The Unspoken War Against India's Women

Every day, the suffering of 650 million Indian women goes unnoticed. India's women are traumatised, not by tanks in the streets, bombs nor weapons, but in private life, within their families and by the constant threat of being sexually abused or molested from a young age. This everyday violence is the product of a traditional culture that bestows all power on men. The possibility of violence occurs throughout their lives, especially due to changes in marital status. India can arguably be accused of the largest-scale human rights violation on Earth.

The gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old from New Delhi is a particularly horrific, but sadly common example of female oppression in India. The teenager was raped and mutilated by four men in September of this year and died two weeks later in a hospital. Her tongue was cut, and her spinal cord was broken after she was dragged by her neck with a rope. The Prime Minister; Narendra Modi said that the "strictest action" should be taken against the attackers.

Sadly, nearly three months later, there has been no action against these men, and justice is said to be unlikely.

Cases like these are common in India, according to the latest Indian government data, the police registered an average of 92 daily rape cases in 2017. It is also estimated by experts that 42% of Indian women have been or will be, sexually abused, and 95% of the rapists were considered known to those girls; family, friends and neighbours. What the rape statistics reflect is a cultural agreement that women have little value, which means that they are trained to act as if they do not exist. The degradation of women remains systemic and women in India, in both rural and urban communities, have to spend large proportions of their days planning ahead, just to make sure that they can get to their next destination safely. The mechanisms for women to report sexual assault is inadequate, more than 100,000 rape cases remain in the courts, and state governments are reluctant to even invest in basic safety measures such as street lighting. The government set up a fund of 10bn rupee (£112m) to invest in women's safety initiatives in 2012 however, the fact that it remains 91% unspent, demonstrates that even when there is funding, there is no motivation to tackle the problem.

India is slowly killing their women; this is evident in the unbalanced sex ratios at birth. Female infanticide is still prevalent in some states, despite being unlawful, mainly because of anti-female bias, family economics and as a result of the patriarchal nature of Indian society. Simply, Indian society continues to favour male children and relentlessly pursue the birth of sons, which results in sex-selective abortions, murdering or abandoning of female infants.

Female oppression in India starts innocently, in private life. When a family keeps their female babies , they are trained to be silent. Told to be quiet, to speak softly, to have no opinions, no arguments, no conflicts. Speech is a basic human right, but a right that Indian women have been denied. They are easy to ignore, to overrule, and violate without repercussions. The violence is buried in the training of women in deadly habits that violate their human rights but are considered 'good womanhood'.

These women that have grown up silent, their sense of self has been worn down, by definition must depend on others, which invites fear and violence. Over 50% of Indian men and women still believe that sometimes women deserve a beating.

Millions of girls have to leave their childhood homes to move in with their husband's family after marriage, and their life changes overnight. The girls, some as young as 12, must abide by the rules of their husband's, and shoulder the responsibility for all household chores. Indian women are supposed to be treated as daughters in their husband's homes, but it is described to be a life of near slavery.

They are often barred by their husbands from earning money, wearing certain clothes or leaving home without permission. Women are only viewed as legitimate as mothers or wives and independence is looked at as a bad characteristic. Married women are trained to put duty over self, and it is with no surprise that rates of depression among married Indian women are much higher than elsewhere.

According to the Lancet, Indian women are two and a half times more likely to commit suicide than women in wealthier countries. Figures from the National Crime Records Bureau show that every year since 1997, more than 20,000 Indian housewives have committed suicide.

The Indian government has made a few feeble attempts to protect women from violence, such as the Domestic Violence Act 2005. Despite the act, the police are unwilling to intervene in cases of domestic violence, which are seen as 'household disputes'. A 2014 legal case, Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar, culminated that the law was being used as a 'weapon' by 'disgruntled wives' and stipulating that police should not immediately arrest men accused of abuse.

The Indian courts do not recognise marital rape as a crime and divorced wives do not get rights to share their husband's assets. Marriage is regarded as an institution with power dynamics and is a way for men to continue oppressing Indian women.

Despite decades of feminist campaigning, rates of violence against women have actually increased. Indian women are at war, and to combat violence against women, everyone must work collectively towards a global village where women are viewed as equal and valuable partners in society. Until there is an acceptance across Indian society and government that violence begets violence, both safety and justice will remain out of reach for the women of India.