like collection of fuel, fodder, water, looking after livestock and poultry, and
processing agricultural goods) is regarded as elastic by the SAP.
In response to the imposition of SAP and stabilisation policies, women's movements across
national boundaries have challenged the neo-liberal development paradigm. Universal labour
standards ensuring just wages, occupational safety and social security must become the
central issues of the women's movement. The SAP has forced working women into the
unorganised sector and deprived them of their rights. The women fall outside protective
labour laws such as the Maternity Benefits Act (1961), Employees State Insurance Scheme,
Factories Act (1948), Equal Remuneration Act (1976), Bombay Shops and Establishment Act
(1984), Plantation Labour Act, and Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1976.
Multinational corporations have long realised that the best way to reduce the wage bill and to
enhance profits is to move parts of the production process to poorer countries like India , Sri
Lanka , Bangladesh , Indonesia , the Philippines , Thailand , etc. The cheap labour of Asian
women is regarded as the most lucrative way to enhance profits. Women in developing
countries are a „flexible' labour force. Their cheaper labour forms the basis for the induction
of women into export industries such as electronics, garments, sports goods, food processing,
toys, agro-industries, etc. Women are forced to work uncomplainingly at any allotted task,
however dull, laborious, physically harmful or badly paid it may be. A large number of poor
women looking for work within the narrow confines of a socially imposed, inequitable
demand for labour have become ideal workers in the international division of labour.
The shift from a stable/organised labour force to a flexible workforce has meant hiring
women part-time, and the substitution of better-paid male labour by cheap female labour. The
new economic policies provide State support to corporate houses that are closing down their
big city units and using ancillaries that employ women and girls on a piece-rate basis. Home-
based work by women and girls gets legitimised in the context of increasing insecurity in the
community due to a growth in crime, riots, displacement and relocation. Sub-contracting,
home-based production, the family labour system, all have become the norm. This is being
called an increase in „efficiency' and „productivity'.
The casual employment of urban working class women in the manufacturing industry
(textiles is a glaring example) has forced thousands of women to eke out a subsistence
through parallel petty trading activities (known as „informal' sector occupations).
The government finds it difficult to dismiss permanent staff in public sector enterprises
because they are organised, vocal and visible. A specious debate on the issue of part-time

33
work for women creates a justification for segmentation of labourers on the grounds of
gender. Those in favour argue that working women shoulder the burden of domestic duties as
well as remunerative/office work, so a reduction of working hours will give them some relief.
This deprives women of promotions and responsible assignments and discriminates against
women by projecting them as “supplementary earners”. Moreover, often the most strenuous
part of work is commuting back and forth, and whether a person works part-time or full-time,
the same amount of time and energy is spent on commuting.
The argument in favour of part-time work for women does not question the existing gender-
based division of labour in the family. It throws the burden of childcare and housework on
the individual woman. The long-standing demand for family work to be supported by the
State is also negated. The women's movement in India has suggested that ways to reduce the
double burden on women could include the provision of cheap and safe eating facilities,
childcare centres that provide both custodial care and developmental inputs for children, and
better transport facilities.
Worsening Economic Condition and Growing Sectarian Violence Against Women:

Any fundamentalist propaganda that concerns itself with identity makes use of the gender
question to impose rigid norms on women who are identified as repositories of culture and
tradition. These norms manifest themselves in
 Son-preference and female infanticide (quotation from Hindu scriptures- “Be thy the
mother of 100sons”. (Questions are asked to wife-“ Did any heroes of Ramayana or
Mahabharata have daughters? That shows daughters are inauspicious!”),
 Glorification of sati (widow-burning)- thousands of sati temples have flourished all over
India and Global Association for Glorification of Sati has its head-quarter in Chicago
(USA),
 Witch-hunting of widows as they are perceived to be inauspicious; dress code, general
demeanour and the social construction of the ideal woman who submissively accepts the
patriarchal norm imposed by fundamentalists agendas. In the last Kumbh Mela 60000
women devotees were deserted by their brothers, sons and relatives. Allahabad police
tried its best to reach them to their respective families but the family members refused to
have known them. Now, the government has made a special budgetary provision for
abandoned widows at the pilgrimage centres and women in difficult circumstances.

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  Violence against women has escalated enormously, both in the private and public arena.
Economic stress due to SAP (the mainstream economists call it „economic reforms‟)
manifests in the form of domestic and communal/ caste violence).

Some Areas of Concern

Globalisation & Women's Movement in India during 1995-2006

Southern Women’s Movements’ Perspectives

NGOs wedded to safeguard the entitlements of women have been trying to convince the
international financial, economic and commercial institutions, namely, World Bank, International
Monitory Fund, World Trade Organisation and Organisation of Economic Cooperation and
Development to withdraw existing conditionalities and rules of economic globalisation, and
covertly and overtly, promoting the interests of patriarchal class system, all over the globe,
defending the interests of TNCs and MNCs and imposing unrestrained commodification, thereby
resulting into concentration and centralization of economic, financial and political power in the
hands of the few.
There is today a blurring division between the centre and the periphery as the economic and
manufacturing situations are undergoing changes in our country. Globalisation has brought about
structural changes that have been impacting gender. Apart from employment it affects sustainable
development, leading to state withdrawing from commitments to social sector. This affects
women adversely. The impact of WTO, taxation patterns and user fee concept are adversely
affecting women.20 The Second National Commission of Labour is furthering the neo-liberal
agenda so far as the working class is concerned, though it has separate chapters on women in the
informal sector and child-labour.
Alternatives to Economic Globalisation (G)

There have been two responses to G from the social movements:

a. Humanise G by building in gender awareness. Think and act globally as well as locally.
Promote multilateral trade and diplomatic relations to establish distributive justice and
world peace. Revitalising economy through South-south Networking

20
Vibhuti Patel, WDC, University of Mumbai E mail- [email protected]

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 b. Build local alternatives and quit WTO. E.g. Social movements rooted only in the local
soil.
We must work with both tendencies, as the ultimate goals of both are the same- social
transformation for a just, fair and caring society.
Women‟s rights organisations and social action groups were the most vociferous during the
recently held Asia Social Forum against Trans National Corporation and Multinational
Corporation driven G.
Through world Social Forum, Women for just, sustainable and caring trade are trying to reach out
to thousands of women who are voicing the concerns of toiling poor. They have also demanded
that, all efforts should be made by civil society groups, NGOs and the governments to divert its
arms budget to health, education and employment programmes. 21

Important issues for Global and local level Advocacy:

a. Strengthening of Food Security and Right to Food Top down and bottom up initiatives
to stop malnutrition and starvation deaths created by stabilisation programmes resulting
into withdrawal of state from food security commitments.
b. Public Health issues must be highlighted thro‟ a national network, People‟s Health
Assembly. The Nation States should follow the UN mandate of 5 % of the GDP for
budgetary allocation on the public health.
c. No to dumping of unsafe contraceptives for coloured and poor women.
d. Ban sex-selective abortions of female foetuses in South Asia and China.
e. State Support for Women’s Education not only at the primary school level but also at
the secondary and high school level. Forum for Child Care has demanded that one room
of the school should be converted into crèche so that girls who have to look after their
younger siblings can also join the schools. More budgetary allocation and actual funding
for girls‟ education.
f. Free Legal Aid and People’s Court: Justice and Peace Commission, a network of
community organisations working in Mumbai provides free legal aid to poor women to
deal with marital disputes, divorce, maintenance, custody of children, alimony, property,
right to stay in the parental or matrimonial homes.

21
Women‟s Global Charter for Humanity, 2005-http://www.marchemondiale.org/en/charter.html.

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 g. Housing Rights are the most important. The NGOs have demanded that in al1 housing
societies and state supported housing schemes, 10 % houses should be reserved for
female-headed households.
h. Sanitation, Public toilets: There is an urgent need to take up the issues of urban
sanitation in terms of higher budgetary provision from the state and municipal funding.
i. Safety nets for women in the subsistence sector of the economy in terms of loans,
infrastructure, storage and transport and state subsidy and support price for agriculture,
animal husbandry, dairy development, horticulture and floriculture.
j. Environmental Issues: Natural resources, being humankind‟s common heritage, must be
preserved for the use of actual and future generation with the perspective each human
being has an access to water, air, energy, etc. according to her or his needs.
Commercialisation and privatisation of these resources must be stopped. Biological
diversity (flora, fauna, forests, ecosystems) must be preserved and indigenous women‟s
collective wisdom must be recognised, respected and valued.
k. Occupational Health- Women scavengers and recycling workers under extremely
hazardous circumstances. They should be given masks, hand gloves, gum- boots and free
and quality medical care.
l. Crèches: the state, employers and trade unions should provide more day care centres for
the children of working mothers in the community and near the workplace.
m. Implementation of Labour standards: Erosion of labour standards as a result of
globalisation should be fought tooth and nail. Let the nation states compete to give
better wages and work-conditions to the workers.
n. Global Code Against Commodification of Women’s Body as a spare-part for sale,
pornography and obscene portrayal of Women in Media: Universal standards for
decent portrayal of women in media must be evolved.
g. Community Oriented Media: Social action groups need to interact closely with the
mainstream media, and also generate their alternate media to highlight women‟s rights to
dignified life.
Let us be realistic and accept the fact that Globalisation is a Fate accompli. Then let us make
concerted efforts so that globalisation has a human face. This can happen only through the
global solidarity and sisterhood of the toiling women all over the globe. We have to think
globally and act locally to make all decision-making bodies accept that women‟s rights to
survive are the human rights.
Decision Making for the Global Governance:

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Gender parity through distributive justice has been one of the milestones of the Millennium
Development Goals. We can see the human face of globalisation only when we are able to reduce
the North South Gap in the quality of life, Women decision-makers across the globe must strive
collectively and see to it that resources and fruits of development and economic prosperity are
distributed justly among countries, within countries and among all human beings thereby
eliminating poverty. This will ensure everyone access to food and nutrition, shelter, health
services, safe transportation, right to information, education, justice, culturally rich leisure-time
activities. To deal with this crucial task force, we will have to evolve high levels of participatory
democracy in governance so that we can improve lives and freedoms of peoples in all parts of the
globe.

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