From every wound, there is a scar, and every scar tells a story. A story that says, I survived.

On a dark and cold night, a young 23-year-old girl was returning home with her male friend on a bus after watching the movie Life of Pie. On their way back her male friend realised that the bus had deviated from the original route, and upon objection, he was beaten by the six men on the bus making him unconscious.

After knocking out her friend she was also beaten and raped, seriously injuring her and later succumbed to her injuries.

She did not even get a second to say I survived, but this case wounded the Indians and the scars still hurt us that took place on 16th December, Delhi. By now you must have understood which case I am referring to. This story is one of the most infamous stories of the Indian Rape case the Nirbhaya Rape Case.

I am writing this article to mark the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is celebrated every year on 25th November. Therefore in this article, we shall look into the types of violence that women and girls face along with a few data and finally, we shall see what could be the solutions for the change in the society.

It is of no doubt that girls and women face many different types of violence including sexual harassment, forced pregnancy, gruesome torture in the event of war or prison, marital rape, etc to name a few.

The question arises why so must violence against women when we are in the 21st century?

Instead, we should ask, why there is an increasing trend of violence against women. When there are campaigns like the Feminist and #MeToo movement everywhere on social media and traditional media.

The data by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) also, keeps me thinking, if we are on the right track to an egalitarian society, as it suggests there was an 87% increase in reported crimes against women in India between 2011 and 2021.

It is a paradox when we keep coming up with new campaigns and the data always suggest the opposite. Or are the rights and policies which are made mostly for certain sections of the society?

What about the tribal and Dalit women? as they represent the majority of the population. I believe many of them are barely aware that rights exist and it is a tragedy. Some of them are still living life like in the period of Victorian morality. Allowing women to work only in the kitchen or gender-specific roles.

Now before coming to the solution let’s gage into some more data.

Like Nirbhaya’s case, many women and girls have to face this fate many of which go unrecorded. The data of the UN 2022 Report suggest violence against women and girls remains the most pervasive human rights violation in the world, affecting more than 1 in 3 women. Every hour, more than five women or girls are murdered by someone in their own families. And what could be a more heinous act, when the perpetrator is someone from the family whom a person trusts with live?

So, what is the solution to change the mindset of the society towards women?

Before answering this question we must understand, why there is even violence against women. The answer would be the deeply rooted patriarchal mindset of the society, which believes that men are superior to women in all aspects.

But we must come out of this mindset when it is the time when people are already talking of scientific temper and rights for LGBTQ+ communities, we shall witness a world of egalitarian society.

Coming back to the discussion of the solution, there is no go-to solution but we must adopt a multifaceted approach that is a legal framework, awareness at all levels (right from the grassroots to tertiary level) and regulation of media (as they play a major role in shaping the perspective of the individuals).

Lastly, we must promote gender-sensitive parenting and educate children about respect, empathy and equality.

It’s time to put off violence against women, so, that we don’t give a chance to any woman and a girl to say “I survived” nor an incident like Nirbhaya’s and bring smiles to society.

Thank you for coming till the end.

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