Gender

Debate: The Sanitation and Ghoonghat Campaign Actually Empowers Women

Construction of toilets in rural Rajasthan has changed the lives of women in the villages

At a meeting in Himmatsar panchayat, Nokha Block to spread the sanitation meeting in 2013. Himmatsar became one of the earliest ODF panchayats after this meeting.

The article, “Why Using Patriarchal Messaging to Promote Toilets is a Bad Idea”, by Aashish Gupta and Nikhil Srivastav has not only misread the intent of the communication messages used to promote sanitation in rural Rajasthan by isolating a single message from many, but also has fundamental flaws in understanding issues relating to women in rural Rajasthan.

As someone associated with the Swacch Bharat Mission during my tenure as District Collector, Bikaner, I believe the sanitation campaigns that used the ghoonghat message actually help women and arguably empower them to gain voice to address their basic issues in a patriarchal society.

First of all, the simplistic interpretation of the message, “Maa, ghar mein ghoonghat hai tera saathi, fir kyun shauch khule mein jaati” (“Mother, when you cover your head inside the house, how come you go in the open to defecate”) as promotion of the ghoonghat – the veil or scarf women use to cover their head and face – is flawed. As Somya Seturaman rightly argues, the message actually highlights the misplaced association of women’s dignity with the ghoonghat. In other words, it reminds the community that women’s real issues need to be addressed for their dignity, whereas the archaic practice of the ghoonghat does not help. Also the authors could not quote any data showing a change in ghoonghat usage because of these messages. The data merely compares ghoonghat usage in Rajasthan with other states, that too from a period before the use of these messages.

More importantly, women face many more serious and compelling issues in rural Rajasthan than just the ghoonghat itself and what it represents. If you lived the life of a rural Rajasthani woman, the issue of the highly visible ghoonghat would not be as disturbing as graver situations such as domestic violence, lack of voice and decision-making power in the family, lack of roles in economic activities, limited access to healthcare and education, lack of adequate maternal care, lack of access to nutrient rich food and holding calls of nature till dark and associated health issues. So it does not make sense to relate women’s empowerment only with the ghoonghat. One may argue that ghoonghat is the proxy indicator of patriarchy, but the fact is that even those women who do not wear the ghoonghat face many such problems. There are better and rational indicators of women’s empowerment in global literature; many of those show improvement because of the sanitation campaigns.

Helpful to women

In my experience, the sanitation campaign has actually helped women in many ways. First, decision makers started discussing women specific issues at public forums thanks to the campaign. Over the last five years, as a District Magistrate in Bundi and Bikaner, I have attended more than 300 ratri choupals and public hearings where rural issues and problems were discussed and I can endorse the claim that it was only because of the so-called ‘patriarchal sanitation messages’ that decision makers at the gram panchayat level started to discuss issues relating to women. I have also noted that the participation of women in such meetings where their issues are discussed has improved drastically.

Women mason groups building toilets in Lunkaransar Block in Bikaner.

During the campaign, women themselves started raising and asserting the priority of their issues. The sarpanch of Kolayat Mangesh Kanwar raised the issue of access to toilets for women first in a gram panchayat meeting. She later began to speak about it before other public representatives as well. As she herself mentions, “Before the sanitation campaign, women faced issues relating to going out to defecate in the open which got exacerbated especially post pregnancy. Despite being a woman and a public representative even I did not talk about these things. But now I feel that we must discuss these problems especially in front of the men if we need some solutions.” Mangesh Kanwar is not alone. Many women sarpanchs spearheaded the campaign to build toilets in Bikaner and began to openly discuss the problems arising out of a lack of access to toilets. In some cases, they started discussing issues other than sanitation, such as immunisation and availability of drinking water too. Sanitation campaigns have indeed given women a voice.

The campaign encouraged women to start taking decisions such as location of toilets in the houses. If it was not for the so-called patriarchal message, no one would have consulted women before constructing a toilet. In Kolayat panchayat, around 400 toilets were built in a matter of a few days after a meeting held by the sarpanch brought the discourse of toilets to the women.

Many women are now answering nature’s call without worrying about their dignity or waiting for darkness. In my interactions with the women of rural Bikaner, the one constant and painful theme that was repeated across village after village irrespective of caste or age was the agony and pain each woman experiences while stepping out under the cover of darkness to defecate. “If we see someone from the family, a village elder or the headlights of a vehicle we stand up until they pass” was an oft repeated story before the Banko Bikano campaign brought them access to toilets.

Good for men and women

It is also important to note that the campaigns in Rajasthan have improved toilet usage by both men and women. Aashish Gupta and Nikhil Srivastav could not highlight any evidence that shows that chances of men using toilets are less if such messages are used. Also, they seem to have assumed that these are the sole messages being used to promote the use of toilets, whereas the referred campaigns focus on creating Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages which entail toilet usage by all men, women and children. There are messages and communication tools that link the themes of dignity of men, the pride of households as well as the village. The campaigns in fact reward Gram Panchayats that achieve ODF status, which envisages usage by all. In fact many villages formed nigarani samitis (watch committees) to stop men and women from defecating in the open. The whole focus in the sanitation campaign, therefore, was not just on building toilets but equally on ensuring their usage by both men and women.

Inclusive Messages painted on the walls in Bikaner villages

Currently there is no valid evidence to prove that the messages used in the course of the sanitation campaigns in Rajasthan have a regressive impact on women’s empowerment or promote patriarchy. On the other hand there are ample anecdotes that made me realise these messages in particular and the sanitation campaign in general, not only empower women but also promote toilet use by both men and women.

Arti Dogra is an IAS officer of the Rajasthan Cadre. She has been associated with the Swacch Bharat Mission in her tenure as District Collector, Bikaner. The views expressed in this article are her own.

Battle Lines Shift in Debate Over Injectable Contraceptives in Public Health System

Sharp divisions between women’s groups are obvious but more are now open for a wider debate in the wake of newer evidence

NEW DELHI: After having successfully managed to stall the introduction of injectable contraceptives in the Indian public health system, some women’s groups and advocates of women’s health and reproductive rights now appear to be inclined for a fresh debate on the controversial issue that had dominated ‘family planning’ discourse more than two decades ago on the grounds that the method was harmful to women.

The main health concerns raised by these groups after the government allowed injectable contraceptives in 1994 in the private sector related to menstrual irregularity, amenorrhea, screening and follow-up of clients on the method and demineralization of bones as a result of its long term use.

“Why should we control women’s access to choice? We have not followed up on the issue for 20 years. Is it not time to re-examine the issue and initiate a fresh debate,’’ says Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India. Muttreja was among the major voices who had opposed the introduction of Progestin (hormone)-only injectable contraceptives Depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) and Norethisterone Enanthate (NET-EN) in the National Family Planning Programme.

The DMPA shot is to be given every three months and NET-EN every two months while fertility returns after four and one month respectively once the shots are discontinued. Both injections are said to be highly effective and scientific evidence shows that DMPA helps in protecting against risk of pregnancy, cancer of the lining of uterus, uterine fibroids and anemia.

However, users have reported weight gain, headaches, dizziness, abdominal bloating and discomfort, mood changes, decreased sex drive, and loss of bone density. Those using DMPA have reported changes in bleeding patterns with irregular to prolonged bleeding in the first three months and no or infrequent bleeding after one year of use while NET-EN users have reported fewer days of bleeding in the first six months of use. The latest evidence from Africa now also shows that the risk of acquiring HIV infection increases because the couple is less likely to use a condom or any other form of contraception which can prevent infection.

Unsafe abortions

One of the main arguments put forth by Muttreja is the unacceptably large number of abortions in India – estimated to be between 6 to 10 million annually – a large percentage of which are to deal with unintended and mistimed pregnancies. In more than 72% of abortions, ‘contraceptive failure’ is cited as the basis which is legally accepted under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. Shockingly, 56% of abortions in India, according to the Abortion Assessment report 2002-03, are unsafe. Even worse, the Registrar General of India – Sample Registration System (RGI-SRS) attributes 8% of maternal deaths in India to unsafe abortions. The track record of sterilizations, too, has not been too good in India with the latest being botched up surgeries in a camp in Chhattisgarh resulting in several deaths.

International data over 27 years show that as each additional contraceptive method became available to most of the population, overall modern contraceptive use rose. An additional method available to at least half the population correlates with an increase of 4-8 percentage points in total use of six modern methods.

The total Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) in India among married women is 54.8% with 48.2% using modern methods. This is comparatively lower than neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, whose CPR stands at 65.6% cent, 61.2% and 68.4% respectively. The method mix (basket of choices) picture in India shows that the primary method of family planning is female sterilization – at 65.7% cent with over 90% being female sterilizations, which is the highest in the world. One of the key reasons for this is the limited availability of a wide range of contraceptive methods in the public sector, though injectables are available in the private sector.

Diversity counts

A more diverse contraceptive method helps meet the individual and varied family planning needs of women and couples. Contraceptive preference varies according to the stage in the reproductive cycle and reflects differing needs based on age, levels of exposure to risk of pregnancy, economic activity and socio-cultural norms. Access to several different methods allows a woman to select a method based on her specific needs and preferences. The biggest advantage of injectable contraceptives is privacy and is particularly helpful to those women who cannot negotiate contraceptive use with men and are not empowered enough to adopt spacing methods.

Pilot studies in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have shown that while women prefer injectables to other methods of contraception, more than 50% discontinued their use after the first shot because of side-effects. However, advocates of injectable contraceptives point out that these were in use in several countries like Bhutan and Indonesia where the health status of women was the same as those in India, and that there had been no serious health impacts reported from these countries.

The method mix in some of India’s neighbours presents a varied picture. In Bhutan and Indonesia, the use of injectable contraceptives is the highest – 42% and 55% respectively – whereas in Bangladesh it is oral contraceptive pills that is the most popular method. India Nepal, female sterilization dominates.

These four countries offer a basket of 7 contraceptive methods to communities including implants and injectables whereas India gives only four options in the public sector – condoms, sterilization, pills and intra-uterine devices. India does not provide injectables, diaphragms, and female condoms through its public health programme .

“It is unfortunate that the women’s movement in India has failed women, as women have not kept themselves abreast with latest scientific evidence. Opposition to inclusion of injectable contraceptives in the public system by women’s groups is just a rhetoric of negativity,’’ says Kalpana Apte, of the Family Planning Association of India that has been advocating the inclusion of injectables for long now and was part of the expert group set up by the Health Ministry to decide on the issue.

While the Health Ministry is keen on making the option available in the public sector also, the move is being stalled by the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) – the highest decision making body on drugs – which now wants the issue discussed with the leading gynaecologists of the country. The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), an apex body of gynaecologists and obstetrics in the country, has been advocating the use of injectable contraceptives for long now.

Describing the movement against injectibles as a ‘conspiracy theory’, Apte says objections are being raised without considering the latest scientific evidence the side-effects and benefits. “Just like any other contraceptive method or medicine, injectables also have side-effects. But women also have a right to be informed about them and to decide whether they choose them or not,’’ she insists.

“Thanks to ill-informed opposition we are blocking a system that reaches the poorest. Those who can afford it or are empowered buy it from the private market in any case. In India, now the public sector is considerably strengthened. We have health care professionals who are trained to counsel and give shots or even insert PPIUCDs, so why this opposition ?’’ she seeks to know, adding that choice for her meant giving choice to women and let them decide.

Disagreeing with this argument, Brinda Karat, former MP and Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member says says she stands by her earlier concerns about the injectables being unsafe for women’s health. She also feels another dimension has now been added because of the manner in which some Bharatiya Janata Party and sangh parivar leaders have been voicing concerns about the growth of the Muslim population in the country.

Fearing that the community might be targeted with this invasive technology which is ‘damaging and hazardous’ for Indian women, Karat – who led the anti-injectable contraceptive movement – says that while she agrees with enlarging the basket of choices, pushing invasive hormone-based technology is also what she objects to. “Globally, some international NGOs are pushing vaccines, injectable contraceptives and other technology in the developing world. These NGOs are funding pharmaceuticals for producing vaccines and then these are subsidised for sale to the Third World countries,’’ Karat explains.

While sticking to her earlier concerns about the harmful effects of injectables on women’s health, its potential for abuse and the high possibility of osteoporosis, N.B.Sarojini of Sama—Resource Group on Women’s Health says she agrees the issue needs to be debated afresh. “With the incidence of arthritis and Vitamin D deficiency in India on the rise, not only is demineralization of bones a very serious matter but high incidence of HIV infection among users also needs to be looked into,’’ she says.

Aarti Dhar is a senior journalist who specialises in health reporting

Featured image: Arindam Ghosh, CC 2.0

Sania’s Victory is an Answer to All Her Critics

Women athletes have had to fight not just their opponents but also callous administrators and social prejudices

Sania Mirza in 2009. Credit: WIkimedia Commons

It’s been a bumper crop for India at the Wimbledon Championships this year. Three title winners – in the women’s doubles, mixed doubles and boys’ doubles – is unprecedented in Indian tennis history.

Skeptics say that these three titles don’t necessarily mean Indian tennis is surging ahead, only that this reflects breadth of achievement in a year, not depth of the sport in the country. Where are the singles specialists, they ask?

There may be a point in this line of argument. After all, no Indian has finished even runner-up in singles at any Grand Slam event since Independence. For all that, this year’s triumphs have huge significance according to me. What we are seeing is Indians – even if part of a team — not choking at the crux and going on to win.

This reflects an important change in mindset. The impulse to win, call it `killer instinct’ euphemistically if you will, is becoming stronger. The achievements of this year’s winners will not only inspire more youngsters to take to the sport, but also instill self-belief.

Of course tennis needs to become more `plebian’ in providing opportunities if it has to become a mass sport. Right now, it remains essentially the preserve of the privileged, i.e. those who have access to private clubs, good facilities and coaches.

The All Indian Tennis Association, like most other sports bodies in the country, has not been particularly adept at spreading the gospel of the sport. Internecine politics and power-struggles pervade, relations with players have usually bordered on the fractious. The health of Indian tennis, sadly, still remains sickly.

But for the moment let’s cherish this year’s winners. Of the three, Sania Mirza is distinctive. This is not to diminish the fantastic achievements of the other two but to put the three achievements in perspective.

Leander Paes keeps rolling on

For Leander Paes, this was his 16^th Grand Slam title, a mind-boggling statistic in itself. Consider also that he fought back from a debilitating illness more than a decade ago and has had 100 partners, and his body of work becomes a saga.

I’m not done yet. Leander is also now 42, an age when most players would have been retired for 6-7 years and relishing memories of past glory while enjoying the rewards of his performances, rather than toiling on courts all over the world—his story therefore acquires even more dimensions.

Indeed, Leander would be a fascinating case study in the use of mind power allied with physical prowess to become a super athlete. I can’t think of another sportsperson like him from India. But at 42, it must be ceded that he is the Grand Old Man of tennis, and his never-say-die attitude must ultimately give in to the ravages of time.

Seventeen-year-old Sumit Nagal from Haryana is the new Boy Wonder. But it must be remembered that the jump from the juniors to the seniors rank is the most daunting. For the record, he is the 6^th Indian to win a junior Wimbledon title, but of these only Leander and Sania among past winners have gone on to make a mark at the higher level. Nagal’s task is cut out.

Sania at her peak

In this context, Sania emerges as the flag-bearer of Indian tennis going ahead. In the past few years she has shown not just the skill and mental wherewithal to compete at the highest level, but a deep ambition to win. At 28, she is at the peak of her prowess.

From a player with enormous promise when she became a professional in 2003 at age 17, Sania’s career has been a roller-coaster ride. Till she retired from singles competitions, she was rated as the number 1 player from India in both singles and doubles, but the fact is that by 2010, she was already being relegated by critics to a has-been.

The turnaround for Sania has been dramatic ever since she made doubles events her preferred choice. She had achieved her highest WTA singles ranking (27) in 2007 and had famous victories over many higher ranked players. But in a couple of years, injuries forced her to rethink her future.

In 2011, after undergoing wrist surgery, she found her singles play limited. The choice was to quit the game or quit singles. Having won her maiden Grand Slam mixed doubles title in the 2009 Australian Open, she sensed an opportunity and retired from singles in 2013.

A terrific run over the past year

The past 15 months have been terrific for Sania as she won the mixed doubles at the French and US Opens in 2014. Getting Martina Hingis, former world no. 1, partner in 2015 (incidentally, Hingis now also partners Leander in mixed doubles) proved to be an inspired choice, and the two quickly climbed to number 1, justifying the top ranking in the recently concluded Wimbledon Championships.

A linear, plain-vanilla narrative, however, does not do justice to Sania. It belies the struggles, the heavy odds she has had to fight to be where she is today. In a sense, this is true of most women sportspersons in India as they fight misogyny and societal conservatism to find full expression of their personalities.

Take the three leading ladies from Indian sport, i.e. Sania, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom and their stories run on fairly the same track. Saina, badminton champion, is a Haryanvi who could only pursue her sport in Hyderabad. The girl child is still seen as a burden in large sections of her home state, so encouraging a girl to play sport was almost heresy.

Mary Kom from Manipur chose to be a boxer which, given the social milieu she came from, stupefied and angered her community and state. The only leeway that could be given to her was to find some occupation, but boxing was anathema. Some even went to the extent of branding her as `not a woman’.

Sania comes from a Muslim family. Even for someone from a fairly well-to-do and educated background, sport was not only non-essential, but a strict no-no. It would break tradition and tehzeeb, and perhaps the ultimate rebuke, make her ineligible in the marriage market.

The hardship for girls/women to participate in sports is not restricted to these three, but endemic and the biggest constraint in my opinion to India becoming a `sporting nation’. How is this possible if 50 per cent of the population is not allowed to participate in sport?

If Saina, Mary Kom and Sania made the breakthrough, it is because of their own strong will and hard work of course, but largely because of support from their families who refused to be cowed down by social and peer group pressure.

It is my case though that even among these three stellar champions the hardship quotient was the highest for Sania simply because she has had to overcome obstacles at every stage of her life, even when she was established. The layers of discrimination have been multiple.

When she started out, the ultra-conservatives Muslims in Hyderabad decried that she dared to play in skirts. Why, she once even had a fatwa issued again her for `public immorality’. The wisdom of such fatwa givers is often in inverse proportion to the size of their beards. But their influence and pressure can often break the most hardy.

In 2010 Sania’s affront to religio-societal sensitivities went a couple of notches higher. She broke off her engagement and decided to marry a person of her choice. This was felony compounded, for not only was she still in skirts on court, but had also shown that she had a mind of her own.

What set the cat amongst the pigeons, and not just in her community, that the man she chose to marry after breaking engagement was Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistan cricket captain. It created an uproar in the country, particularly from Hindutva bigotry brigade who saw this as a sell-out of the country rather than as a personal choice. To marry a Pakistanis was nothing short of blasphemy as far as these people were concerned. Desh drohi they called her. There were nasty and sexually abusive posts on the social media, apart from many questioning her patriotism.

So much so that when Sania initially refused to participate in the Asian Games in 2014 to ensure that her WTA rankings did not suffer, she was accused of short-selling the country. It was conveniently forgotten that even Leander Paes had taken a similar position without being similarly maligned.

Questioning her Indianness

When I interviewed Sania for NewsX channel before the French Open this year, I asked her how the constant diatribe questioning her `Indianness’ had affected her. “Initially it unnerved me. There are only so many people you can respond to. Then I decided that I have to do what I have to do. What I have no control over, is not something I should bother about. My performances will speak for themselves,” she said.

The Wimbledon doubles title is her rebuff to her detractors of all hues and from all quarters. In the past few years, one has also seen her evolved into a mature, more controlled person, unwilling to enter into unseemly brouhahas.

This does not mean that her chutzpah is diluted. She remains vivacious, even saucy at times, likes to dress and live well, enjoys being on the social media and has made a considerable number of friends in the world of glamour, art and business.

But Sania has not lapsed into callous superstardom. While she enjoys her status, she still speaks her mind. In the controversy preceding the 2012 London Olympics, when she became the bone of contention between Leander and Mahesh Bhupathi to be their doubles partner, Sania put her foot down. She was unwilling to be taken for granted.

In the past few years, she has also emerged as a symbol and spokesperson for women’s rights in India. She is forthright and unrelenting in her view that women must have a choice, that womanhood cannot be trampled upon. “Have a dream and live it”,’ is her call to her gender in the country.

As for the critics, she is scarce with words, opting instead to make her point on court with the booming forehand for a winner.

Women in Science – Some Global Perspectives

Networks and mentors go a long way in working around bureaucracy, and female scientists feels men have much stronger networks that they can tap into

Women at a conference. Credit: womendeliver/Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

Do women scientists still encounter issues in their careers that men don’t face? What do young scientists think? Does it depend on where the scientist is from? And what better place to find out than the Lindau Meeting? This year’s meeting has 650 young researchers from 88 countries, and about 42% of them are women.

While the majority agrees that there are issues specific to women that need to be addressed, whether through systemic policies, support or education, it is immediately apparent that more men disagree. Nine out of 25 men surveyed said that they think there is no issue. Some of them don’t see breaks in careers as detrimental; others think the problems are similar for men and women. A few of them, all physicists, honestly admitted that they simply didn’t know enough women scientists to know what the issues are, which makes a case for promoting more awareness.

On the other hand there were only two women (out of 25) who said they didn’t believe women had it harder than men. “They say that it’s such a big problem. Where I live it’s not hard,” said one young woman from Germany. The majority, however, believed there were differences, the extent and flavour of which were different in different countries and cultures.

“It is an issue, not just in Mauritius, but across Africa,” said Vidushi Neergheen-Bhujun, a member of the Global Young Academy, which has a ‘women in science’ group actively involved in mentoring young women. “Science is still sexist especially in terms of the opportunities we get,” she added. The situation in India is similar in many ways. Seema Mittal, a young scientist at the India Innovation Research Centre said, “I see fewer women around me wanting a career in academia given its challenges—bureaucracy, power structures, balancing family.” Networks and mentors go a long way in working around bureaucracy, and she feels men have much stronger networks that they can tap into.

Paternity leave

Some cultures pressure women into starting families early. The burden of caregiving also falls largely on the woman in these cultures. Researchers, both men and women, from Pakistan, Cameroon and Iran observed that this was responsible for large numbers of women dropping out of science in their countries. Notably, men from these countries, and from India too, were quick to offer introductions to women participants from their countries to talk about these issues—they didn’t perceive themselves as part of this dialogue. To make any progress towards equality, a big part of the efforts in these countries needs to focus on raising awareness, both amongst men and women.

There were, however, many women who acknowledged that they had personally never encountered significant bumps in their careers so far on account of their gender. Most of these women were from Europe and the US. But they do foresee problems along the way. “What I notice in my own life and in others is that having a family is when problems come. Universities are supportive; they do want to hire women. But it is hard to make it work especially with the nomadic life of a postdoc. I see a lot of people leave the field if they feel they can’t combine that. It’s not a matter of flat out discrimination. It’s simply that more often, women choose family over career. It’s the way the system is developing,” said Else Starkenburg from the Leibnitz Institute for Astrophysics, Germany.

Starkenburg even spoke at one of the Meeting’s master classes about what she called the “leakiest part of the pipeline” for women, the postdoc years. She proposed several solutions that could help: paid maternity leave, paternal leave options, support for travel with caregivers and child and return/part-time fellowships. She urged people to counter biases with information and also think about their own biases.

In the ensuing audience interaction, one young scientist from Caltech insisted that men need to be invited to participate in this dialogue. “Mandating maternity leave is not a good idea unless you also mandate paternity leave. We keep reinforcing the bias when we talk about it only as women’s issues,” she said.

Take time off

Following up on her idea, young male scientists were asked whether they would take paternity leave if offered. Only 20% (five out of 25) said yes, they would. Out of these, one of them, a German, had indeed availed of paternity leave, and was happy to report that he hadn’t suffered any adverse consequences as a result. Two others were from Greece. “In Greece, we have mandatory nine months of military service. We take a career break for that anyway. So we don’t think a paternity break will be that different. In fact, we’d much prefer the latter,” they said.

Six out of 25 men said they weren’t sure about taking time off and may consider it if the situation allowed it at the time—if their wives worked in a stable, well-paying job or they weren’t in a crucial transition period in their careers. The rest said no, even though some of them had previously acknowledged that women’s issues in science need to be recognised and better support provided. Fifty percent of the men believed it would affect their careers. While the idea of fathers taking time off is still very new, it is being increasingly considered in some countries and may prove to be a good equaliser.

South Africa is among the nations that has done well in promoting women in science. “There is support all the way through our careers. These efforts have been around for about 20 years now, and there is a visible change,” said Deveshnie Mudaly. This is also true of Israel, which offers many schemes and fellowships to support women. Rules that require faculty applicants to do postdocs abroad complicate matters, since it is hard to relocate with family, but efforts are on to change these stipulations.

While the so-called baby penalty monopolises much of the dialogue about women in science, there are other facets to consider as well. “Women don’t self-nominate themselves for opportunities,” said Laurel Yohe, a young researcher from the US. She added that it is also important for women to be aware of things that are not natural to them, like negotiation skills. “Just being clued in to these things early on would help,” she said.

Role models

Another problem that repeatedly surfaced was the lack of role models and mentors for young women to look up to and learn from. Even in countries where there are increasing numbers of women students and postdocs, there are significantly lower numbers of women professors. Paige Cooper, also from the US, said, “Having women to talk to would be most useful—women who are older, who are mentors, as well as peers who share my experiences.”

Qianyuan Tang from China pointed out that stereotypes are a big problem. “There is a mistaken notion that women are not good at mathematics. Even though it is not true, hearing it often and from an early age makes some women less confident of their own skills,” he said.

Another policy-level solution that has been tried in Europe is reservation. New laws in many countries require companies to increase the number of women in their boardrooms. This has provoked many mixed reactions. One young female scientist hailing from Italy was against this practice. “Quotas are not good. In many ways, they are counter productive,” she posited. “It is not uncommon to hear people—both men and women—say, that you got the job because you are a woman.”

Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn has successfully juggled family and career. She believes that good childcare, a supportive spouse and a network of peers can help women sustain their careers in science through the demanding baby years. She maintains, however, that there are significant conscious and unconscious biases that women still have to battle in the workplace. “People will say they are not sexist. But there are a lot of unconscious biases that they are unaware of,” she said. She hopes that things will change, that younger people may have views that are more informed by open discussions of these issues. She is among those who believe that gender quotas would help to counteract unconscious biases.

Many things still need to change to improve the gender balance in science. Some countries have a much longer way to go before they become truly inclusive, while others are farther along that road. It is heartening to note that the women, on the whole, are hopeful and optimistic about the years to come. “Of course, I wish it weren’t an issue any more, but things are definitely much better today,” said Moran Shalev Ben-Ami from Israel. Several scientists pointed out that the Lindau Meeting itself is a case in point—while only 3 out of 65 Nobel Laureates were female, the number of young women scientists attending the Lindau Meeting was almost equal to the number of men.

Many young scientists expressed the hope that things will only get better as people age out of preconceived notions that may have existed in the past. The fastest way forward is to be vocal, raise awareness about particular issues, ensure that men are a part of the dialogue and the proposed solutions, and to learn and incorporate successful practices from other countries.

This piece was originally published in the Lindau Nobel Laureates Meetings blog. Harini Barath is a science writer based in Bangalore. She manages science communication for IndiaBioscience.

HC Recalls its Controversial Order on Rape Mediation

The June 23 order of Justice P. Devadass directing the rapist to go for mediation had triggered a controversy

Chennai: The Madras High Court today recalled its controversial order directing mediation between a rapist and his victim days after the Supreme Court observed that it would be a “spectacular error” to adopt a soft approach on cases of rape and stated that there cannot be any compromise in such matters.

The June 23 order of Justice P. Devadass directing the rapist, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a trial court, to go for mediation had triggered a controversy.

In his latest order, Justice P. Devadass said, “In view of the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State of Madhya Pradesh V.S. Madanlal case, the earlier order of this Court directing the parties to go for mediation is recalled. Consequently, the interim bail granted to the petitioner is cancelled.”

Taking note of an earlier Supreme Court order that there be no mediation in the case of rape, the judge directed the officer-in-charge of Mediation Centre to stop the parties from attending mediation.

The Judge also directed the Registrar (Judicial) of High Court to ensure compliance to his latest order on the matter, and the accused to go and surrender before the Mahila Court at Cuddalore on July 13. He also asked the Mahila Court to secure him and commit him to Central Prison.

The accused V. Mohan was sentenced to seven years in jail for raping a 15-year-old orphan in 2008, who became pregnant. Not willing to go for the mediation offer, the 22-year old victim had said that the suspect could go to any extent to escape punishment.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra had said that, “When a human frame is defiled, the ‘purest treasure’ is lost. Dignity of a woman is a part of her non-perishable and immortal self and no one should ever think of painting it in clay. There cannot be a compromise or settlement as it would be against her honour, which matters the most.”

The Supreme Court’s comments were made in the context of a rape case from Madhya Pradesh. It had criticised a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge who was influenced by the compromise entered into between the accused Madan Lal and the parents of the seven-year-old victim and had set aside the conviction and five-year sentence for the rape.

Beti Bachao, with Conditions Attached

The paternalism inherent in Indian society prevails even over seemingly “progressive” campaigns to promote the girl child

Credit: sarvodaya/Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

Much has already been written and said about the torrent of abusive tweets by Modi devotees, aimed at women who criticized the Indian Prime Minister’s advocacy of the ‘Selfie With Daughter’ campaign. What interests me more than the outright abusive and violent tweets/comments, are the ones that are less obviously offensive, but more revealing of a misogynistic and paternalistic framework that underpins the Selfie With Daughter campaign, as well as related campaigns like Beti Bachao and Raksha Bandhan.

For instance, the actor Alok Nath deleted his tweet that had said ‘Jail the bitch,’ clearly because he himself found it to be indefensible. But it is interesting to examine another tweet that he chose to endorse with a retweet.

The Selfie With Daughter campaign, let us recall, has the self-proclaimed aim of resisting sex-selective abortion, by encouraging fathers to celebrate and display pride in having a daughter. The campaign was initiated by the Sarpanch of the Bibipur panchayat in Haryana, and the Prime Minister endorsed and expanded the campaign during his ‘Mann ki Baat’ (Straight from the Heart) speech on radio, hitching it to his Government’s campaign of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (Save and Educate Your Daughter).

Alok Nath chose to RT a tweet that derided me by suggesting that “When people see a retard like her they start killing her girl child even before she is born out of fear (sic).” What does this tweet reveal about the nature of the Beti Bachao, Selfie With Daughter and Raksha Bandhan campaigns that the Prime Minister has claimed will counter sex-selective abortion and boost respect for women?

It says that a daughter is worth ‘saving’ only so long as she is not a ‘retard’. It says that an outspoken or irreverent daughter does not deserve to be born, and if she exists, she must be derided as ‘retarded’. Of course, the sentiment not only reveals deep-seated misogyny, but also contempt for the differently-abled.

But the tweet is above all, symptomatic of the paternalism inherent in the Beti Bachao and Selfie With Daughter campaigns. It is paternalism because it does not question the idea that parents have a right to decide, based on their assessment of a daughter’s moral worth, whether or not she has a right to exist. The paternalism can be benevolent, in which fathers/parents aver their pride in having a daughter. But the very same paternalism can also decree that disobedient daughters ought not to be born – and by implication can even be killed if she turns disobedient or otherwise disappointing.

Honour killings

Haryana, where the ‘Selfie With Daughter’ campaign was first born, is a state where ‘honour killings’ are rampant. These are family-custodial killings of daughters who have disobeyed caste or clan norms to love and marry someone of their choice; very often the partner is also killed.

Nakul Sawhney’s film Izzatnagari ki Asabhya Betiyan (Immoral Daughters in the Land of Honour) documents how the leaders of the dominant Jat khaps (clan councils) assert that “some daughters who are immoral/uncivilized, like animals, try to corrupt the rest by demanding that they should be allowed to live their life without restrictions,” whereas these clan leaders decree that marriages be fixed taking care to maintain and reproduce social hierarchies (watch an excerpt here).

If a campaign cannot ask parents and brothers and Indian citizens to take pride in and seek to safeguard the autonomy and assertion of women – including the right of the said women to disagree with them, disobey them and live life on their own terms – how can such a campaign ever counter sex-selective abortion, rape, ‘honour’ killings or any other forms of gender violence?

This point is illuminated by a closer look at the reports from Bibipur village in Haryana, the birthplace of the Selfie With Daughter campaign. This detailed report reveals some significant aspects of the campaign. It is clear from the report that in Bibipur, the question of sex-selection and skewed sex ratio is approached, not from the point of view of women’s deprivation of their rights, autonomy and lives, but from the perspective of men’s deprivation of their entitlement to wives.

The moving impulse behind the campaign is the Avivahit Purush Sanghthan (the Unmarried Men’s Organisation) that, prior to the Parliamentary Elections of 2014, challenged political parties with the slogan ‘bahu lao, vote pao’ (‘Get us brides, we’ll get you votes’). Parties were asked to commit to fixing the sex ratio and end to ensure that unmarried men got brides. As an innovative way to counter sex-selective abortion, the Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan initiated a competition for the best selfie of fathers with their daughters.

For feminists, the campaign against sex selective abortion is linked to the question of asserting the right of women to control their own reproduction, and their own lives. A woman must have the right to decide whether, when and how many babies to bear; just as she must have the right to decide whether, when and who she will love or marry.

In contrast with such feminist impulses, a campaign against sex selective abortion that is linked with making sure that men get brides (‘Beti Bachao’ so that men can have ‘Bahus’) has a fairly obvious catch in it. What if the said betis choose not to be bahus; choose to break the marriage norms of their community?

A ‘beti’ (daughter) who has been ‘saved’ from sex-selective abortion, and educated to boot, may well decide not to get married to men of her clan or caste or community, or at an age considered appropriate by her community or family. But the ‘Unmarried Men’ who want women to be born so that these women can keep up the supply flow to meet men’s demand for brides, are likely to be offended at the idea that the women might choose not to be brides to men in their own community.

Such a campaign by Unmarried Men is fundamentally contradictory to women’s rights to decide whether, when, and who they will love or marry. In fact, in the report cited above, the Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan defends the GGG principle that prohibits marriages in the same “gaon, gotra, guhaand (village, clan, cluster of villages)” as an essential ingredient of “Haryana culture.” Can we forget that the khap panchayats of Haryana kill couples who fall in love and marry in violation of this rigid GGG principle?

Buying brides

For instance, the phenomenon of buying brides (from other states) to supply wives for Haryana men shows how women are seen as chattel, as property. In this patriarchal scheme of things, men need wives to perform sexual and reproductive duties and household labour; if wives are in short supply in Haryana, they must be sourced and bought from other states. This is the perspective that dominates in Haryana – leading to BJP leader OP Dhankar assuring a Kisan Mahasammelan (farmers’ conference) in Jind (the district to which Bibipur village belongs) that the BJP would ensure good brides from Bihar for Haryana’s unmarried men: “Making the BJP strong means that those youths in many villages who are roaming without brides will get one” because “Sushil Modi (senior BJP leader in Bihar) is a good friend of mine. We will ensure a good match….”

The manner in which the Bibipur panchayat seeks to prevent sex selective abortions is perhaps not very effective, according to a survey by the Kurukshetra University geography department. Prof. Mahabir Jaglan, a senior professor at the department who supervised the survey, quotes the findings: “The overall gender ratio in the (Bibipur) village is 866, which is lower than the Haryana average. The worst part is that the gender ratio among infants (0 to 1 year age group) was only 510…The low infant gender ratio shows that the practice of female foeticide and systematic discrimination against the girl child was prevalent on a large scale in Bibipur…”.

Feminism asserts the inalienable rights of women to equality, autonomy and freedom from discrimination. It calls on women to challenge and break patriarchal restrictions. Paternalism, on the other hand, may benevolently loosen or ‘reset’ restrictions – while continuing to retain the right to decide how and how much to restrict women’s freedom. Take the decision by the Satrol khap of Hisar district to “allow” inter-caste marriages.

While this decision was lauded as “historic” by media as well as by the Bibipur Sarpanch Sunil Jaglan, who is also a representative of the Naugaon khap of Jind district, it is notable that the Satrol khap “continued to ban inter-caste marriages in the same and bordering villages and same-gotra marriages.”) The Special Marriage Act in India already guarantees the Constitutional right of adults in India to marry irrespective of caste or gotra. How, then, can a khap “allow” or “disallow” such marriages?

There is, no doubt, a tension between rigid and more liberal impulses amongst the representatives of caste-patriarchy. But even the more benevolent elements do not question the right of community custodians (male or female) to impose decisions and restrictions on women.

Dress codes

Other models of paternalistic protectionism include the dress codes imposed by caste or political outfits on women, supposedly to safeguard them from rape. The Chief Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar of the BJP, supported this victim-blaming view when he declared “Freedom must have limits too, girls should dress decently to not lure boys” and even supported the khaps’ ban on same gotra marriages, saying “”Khaps maintain the tradition of a girl and boy being brother and sister. They are just making sure that a girl and boy do not see each other in the wrong way. These rulings help prevent rapes too.”

Coming back to the revealing comments on social media, I was intrigued by a series of tweets directed at me, that suggested that women like Shruti Seth or I are like Soorpanakha rather than Sita, and therefore deserving of violence and disrespect.

Soorpanakha as imagined by Valmiki and other dominant renditions of the Ramayana, is dark with sharp nails. She roams as a single woman, who propositions Rama and Laxmana, and her sexuality is seen as dangerous and deserving of humiliating punishment. The mutilation of her nose and ears is a transparent euphemism for mutilation of sexual organs.

Paternalism demands subservience as the wages of tolerance and suspension of violence. This applies not only to women but to oppressed castes and minorities too. Paternalism always blames violence on ‘provocation’ by the group (women, Dalits, minorities) that refuse to remain subservient and accept the hierarchical order of things. The paternalism with its implicit threat of violence under a veneer of benevolence, is what underpins the Beti Bachao, Selfie With Daughter, and Raksha Bandhan campaigns. The violent, abusive and misogynist social media cohort of the Prime Minister have only exposed this reality.

Kavita Krishnan is Secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA).

Stir Over St Stephen’s Sexual Harassment Case Reaches Flashpoint

Protestors demand the resignation of St Stephen’s College principal on Monday. Photo: Taru Bhatia

New Delhi: With St Stephen’s College engulfed in a raging controversy over the sexual harassment of a research student who has also accused it of efforts to hush up the incident, women’s groups have stepped up their campaign for the resignation of the renowned educational institution’s head.

Even as close to a dozen womens’ rights and student groups came together Monday to seek the intervention of the government, Valson Thampu, who is principal of the college, blamed “vested interests” for targetting him.

The victim has accused Thampu of pressuring her to withdraw a complaint filed last month against a bursar for sexually harassing her inside the college’s chemistry laboratory almost two years ago. On his part, Thampu has said he would resign if the charge against him were proven. This, after organisations including All India Democratic Women’s Association and All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), held a spirited demonstration and listed their set of demands at the office of the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University to which St Stephen’s is affiliated.

The protestors will now submit a memorandum to the National Commission of Women and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

They want the release of the 22-year-old complainant’s monthly stipend allegedly suspended by the accused – who also handles the college’s financial accounts – after she filed a complaint with the college’s internal committee on June 18. They also want her to be allowed to submit her doctoral thesis, to a new supervisor, without further delay, and an external committee to probe the principal’s role and “institutional failure” in addressing sexual harassment cases.

Another demand is the reintroduction of an earlier DU ordinance, scrapped last year, which had decreed an academic and work environment free of sexual harassment for the university’s students, academics and non-teaching staff.

Among those who signed the memorandum are the Commission on the Status of Women, Joint Women’s Programme, Democratic Teachers Front, Krantikari Yuga Sanghatan, All India Student’s Association and Student’s Federation of India.

AIPWA accused Thampu of siding with the accused rather than with the woman who suffered sexual harassment. “He even tried to intimidate the complainant. It is a criminal offence,” the association’s president, Kavitha Krishnan, alleged. “This shows the institutional rot in the administration of DU. We have to remove it. For that, it is important the victim in this case got justice.”

“A case should be filed against Thampu so that no one can take advantage of his high authority just to save the institution’s reputation,” added Krishnan, who is also the editor of Liberation magazine published by the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).

As for the Internal College Committee, the memorandum said its members should be elected democratically instead of being nominated by the principal. “This alone can effectively address cases of sexual harassment,” one of the activists said.

The speakers at the protest pointed out that the research student’s had requested the DU vice-chancellor to change the supervisor of the chemistry lab.

“We will request the VC to immediately implement the request of the complainant,” said DU Executive Council member Abha Dev Habib.

Thampu, who has been St Stephen’s principal since 2008, termed the protests as “extra-judicial pressure” by various organisations being brought in to “disturb the peace in campus”, while he had “absolute trust” in the Delhi police.

On Sunday, he sought a CBI probe into the matter, claiming “the victim is being used against me” and a forensic investigation of the “purported recordings will clear the air”. PTI quoted Thampu as saying: “I feel sorry for the victim. She is being misled and is being used against me by certain elements in the college only. She has admitted herself to the media that she released the audio recordings as advised by a ‘teacher’.”

Monday’s demonstrations saw some of the speakers revealing similar stories of harassment in DU in the recent past.

An ad-hoc Hindi professor at Mata Sundri College for Women shared the ordeal she underwent when she accused three of her teachers of harassment back in 2008.

“I filed sexual, mental and educational harassment cases against three teachers of the Hindi department. Two went scot-free, while the third was punished six months later through compulsory retirement,” the teacher said. “The man, however, received all the post-retirement benefits.”

On the other hand, the complaint affected Meenakshi’s career. “I went through various interviews in colleges for a permanent job. But the panel would invariably have one of the accused; that affected my job prospects,” she said.

Meenakshi filed a complaint against this, following which the court ordered that no teacher accused of sexual harassment should sit in the panel of an interview at an institution under DU. “Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College conducted that interview between May 31 and June 3. The result has yet to come,” she added.

Ten Charts that Tell us the State of India that is Bharat

The first of its kind since 1932, results from the Socio Economic and Caste Census launched in 2011 were flagged off today

The first of its kind since 1932, results from the Socio Economic and Caste Census launched in 2011 were flagged off today by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. While the socio-economic data has been made public, the more sensitive – and, in some cases, telling – caste data has been placed for discussion before Parliament, according to Jaitley. Here’s what the preliminary numbers say.

1. Households holding any land

On average, 44% of Indian households hold some kind of land – either for subsistence or residence. The number climbs to 94% among rural households.

2. Homeless people

Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and West Bengal have the most urban homeless people.

3. Women in charge

12.83% of Indian households are led by a woman. Among the ‘major’ states, the highest numbers are in Kerala, Goa and Uttarakhand, whereas the lowest are in Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

4. Mentally ill

5. SC/ST households

The northeastern states have the most tribal households.

6. Make of the houses

Kuccha-type walls for the houses are nominally proxies for insufficient income and lack of a clean living environment. The fractions of such houses are consistently higher in the northeastern states – is it a coincidence that these states also have the higher proportions of tribal households?

7. Paying Income/Professional Taxes

If a household pays Income Tax, then it means it has a salaried member with a taxable income – the SECC draws the line at Rs.5,000/month for the survey’s purposes.

8. Begging for bread

About 4.6% of India’s households rely on begging and collecting alms as their main source of income. The numbers are lowest in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

9. Mobiles only

About 28.5% of the households in Chhattisgarh have only a mobile as opposed to a landline connection as well – and that’s the lowest in the country. At least half the houses in every other state (except Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh) own a mobile phone connection only.

10. Education

According to the SECC, 64% of rural Indians are literate – differing from the Census’s higher tally of 68%. Even so, more than 20% of those are literate have only finished primary school. Also, almost 18% are enrolled to primary education but only 3.45% are graduates (or better).

Note: This piece was updated on July 4 with a tenth chart (on education).

Shruti Seth’s Smart Put Down of Misogynist Trolls

What is the point of taking selfies with your girls when you’re also responsible for creating the most toxic environment for them to grow up in?

The viciousness of social media trolls is well known, as is the fact that women bear the brunt of most of the nastiness that passes for comment online. But not everyone takes it lying down or shrugs it off. Actor Shruti Seth put down the trolls who called her names because her take on the #Selfiewithdaughter campaign launched by the Prime Minister was unconventional—to put it differently, she did not gush about it but expressed some reservations. This was too much for many who went after her on the social media, but she didn’t cower; she got back at them elegantly and articulately. Here is what she said.

Shruti Seth. Photo by http://www.bollywoodhungama.com

A little note to India

I write this to an entire nation because no one individual can be held responsible for bringing about change in the mindset of a billion odd people. Change can only happen if there is awareness at an individual level.

On the morning of 28th June, I made the grave mistake of expressing my views on an initiative called#selfiewithdaughter which had been blessed by our PM. Most people found it to be a sweet gesture and a means to create awareness about female infanticide. I, sadly, didn’t find the idea very palatable. Keep in mind that I have an eleven-month daughter of my own. But I expect more from the man who’s supposed to usher in a new era of change, not just tenuous surface-level initiatives. I then made a graver mistake of posting this opinion on Twitter. So not only did I dare to think, I also dared to place my thoughts in the public domain.

The floodgates of hell

And then, at the risk of sounding overly-Shakespearean, the floodgates of hell opened. I was subjected to a tsunami of hate tweets. 48 hours of non stop trolling. The tweets were targeted at me, my family, my ‘Muslim’ husband, my 11 month old daughter and, of course, my non-existent, dwindling, no-good career as an actor.

I had made an unsavoury comment about our Prime Minister by calling him – gasp – #selfieobsessed and asking him to choose reform over gimmickry. Was I wrong? Was I too harsh? Apparently, for those who support him and the ruling government, unquestioningly so. I, as a member of the tax-paying electorate of India, did not have the right to comment on his policy. I had dared to challenge his authority. I had abused the highest office of the country (which is the President, by the way).

And so I deserved to be punished. And punished In a manner commensurate with the vitriol that the anonymity & access of Twitter so easily provide.

Men and women alike said the most vile things about me, stripping me of all my dignity as someone’s daughter, wife and mother and most importantly a woman. Men who were busy hash-tagging their selfies with their daughters one minute called me slanderous names the next. Asked me if I knew who my real father was. Questioned if I had been sexually abused as a child and hence was opposed to the idea of a selfie with my father. And these are the relatively polite ones. Well done, gentlemen. Your daughters must be so proud.

Women, who are meant to empower each other, asked me if I was a prostitute and if I was planning on doing the same with my daughter. Whether I was trying to gain some fame and resurrect my failed career by using the prime minister’s name. I shudder to think of the deep respect your sons will have for the opposite sex.

So here’s the thing. What is the point of taking selfies with your girls when you’re also responsible for creating the most toxic environment for them to grow up in? How will taking a photograph nullify the misogyny and patriarchy that is so deeply entrenched in our society? Why bother to increase the number of girls being born when you choose to treat them with such indignity and disrespect?

Some questions trolls should ask themselves

All those who trolled me incessantly for forty eight hours, did you for once stop and think that I, too, am someone’s daughter? Did you ever ask yourselves how you’d feel if it were your daughter at the receiving end of all that hate? I’m guessing the answer is a big, resounding “No”. Because, you know, you were too busy pouting for the camera & getting ‘likes’ and ‘RT’s to your #selfiewithdaughter.

As for our esteemed PM, I have this to say to him:

Dear Sir,

If you truly wish to empower women I urge you to condemn this kind of hatred being spread in your name.
Regretfully, I deleted my initial tweet because of the backlash. But I stand by what I said and I’ll reiterate it here: “Selfies don’t bring about change, reform does. So please try and be bigger than a photograph. Come on!”

And as for my initial reservation about the initiative being nothing more than eyewash, I am deeply saddened to see that, in the end, I was proved right.

No ‘Compromise’ to Be Allowed in Rape Cases, Supreme Court Says

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that a rape accused would not be let off the hook even if he agrees to marry the rape victim, saying that for a woman, her body is her own temple and could not be defiled.

“When a human frame is defiled, the purest treasure, is lost. Dignity of a woman is a part of her non-perishable and immortal self and no one should ever think of painting it in clay. There cannot be a compromise or settlement as it would be against her honour which matters the most. It is sacrosanct,” said a bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant in their judgment.

“We would like to clearly state that in a case of rape or attempt of rape, the conception of compromise, under no circumstances, can really be thought of,” it said.

“These (rape or attempt of rape) are crimes against the body of a woman which is her own temple. These are offences which suffocate the breath of life and sully the reputation. And reputation, needless to emphasise, is the richest jewel one can conceive of in life. No one would allow it to be extinguished,” said Justice Misra speaking for the bench.

Describing the offer of entering into wedlock by the accused as a “subterfuge”, the court said: “Sometimes solace is given that the perpetrator of the crime has acceded to enter into wedlock with her which is nothing but putting pressure in an adroit manner; and we say with emphasis that the courts are to remain absolutely away from this subterfuge to adopt a soft approach to the case.”

The court said that any such “liberal approach” by the court “has to be put in the compartment of spectacular error. Or to put it differently, it would be in the realm of a sanctuary of error”.

“We are compelled to say so as such an attitude reflects lack of sensibility towards the dignity, the elan vital, of a woman” and “any kind of liberal approach or thought of mediation in this regard is thoroughly and completely sans legal permissibility,” the court said, remanding the matter back to the Madhya Pradesh High Court for reconsideration.

Referring to an earlier apex court verdict, the judgment said it has to be kept in mind that “respect for reputation of women in the society shows the basic civility of a civilised society. No member of society can afford to conceive the idea that he can create a hollow in the honour of a woman. Such thinking is not only lamentable but also deplorable”.

The court said this while accepting the Madhya Pradesh government’s plea challenging a high court order convicting Madan Lal of outraging the modesty of the victim but reducing his sentence to one he had already undergone.

The incident relates to December 27, 2008, when Madan Lal raped the victim who was just seven years of age.

A session court in Guna convicted him under Sections 376(2)(f) (commits rape on a woman when she is under 12 years of age) and 511 (Punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to five years’ rigorous imprisonment.

The court had rejected the plea for compromise, saying that offences against the accused were non-compoundable.