In the Asia Pacific region, as many as 75% of women have reportedly experienced sexual harassment. Also, over 37% of women in South Asia, 40% of women in South-East Asia and 68% of women in the Pacific have experienced intimate partner physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. As per a WHO report prevalence of lifetime intimate partner violence among ever-married/ ever-partnered women aged 15-49 in South-East Asia region is highest in Bangladesh at 50% followed by Timor Leste at 38% and India at 35%.
Combating sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence is a long and difficult journey, especially in South Asian countries, where such offences seem to have become a regular occurrence. So much so that in many countries, sexual harassment in public spaces is often normalized and referred to as eve-teasing. Simple acts like walking down a lonely street or catching a late night bus or metro alone are fraught with trepidation for many of our sisters, despite all the so called talks of women empowerment.
Crimes against women and girls are on the rise
Another scary dimension is the increasing incidence of rape of minor girls, even as young as 5 years or less. Everyday we come across news of sexual assaults on toddlers and kids. The perversity of raping a 2-3 years old girl child is beyond comprehension. It reeks of a degenerate patriarchy that has sunk to abysmal depths.
In 2021, 430,000 crimes against women were registered in the country, as per the National Crime Records Bureau - a 13% increase from 2020. More over, nearly 32,000 women were raped (almost 90 everyday), 10% of them being minors, some of them even below 6 years of age. The actual numbers would be much higher as many cases go unreported. Worse still rape survivors are treated inhumanely- stigmatised by the society, and often shamed by the police and the judiciary.
Factors associated with sexual and gender-related violence perpetration include beliefs in family honour and sexual purity; ideologies of male entitlement and privilege over women; social norms regarding masculinity; assertion of male control or power to enforce decadent gender roles; discriminatory laws and weak legal sanctions for sexual violence. Gender inequality and norms on the acceptability of violence against women are a root cause of violence against women and girls.
Violence against women and girls with disabilities
The plight of women and girls with disabilities is still worse. They are on the blind spot everywhere. Even as countries strengthen their infrastructure in various sectors, the needs of people with disabilities are often overlooked. It is very common to see even modern buildings in countries of South and South-East Asia that total disregard the needs of those with disabilities. They lack even simple things like ramps and/or pathways that can be navigated by those with physical or visual impairments, forget about special parking lots for them, as we find in the West.
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