IN a very recent incident, a minor girl was kidnapped and harassed in the locality of Malbagh, in Srinagar. One of the three accused men was a juvenile. It is condemnable that even little innocent children are not safe in our society anymore. The same society which we claim to be highly pure and spiritual, the city of saints or ‘pir vaer’ is turning into a civilisation of monsters. We cannot blame the victim for her dressing now that the victim was a mere child, what could she have possibly worn to provoke such a thing? Actually it is the general mentality of the masses that aids devils like these. What we do not realise is that we, as a society, incorporate disrespect for women in our daily lives, by doing and saying things to belittle women, sometimes even unknowingly. When we shush our little boys by saying, “men don’t cry”, “why are you crying?”, “Are you a girl?” “Stop crying like a girl” etc, we are actually embedding inside their heads, a sense of superiority complex over the female gender. This makes them think that women are weak and encourages and provokes them to commit crimes against them. It is a collective failure for us as a society that our women, even children are not safe in our own community. How can they be safe when we are particularly failing in giving our boys the most basic qualities of regard and respect? No one teaches their boys to behave well on a road, but their daughters to bow their heads while walking down a road. It is our mentality that is fuelling harassment and crimes against women, not particularly the Internet and social media. Our women, children cannot be safe until we start giving our boys basic moral values and teach them to respect women no matter what.
Sarah Koul
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