Monday, May 10, 2010

Domestic violence survey on men is welcome step

Recently a high court judge had said in a seminar that if he went strictly by definition of Indian domestic violence act against women(PWDVA), he will be guilty of domestic violence on his wife.  Actually, if the domestic violence act was made gender neutral, his wife will also be guilty of domestic violence on him.  This is because the definition of domestic violence is defined to be very broad, and further a woman has simply to allege to get the wheels of justice (read: torture for men) in motion.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2010/04/19&PageLabel=19&EntityId=Ar01901&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

 

Seeking to counter certain “exaggerated” claims made by some women’s organisations and in a bid to draw the attention of the government to the plight of men victimised by lop-sided laws drafted on the basis of such claims, men’s organisations in the city have now embarked upon the task of conducting a massive domestic violence survey.


    The results of the nationwide survey, widely believed to be the first of its kind for men in the country, will be used to find out if whether Indian men too are victims of domestic violence, the percentage of Indian men subjected to such violence and the kind of violence they are subjected to.


    The need for the survey has been triggered, it seems, by the controversial Domestic Violence Act - 2005, which seems to have been drafted on the assumption that only women suffer domestic violence.


    Says Suresh Ram, member of the All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA), an NGO working for the rights of men and boys, “Certain women’s organisations have been stereotyping the issue of domestic violence. They have presented a picture that conveys the impression that only women are victims of domestic violence while we have with us global surveys and over 250 scholarly studies that show that women are at least as likely as men to engage in partner aggression and that partner violence is often mutual. This fact is established if one goes through the Domestic Violence Study conducted by a well known global organisation that
has done the survey in over 32 countries including India. However, the Domestic Violence Act in India offers protection to only women and not men.” He further adds, “So, to set things right, we men’s organisations have joined hands to ensure that a credible and transparent survey on the issue is done. Eight men’s organisations are involved in this effort which is being led by the AIMWA. We have begun negotiations with survey agencies to conduct the survey in certain cities of the country including Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. We intend to publish the results on Nov 19, the International Men’s Day.” So, what do they intend to achieve by conducting such a survey? Says Suresh, “We intend to create an awareness in society about the problems faced by men. We wish to present to them the real situation in society. We will also seek to draw the government’s attention to issues concerning men and reiterate our demand for setting up a National Commission for Men and a Men’s Welfare Ministry.” Men in the city are delighted with the move by the men’s organisations. Welcoming such a survey, Shankar, a graphics designer, says, “I certainly welcome the move. It is high time that facts were presented on this issue.” Women too seem to be for such a survey. Says Dakshayini Sampath, a media professional, “While I think that more number of women suffer domestic violence, it’s also possible that men are victims. I think the law should hold good for both genders and if this survey is going to help bring about a uniform law, then I’m all for it.”

Will feminists ask for equal opportunities in such deadly jobs?

Refer to news below about death of miners in Russia in dangerous mines.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7121731.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093

Rescuers were searching desperately for 58 people still missing in a Russian coal mine yesterday as the death toll from twin methane blasts rose to 32.

Hopes were fading of finding survivors more than 450 metres underground at the Raspadskaya pit in Siberia, Russia’s largest underground mine. Eighteen of the victims have been rescuers who died in the second explosion on Sunday after going in search of miners trapped by the first blast late on Saturday.

Twelve miners died and 71 were hurt in that explosion as 370 people worked underground at the mine in the Kemerovo region. Sergei Shoigu, the Emergency Situations Minister, said that the body of the 31st victim, a rescue worker, had been recovered as a large-scale search mission resumed.

The feminists take great pains to point out statistics about why there is still less percentage of women CEOs in corporations, why women are being denied powerful jobs, there is a glass ceiling blah blah… They never seem to highlight the fact that even today, most of the deadly, dangerous, life-threatening, debilitating jobs are done by men and which do not pay any great amounts either!

Men who become CEOs also have to go through years of grind, being away from family on travel, miss out on life beyond work, to be able to have a chance at reaching that position.  It is not served to them on a platter simply because of their gender.  But for feminists, the logic of female supremacy reigns supreme, that just by her gender, a woman should be entitled to equal outcomes, irrespective of whether she is willing to put up same amount of work or travel to reach a top job.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Will the real opposition to dowry stand up please?

This is the response received to an RTI application filed on Women and Child Development Ministry.  According to this RTI response, WCD ministry has not spent a single Rupee on any advertisement campaign against dowry, or extravagant marriages in Apr 2009-Mar 2010.

WCD-RTI-anti-dowry-exp-marriage

RTI response is also given in PDF format below:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2371641/RTIs_SIFF/WCD-RTI-anti-dowry-exp-marriage.pdf

This is the same WCD ministry which had bungled and carried out an advertisement issued on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day that carried a photograph of the former Pakistan Air Force chief, Tanvir Ahmed Mahmood.

image

So it seems they WCD does not spend any money on reducing dowry and extravagant marriages… and when they do spend money on a women’s issue, it is bungled so badly that Prime minister’s office (PMO) has to issue an apology on behalf of WCD.