Name and shame!

It’s naïve to believe the newly passed Criminal Amendment Bill, 2013 will prevent and deter crimes against women (EW April cover story). As the authors observe, despite the outpouring of public anger little has changed. The police and judiciary continue to be indifferent, callous and inefficient when dealing with gender crimes. That’s why women should take charge of their own safety and well-being. Martial arts and self-defence training should be introduced and made compulsory for girls in all schools from class VIII onwards. It’s also a good idea to publicly shame offenders. While the law can take its own course, victims should publicly humiliate molesters in their communities. This will stop crimes. Right now there is no fear of the law because the police don’t take molestation seriously, and if at all a complaint is registered it takes several years for conviction to happen. That’s why it’s important for local communities to publicly shame and ostracise sexual offenders. Jaya Srinivas Chennai Business as usual Your cover story on gender crimes was well written (EW April). The authors have rightly argued that the socio-economic cost of the gender crimes tsunami is massive. Living in constant fear of being molested and attacked whether on the streets, schools, colleges and offices, will increasingly lead to women dropping out of education institutions and the workforce. This translates into a huge loss to the economy with the country deprived of half its talent pool. Sadly nobody seems to care about this loss or about achieving the goal of inclusive development. Even though public pressure has forced Parliament to enact the Criminal Amendment Bill, 2013, I don’t believe anything is going to change on the ground. No plans to hire more policemen or judges have been announced. It is business as usual on India’s lawless streets. Manjula Deshpande Delhi Value of women  Unlike other features in the media which focus on the legal and moral aspects of crimes against women, your cover story ‘Huge damage of gender crimes tidal wave’ (EW April)  draws attention to the socio-economic impact of the damage to women’s psyche, following the rapidly degenerating law and order system countrywide. It’s quite shocking that India’s great intellectuals given to breast-beating on television every evening about our incorrigibly patriarchal society and exhorting male citizens to improve their behaviour with women, don’t highlight the failure of the police and legal systems to crack down on stalking, molestation, groping and worse, of women which is commonplace, resulting in great economic loss to the country. If women have to fear for their safety in public transport, the street, workplaces and after dark, they will obviously opt out of the work force even if they are well-educated and competent. For your information, the Battle of Britain in World War II was won as much by women working night shifts in munition factories and hospitals, as it was by men fighting on the front. It’s high time our inept politicians, police and pompous judges realise that if women drop…