10 Years After Nirbhaya, And The Country Still Fails In Women’s Safety
How hard is it to make this country safe?
Do you remember that chilly winter night in Delhi, when a 22-year-old woman was brutally raped by 6 men when she was returning home after watching a movie, accompanied by a friend? She fought till her last breath but unfortunately could not survive the physical harm done to her body by those inhuman culprits. It’s been 10 years since we lost that pure soul, Nirbhaya. But can I, or any other woman of our country confidently say, that we don’t fear people around on our way back home in the late hours of the night? Well, to be honest, the time of the day does not even matter. Months of protest after the Nirbhaya rape case led to changes in the laws, but is our country any safe for women despite going through such a traumatic experience as a nation? Crimes against women have not decreased in the number let alone cease. And I don’t see enough efforts being taken to convince me, or other women in the country, that we are safe.
It disgusts me to even prove my point here since we are all witnesses to the crimes that are happening against women in our country. The Shraddha Walkar murder case and the Delhi acid attack on a minor are some of the horrifying crimes, the details of which are making headlines every day. No data will ever justify the rape crimes that are happening in our country, because we only hear the ones that make news. However, the Delhi Commission For Women in its letter to the houses of Parliament mentioned that in the National Capital itself, 6 women are raped every day. The 2021 reports on Crimes In India by National Crime Records Bureau revealed that overall crimes against women increased by approximately 14%. Rape cases increased in the country, and we don’t actually need much data to realise this. The sole fact that no woman in the country feels safe alone, and are still wishing not to be unnecessarily stared at, touched, and molested, is enough to let everyone know that our country has not been up the charts of women’s safety after a horrifying case like Nirbhaya. In fact, the justice system is another reason why the culprits still do not fear the law. Continuous efforts of Nirbhaya’s mother to get justice for her daughter finally ended after seven years. Do you really think that the law has been able to hold a woman’s confidence? The tedious court process to seek justice exhausts a woman mentally and financially. The loopholes have still not been fixed.
Also Read: 5 School Boys Raped Their 17-Year-Old Classmate And Blamed It On Porn. Is Porn Addiction Curable?
Nirbhaya funds were also set up after that incident, and it was meant to be used for women’s safety but the inefficiency of utilising failed the entire initiative. Reports suggest that funds were not even utilised to their potential, and only half of it was used.
Also Read: Nirbhaya Fund Misused Over The Years Reflects That Women’s Safety Is Not A Priority In Our Country
The lack of implementing laws on grounds, instilling fear in the minds of the men and taking stronger steps against this, have strengthened men to continue committing crimes against women and make them suffer. In fact, the people in power are making statements that demean a woman. What kind of a message does that send to the normal public?
There are other people on Twitter who have a similar opinion to mine. Here are a few.
A mother who fought relentlessly for her daughter but have things changed or have become worse ?#Nirbhaya #BilkisBanoCase #narishakti pic.twitter.com/ExIAn2362J
— पूनम कौर ❤️ poonam kaur (@poonamkaurlal) December 16, 2022
10years Ago
In a show of strength, of solidarity, the people had come together as one, to protest against what happened with #NirbhayaAfter 10years
Rapist of #BilkisBano were released on 15 Aug .We The 🧑🤝🧑 of 🇮🇳 must come in support of Bilkis to get ⚖️ for her pic.twitter.com/sXSozfGegZ
— Akshat Goyal🇮🇳 (@Aksh_Bharat) December 16, 2022
10 years of #Delhi rape case, also called #Nirbhaya rape case that led to massive public uproar, brought residents out to protest. But pendency of rape cases has in fact increased to 93.5% since. Story by @kpavi1602 pic.twitter.com/2suDWHNT4j
— Jayashree Nandi (@jayashreenandi) December 16, 2022
16 December 2012 , One of the Darkest Days in Indian History😶
It has been 10 years but still this Nation haven't learnd anything #Nirbhaya pic.twitter.com/2Gb5oVgjJG— 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 (@ClasslessCULE) December 15, 2022
16th December: The day we lost nation's daughter.
10 years later we again lost another young woman Shraddha to violence!
Well done, Delhi. Well done, India! Year after year, Chilling threat & death stories continue to hit new low! #Nirbhaya10YearsOn #Nirbhaya #shraddhaCase
— Saloni Singh (@IamSaloniSingh) December 16, 2022
To curb crimes, it is important to understand their root causes and act accordingly, and over the years, the government has done everything except that. It is necessary to teach men to respect women. In our Indian culture, men are still seen as the superior gender, and this mindset is inbuilt. We as a society absolutely fail to understand the harm that this mindset causes. Instead of stopping women from pursuing dreams just because the country is not safe, it’s an earnest request to try and make the country a better place.
