Creating Harmonious Civilization – Alleviating Crimes against Women by Laj Utreja, Director, Institute of Global Harmony
Surendra Pathak, (PhD) Director, Research, IASE, Sardarshahr
at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
April 18, 2013
1. Laj Utreja, Director, Institute of Global Harmony
Surendra Pathak, (PhD) Director, Research, IASE,
Sardarshahr
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
April 18, 2013
3. National Outrage and the Aftermath
The outrage:
The Dec. 16 gang rape and assault of a physiotherapy student, and her
subsequent death, prompted widespread and sometimes violent
protests in India
The aftermath:
5 women raped in 3 days in Delhi
Girl jumps out of auto in Hyderabad to escape molester
The real Gauhati shame: We are a nation of onlookers
Leaders charged with crimes against women to quit
The findings and immediate actions:
Shortage of women cops in Delhi, cases pile up
Need to increase women police force for better security
Police to make women's protection their priority
Set up fast track courts for crimes against women
National Poll on rape: 100 percent want stricter laws
4. Women Rally to Protest for Justice
and Security for Women
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of
great moral crises maintain their neutrality.” - Dante Alighieri
5. India Passes Sweeping Bill on Crimes
against Women
The bill amends India’s criminal laws, intended to deter
and punish sexual offenders, including men who stalk and
harass women, and creates a more responsive police and
judicial system, widely criticized as being insensitive when
dealing with crimes against women
Recommendations adopted: creation of stalking,
voyeurism and disrobing as separate offenses, provisions to
punish police officers who failed to register complaints of
sexual offenses, and a broadening of the definition of rape
to include the insertion of an object or any other body part
into a woman’s private parts
Recommendations not included: the death penalty in
some rape cases and raising the age of consent for sex to 18
What is needed is enforcement and implementation
6. Crimes Against Women Conference
Dallas, TX, April 8-10, 2013
According to statistics, everyday in America three women die at
the hands of a boyfriend, husband, or ex-husband
Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors,
and victim advocates gathered to educate themselves on ways
to improve investigation and prosecution of crimes against
women
A vast array of topics covered stalking, gang violence,
prostitution, human trafficking, sexual assault, strangulation,
and domestic violence
Five or 10 years ago, no one was talking about this. It is on
everybody’s radar now
Access to training and resources is key. “Give the tools that these
guys need to put the bad guys in jail for a really long time.”
7. Can We Prevent Crimes against Women?
How can we prevent female foeticide,
eve teasing, molestation and rapes in
the country?
• Do we need further change in the
law?
• Do we need to impart the right
education, which includes: values,
spirituality and gender sensitivity?
• Do we need to equip the girls
with the right tools and resources?
• Do we need a change in the
mindset?
8. What We are up against?
You are a man and looking for information
So you start reading a newspaper
So you want to look up for something on the internet
So you are staying in a dorm, a rented room, or a motel room
with a laptop
So you are in a village and there is one laptop that your
friend brings and everyone else gathers around him
You are a young girl
Home alone and you have all sorts of visitors during the day
Go visit your boy friend alone in his room
Travel in a railroad train, a bus, etc.
Uninhibited Sex and violence is all around us
It all stays in the mind
10. Current Human Expression
We lack common sense and free will
We’ve become too self-centered
We’ve lost balance between material and spiritual
development
We’ve lost self-respect and respect for the other
We’ve lost self-confidence and trust in the other
We’ve gone too far in material development
11. State of Our Civilization
Disregard for human values
Disconnected families and societies
Degraded political systems
Broken economic systems
Superiority of faiths
Rampant corruption, hypocrisy, and misuse of
wealth and power
Fragmented perspectives
A violated earth, unclean waters and polluted air
Our civilization needs total transformation
12. One World Polarized
Powerful and the Commoner
Haves and the Neglected
Is it acceptable by our civil society?