Akanksha Singh , 19th Feb 2021
India is popularly known by many names like Bharat , Hindustan , Hodu , Aryavarata ,Tianzhu and may more ranging from its constitutional , historical , geographical ,mythical and biblical advancement , but the one thing that hasn’t changed over time is the impression of India being a male dominant nation which is clouded by patriarchy and misogyny .
The bigger question unanswered is where are all the male activists? Why is it not alarming that the men in our nation are projected as sexual predators and referred to as ants who are attracted to sugar.
According to a recent study by Indian Journal of Community Medicine it was observed that 52.4% of men experience gender – based violence and out of every 1000 men 51.5% are regular victims of violence at the hands of their intimate partners or wives. The most common violence recorded is emotional violence covering 51.6 % which is followed by 6% of physical violence.
Why is it so difficult for us to accept abuse against men? Why is it difficult to accept our own standers of equality?
Understanding of crimes against men
When we talk about gender equality why is it so that the only gender we are concerned about is female as its high time we start understating the true meaning of the term. Our newspaper columns are full with crimes reported against women be it sexual abuse, assault , domestic violence , dowry cases resulting to death etc. . However we hardly get to read about crimes against men which sadly often remain unreported and unheard.
We fail to acknowledge that men to are subjected to rape, sexual abuse, domestic violence and trauma. If we are preaching equality then why do we hesitate to serve the same? The Delhi metro for instance has an entire coach reserved for women because obviously men being ants cannot stay away from the sweet, sweet bodies of women and for but obvious reasons again they are inherent rapists who are incapable of logic and sense. Is it not offending and insulting that men in our society are reduced to some testosterone fuelled apes.
Section 354A to section 354D and section 375 of the Indian Penal Code 1860, explicitly states that only women can be the victim of offences as stated in the mentioned sections and a man is considered to be a perpetrator .
The Protection of Domestic Violence Act, 2005, states that this act is prepared to favor women who have been subjected to domestic violence and there is absolutely no show as to what remedies are available to a man if he suffers the same violence because society already has a remedy “man up “available and our laws and lawmakers are nothing extra when it comes to following biases and favors.
our courts however , have started entertaining the crimes against men and the fact that Criminal Law Amendment Bill ,2019 which unfortunately still lies pending is hell bent to make the crime of rape as a gender neutral offence after the decimalization of section 377 of the IPC.
Conclusion
There is an immediate need to change the stereotypical attitude that people have against men as they are no animals that need to be tamed. And its high time men start normalizing and opening up with their problems and accepting the abuse , assault or violence they are subjected to as the National Crime Records Bureau revile that for every married woman committing suicide , two married men are committing suicide due to constant abuse and domestic violence .
India needs to deliver justice to men and set up National Commission for Men because according to the NCRB data in the year 2015, 1, 33,623 suicides were reported of which 91,528 suicides were committed by men. We surely need to get rid of our pink glasses and consider victims as victims. We need to normalize the male existence, we need to look after the male voices which are unheard , unanswered and uncalled for.