Exclusive: NCW protects women, but at its whims and fancies

In the current political climate, no institution is as directionless and lost as the National Commission for Women (NCW) is. The country is facing a serious case of misogyny, as the number of crimes against women and children has gone up drastically. It seems NCW under the leadership of Rekha Sharma is in a deep slumber.

Across the country, people wake up to gruesome rapes committed against women and children. In the past few months, the number of crimes against minor girls has gone up considerably. The Kathua gang rape, where a seven-year-old girl was drugged, kidnapped and gang-raped by five men in a temple, shook the nation.

The priests in Kerala are facing serious charges of sexual abuse of women and minors. In Maharashtra a pregnant woman was gang raped by a man and his friends under the pretext of doing work with her. In Bihar, Brijesh Thakur, who was running a girls’ shelter was responsible for their trafficking. This man from a political coterie, used to sexually abuse minor girls, force them to sleep naked and run his shelter like brothel. Further investigations revealed that this man used to forcefully carry out abortions of these girls. In spite of it being an issue of national shame, the NCW has merely asked for an inquiry in the matter.

When the Kerala Church Scandal broke out, NCW chief Rekha Sharma suggested banning ‘confessions’ as a solution to help women from the sexual predators in churches. This was a knee-jerk reaction from the NCW chief, who perhaps believes that ‘confessions’ are the only way for sexual predators in religion to take advantage of women. Perhaps, they believe that religious practices make women vulnerable, thereby scurrying women further into a state of silence and fearing the authorities.

Religion is a topic of debate and controversy, but how convenient of the NCW to blame the religious practices rather than holding themselves and the administration accountable for the apathy. Rekha Sharma, the current chairperson of NCW had once said in an interview that most of the rape cases reported are ‘false’ and that women starting reporting on gang rapes more after the compensation for the survivors is increased. Not only is this statement misogynous, but also tantamount to victim blaming.

This is not the first time that a NCW chief has suffered from the foot-in-the-mouth situation. Previous NCW heads have been known to give out identities of molestation victims, blamed the victim and given tone-deaf statements to the media. DCW (Delhi Commission Of Women) Swati Maliwal equated ‘prostitution with rape’ and called it a ‘blot’, thereby inviting flak from the sex-workers community. She further gave a statement saying that she is working towards ending ‘sex work’. An ill-informed statement that takes away the agency of women.

This malaise is spread throughout the country. Several states and cities don’t even have a women’s commission. The National Women’s Commission website is not even updated. It was last updated on 23rd March 2014.

Here are a few important things that The Live Mirror found out after a bit of research on the NCW website.

When we tried contacting Maharashtra Commission for Women (MCW) on a Friday, we were told that the Chairperson, Vijaya Rahatkar would only respond to calls and messages on Monday. A number of times our calls and messages have gone unanswered by the key people. The calls are passed onto different numbers and people, just as is done in any government office. The National Commission for Women is also sunk deep in bureaucracy. We got in touch with Kalyani Sharan, Chairperson of Jharkhand Commission of Women, regarding this matter and she said, “I condemn the recent rapes and crimes happening in the country. I am also in support of the recent law being passed of capital punishment for rapists of minor girls.” However, Kalyani refused to comment on the state of the other women’s commission offices in the country.

Most of the states don’t have a proper state commission functionaries in place, while the others have commissions that are totally dysfunctional. This is a sheer disregard to women of a nation that is considered to be the world’s largest democracy. A woman in distress has to wait for the weekend to get over before she can seek help from the women’s commission. The chairperson’s are almost never available on call or message, neither are other representatives. Politicians and the government offer platitudes to people when it comes to the topic of women’s safety and welfare.

NCRB Data-2016

These are the findings of the National Crime Records Bureau till 2016. The crimes have only increased.  If these numbers are not prompting the NCW to wake up from their hibernation, perhaps nothing else will. What the NCW has been reduced to is being a foot-soldier to an inertia-ridden government. Instead of amplifying voices of women, they are busy passing the buck. Perhaps only few women are suffering, but it is affecting the entire country. Women no longer feel safe in their homes, because of the constant fear of predators lurking around. And also they know, that in times of adversity they have nowhere to run to.

Welcome to the ‘New India’. Congratulations, PM Mr Narendra Modi.

(With Additional Reporting and Inputs by Saurav Mukherjee)

(Graphics designed by: Sagar Sutaria and Avinash Khandekar)

(Proofread by: Tania Banerjee and Sanjib Guha)