Sunday, September 15, 2013

More buses, street lights: how to make India safer for women...

Campaigners are calling for a new deal for India's women in the wake of the death sentences handed down by a Delhi judge to four men who tricked a woman and her male friend on to an out-of-service bus before gang-raping her so brutally that she died later from her injuries.

The case brought women's rights protesters across India on to the streets in angry demonstrations against the country's culture of violence against women, from female foeticide to rape. But activists fear the intense focus on the court case will do nothing to improve the safety of women on city streets. A new report by three Indian academics supports those concerns and says it is India's infrastructure that needs to change, from bus services to public toilets.

Pending an appeal expected to be lodged this week, four of the six guilty men – one died in jail and another was sent to a young offenders' prison – will be hanged under changes made to Indian law as a direct response to the case, making aggravated rape punishable by death and fast-tracking sexual offence cases through the courts.

Issuing his decision, Judge Yogesh Khanna said the attack "shocked the collective conscience" of India. "In these times, when crime against women is on the rise, the courts cannot turn a blind eye toward such gruesome crimes." Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Gang rapists sentenced to death, but India's denial will continue...
  2. Some rapes are more newsworthy than others in India...
  3. India: the story you never wanted to hear...
  4. Is India a nation of rapists and killers?
  5. Rape is the fastest growing crime in India...
  6. Lack of women’s safety isn’t just an Indian phenomenon; it holds a global passport...

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