Indian Media acknowledges the shortfalls of the Sexual Harrasment Bill

Original post here-> INSAAF: Indian Media acknowledges the shortfalls of the Sexual Harrasment Bill

Madhu Kishwar Blasts Sexual Harassment Bill on India NewsX:


Part-1



Part-2

With reference to the above videos, here is the issue with reference to what's wrong with Domestic Violence act(DVA act), which has a clause in the same lines "Sexual Harassment Panel is to be headed by a Woman, who is committed to the cause of Women"

At the first or even the second glance its doesn't look a bad clause, it even looks good since, as Ms.Madhu Kishwar too mentions, women will open up(about the sexual harassment she had to experience) better to a woman.

The real issue is that this Sexual harassment act will become a money making(extortion) racket as soon as it hits ground, and then the definition of "Woman who is committed to the cause of women" will be totally different, it will then mean "Woman who convicts most number of men, regardless of whether he is guilty or innocent. Here more men pressurised to pay compensation or through out-of-the-court settlement means more turnover to the new extortion industry spawned by Sexual Harassment Act.

This Sexual Harassment Bill, as soon as it becomes an Act, it will be like the multi-million industry(extortion) like in case of  the misuse of IPC 498a  or DV Act, where lawyers make money, women organisations make money through more cases/statistics and hence funds from UN and benefactors from the moist eyed/sympathetic western world(seeing false, cooked-up statistic of how many women are victimsed!) , police makes, money, unscrupulous law-misusing women/wives make money.

Making the Sexual Harassment Bill Gender Neutral, the real issue:


Thats exactly what the anti-family anti-India lobby would resist and oppose with tooth and nail.

This law is not at all aimed to protect women, just see how many harassed women get justice

One can just review the results with respect to other existing women-protection laws for assessing the reality and the clear trend of deception!, no victim gets justice, whatever be the gender!...

These laws are aimed only at making an industry of extortion around them, at the cost of wrecking the social structure and peace and hence national stability and security in India(as well as any other countries, including USA, where similar laws prevail(like the VAWA(Violence against Women Act) in USA)).

The powerful corporations which run and bleed nations are behind this, whether its a plan from scratch or not!(it need not be like the Illuminati theory goes).

The chaos and insecurity in people makes excellent ground for unplanned lives and hence expenditure in not-so-priority products and services(luxury, fad, high margin products and services).

Laws for women mere paper tigers - Madhu Kishwar - The Times of India

Laws for women mere paper tigers - by Madhu Kishwar- View From Venus - Sunday TOI - Home - The Times of India

One of the great challenges for those concerned with strengthening women's rights in India is the alarming gap between legal prescriptions on women's issues and actual practices prevalent in society. Many people expect that as women become aware of their rights, they will inevitably move in the direction of following "modern laws" enacted for their benefit. However, there is growing evidence that even among the avante-garde elite groups of our country, social behaviour runs contrary to social legislation.

For example, ever since dowry was outlawed in 1961 through the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, the practice has flourished in an unprecedented manner. Wedding expenditures have become more and more lavish. Several new amendments were made to the Act and the Indian Penal Code during the 1980's making dowry giving and taking a cognizable offence. And yet, the practice has spread to regions, castes and communities which did not have any such tradition. The biggest dowry transactions take place among the families of educated elites, especially those in high power positions in the government. High status families consider it an insult to send their daughters off to their husband's home "empty handed."

It is the same story with the law banning the use of sex determination tests (SDTs). In Delhi, SDTs invites jail terms for up to 5 years and a fine up to Rs. 100,000. And yet, the use of sex selective abortions has grown even as the law has been made increasingly stringent. This is obvious from the continuing sharp decline in sex ratio and drop in the birth rate of female babies, especially among the well-off. Doctors in the know tell you that the most persistent and desperate demand for these tests comes from senior government officers.

It is legitimate to ask: Why are these laws not followed by the parliamentarians who make them or by the police officers and judges who are supposed to implement them? I am certain that not one among the militant feminists who have campaigned to get such laws enacted can claim with honesty that in their own family circles they have successfully "abolished" the practice of dowry and in their own community families are not taking recourse to sex selective abortions.

A common response is to attribute the growing gap between social legislation and social practices to hypocrisy and double standards. When a law fails, the tendency is to blame its failure on the laxity of implementation machinery.

That is how all the failed laws are bolstered with more and more draconian provisions, while the original problem remains unsolved. Today, we are witnessing a severe backlash against feminist legislation because most of the draconian laws we have enacted lend themselves to easy misuse while genuine victims rarely manage to get justice through them. This is not to say, I support the present system of dowry, sex selective abortions or other injustices faced by women but simply to underscore the need for a more self critical and socially sensitive approach to legal reform and the need to create appropriate instruments of the state machinery that can implement social legislation with dignity and honesty.

The writer is a professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

Related links: http://uchalla.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/women-against-misuse-of-women-protection-laws-2/
http://www.aimpf.org/domestic-violence-act-or-demoralized-and-violated-act/#more-206