‘Even educated wives are abused by husbands’

An 11-day campaign linking violence against women and the Human Rights Day kicked off on Wednesday. NGOs across the state will come together to fight for the life of a girl child.

The campaigners will travel through different districts  to create awareness on the issue. “Although statistics show that there is a steady decrease in the number of girl children below the age of six in the last couple of decades, we also find that the Planning Commission is relaxing the rules of the PCPNDT Act. We are calling for stricter monitoring of the Act to ensure girl children are not killed,” said Anasuya Byndoor, programme coordinator of Violence Against Women.

C Manjula, commissioner of the State Women’s Commission, said: “It is only by educating the mother we can ensure that girls are not discriminated against. It is a mother’s job to ensure that her daughter-in-law is not blamed or harassed when it comes to giving birth to a boy. It is the mother who has to put her son on the right track when he is doing something wrong. She has to get rid of her ignorance and her superstitions first,” she said.

Referring to recent reports about Brahmin grooms not finding brides, Manjula said: “Earlier, families used to be worried about getting a girl from the same caste, but now they are forced to look at inter-caste marriages. While this in itself may be a good thing, the fact remains that the decreasing number of girl children is a dangerous thing that needs to be stopped immediately.”

She added that despite the progress of the nation, when it comes to discrimination against women, there is no difference in rural or urban, or the educated or the uneducated. “I meet women from educated backgrounds and love marriages, who are abused by their husbands,” she said.

“I think it is important to create awareness among men on not only respecting women but also treating them as  human beings,” she added.