I watched India’s Daughter yesterday. The documentary has
received a lot of flak in India and has been banned in the country. Given its
prominence on Indian media sites and the subject being something I feel very
strongly about, I have read many articles which debate the merits of the
documentary and the intentions of the ‘white woman’ who directed it.
On the whole, I found the documentary well-made and fairly
balanced. Jyoti’s parents are a remarkable couple. The views espoused by the
defence lawyers and the accused are nothing new. We've heard familiar tales of
victim shaming and blaming among politicians and spiritual gurus to name a few.
I don’t think this documentary means to paint the entire
story of gender abuse and the status of women in the country in just one
stroke. Rather, I hope it serves as another reminder that fundamental changes
are needed in the country at each and every level. Jyoti’s rape was a horrific
one. The brutality of the crime and that it happened in the capital galvanized
ordinary citizens to action. The scale of public outcry was unprecedented. But,
Jyoti’s rape was also yet another facet of the abuse that Indian women face
every day.
In many families, birth of a girl child is a quiet affair as
compared to the boisterous, joyous celebration when a boy is born. Girls as
young as 3 months old are raped, as are 90 year old women. Young women are
beaten up and paraded naked in villages for consenting to a relationship with a
man of another community or religion. Married women are set on fire when their
families fail to meet dowry demands. Married women are required to seek their
husband’s permission to go out in public. Girls are doused in acid when they
reject unwanted advances.
There are a whole host of factors that come into play
regarding treatment of women in India- caste, religion, economic status, the
urban-rural divide.This documentary focuses on just one case. I hope it
inspires more voices to speak up on the different natures of crimes that are committed
against women. I hope it inspires more public debate on what we need to do. Can
we depend on the current education system to teach boys that women are not
their property? Are police officers and hospital staff equipped to deal with
the trauma and mental anguish that victims of sexual abuse undergo? Do we need
changes in our judicial system? Do we need gender sensitization workshops for
the huge mass of people that migrate from rural to urban areas?
