The Hindu : New Delhi News : "Parivartan" beyond deployment of women constables

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 01, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

"Parivartan" beyond deployment of women constables

One way to make women safe is by making them and their family aware about the safety precautions, observes Prashant Pandey

The scheme of deploying women beat constables in certain slum clusters of North-West Delhi, which was launched a month ago, has shed light on the factors contributing to crimes against women. There are also indications that unless the contributory factors are effectively dealt with, there will be little tangible improvement in women's lot.

To begin with, the scheme, "Parivartan", goes beyond deployment of women constables. Under it, street plays aimed at creating awareness about precautions the family should take to protect their womenfolk are held periodically in these areas. Organising public speaking contests in schools on issues related to crimes against women and taking special care of women coming from the north-eastern region of the country are some of the other methods to be used under the scheme.

Three months later, the programme will be reviewed and then implemented in the entire district. After six months, sociologists will be commissioned to assess the impact of the programme. That is the theory part.

The experience over the past month, however, shows that the ground reality is complex. For instance, the attendance at street plays in these areas is quite good. But the women constables say that the factors contributing to such a response are sheer curiosity, "luxury" of a free show, and the fact that many people simply do not have anything else to do. It is, however, hoped that the message would be driven home to some extent in the minds of the children who usually form the bulk of the audience.

A frequent complaint is that of men, under the influence of liquor, beating up their wives. But the women do not want any legal action against their husbands. They just want to "teach them a lesson" and leave the matter at that. There is still a huge grey area about when does legal action becomes absolutely necessary. Borderline cases are usually referred to senior officers and action is taken accordingly.

However, the fact that cheap liquor is available somewhere round the corner will defeat almost any action taken against such men. In this context, the possibility of a couple of Sansi women shunning the sale of illicit liquor is an encouraging sign. But they demand alternative employment. Non-government organisations are being roped in to provide training to such women. How far they will eventually succeed in this is only for the future to tell.

Another problem is that of street urchins, usually school dropouts, who do not have anything to do or anybody to guide them.

They run the risk of falling into wrong hands. And neither constables nor the NGOs have been able to devise a method to control them. There are verbal complaints about gambling, even prostitution, but nobody wants to file a written complaint. But the police do hope that action can be taken against such people if information reaches them.

One possible reason for the reluctance of people in getting involved in legal action, apart from the usual problems with policing, is that they are migrants and seldom develop a sense of belonging. Unemployment, lack of education and increasing aspirations further contribute to frustration among these men, mostly migrants, that results in their deviant behaviour. But this aspect of the problem has largely remained unaddressed. There are still no focused programmes to deal with the problems of such men, who ultimately turn into perpetrators of violence against women.

Therefore, while the effort to create awareness about crimes against women in a bid to reduce the same is to be appreciated, the real challenge before the authorities is to treat the problem in its complete context and not in isolation. One way to make women safe is by making them and their family aware about the safety precautions. Trying and reducing the number of potential abusers is another. It is the second aspect that also needs to be worked upon if there has to be a long-term improvement in the women's lot.

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