‘Moment could pass’ cautions panelist
By Crystal Tsoi
WASHINGTON, DC: In light of recent events involving the wide reported death of a 23-year old young woman in New Delhi after being brutally beaten and gang raped onboard a bus by six assailants and the gang rape of a Swiss woman in March, a panel of six women on Thursday from various organizations attempted to break the silence on the dynamics of gender violence and its effects on the greater society in the South Asia Region.
The seminar, which is part of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund 2013 Spring Meetings on the South Asia Region, touched upon one of the most salient topics concerning the region at the moment.
With the politically-charged protest following the death of the woman, India as well as the rest of the region has been forced to grapple with questions of gender relationships as well as the legal apparatus in place of addressing a prevalent problem that has not sparked much discourse until recently.
“Are we at a breaking point…a cusp of an institutional change?” asked moderator Barkha Dutt, an anchor at India-based NDTV.
Among the panelists, the answer was not so clear.
For Professor Ratna Kapur, of Jindal Global Law School, despite the “horrific moment” sparked by the death of the woman, she is “hugely optimistic” that the protests and demonstrations is cause to “generate lots of optimism.”
However, Kapur’s fellow panelist voiced skepticism in an actual paradigm shift in gender relations within their respective country.
Seema Aziz, Chair of the CARE Foundation in Pakistan which offers education to children in many rural areas, sees the public outcry as a potential tipping moment for addressing gender violence only so far as the government enacts proper legislation to address the issues.
“Otherwise, the moment would pass,” Aziz cautioned.
Such superficial changes in legislation undermine the idea that culturally and foundationally, gender relations and perceptions of gender violence are still high misunderstood, argued Chief Executive Officer at Oxfam Nisha Agrawal.
And that appeared to be the takeaway. Despite increased vocalization against rape by both the public and the government, there is no true discourse about gender equality and the cultural impetus that continues to feed into paternalist mentalities among the countries in South Asia.
“Either you’re special or you’re equal,” Aziz said. Until a true discussion can be had about gender, violence toward women cannot be truly understood or addressed.
To contact the author, e-mail: crystaltsoi@americanbazaaronline.com