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India’s got a big problem, but it’s not the only one

Archie Law

by Archie Law

15 Jan 01:00pm

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Filed under: India, Rape, Society, Violence, Women

64 comments

Yesterday brought sobering news that six men had been arrested on Sunday over the rape of a woman on a coach in the Indian state of Punjab.

What does her future hold? Picture: AP

The men reportedly abducted the 29-year old after she boarded the service and took her to an unknown location, where they took it in turns to rape her, before dropping her off close to her in-laws village on Saturday morning.

The reports come less than a month after the horror story that’s haunted Australian headlines for the last month: the gang rape and brutal murder of a 23-year old physiotherapy student on a bus in New Delhi. India and its violence-against-women crisis has become the subject of an international media enquiry that seeks to bring these atrocities to light and to hold someone – the Indian government, the Indian people, the Indian police – to account.

And this is not without just cause. According to a study released by the Thomas Reuters Foundation in June last year, India is globally recognised as the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women (preceded only by Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan).

The root cause of violence in India must be addressed. But in focusing too specifically on the crisis in India, we run the risk of coming to understand violence against women as India’s issue. And that it most certainly is not.

While the police in India must be more vigilant, the accused must be held to account, and the Indian government must continue to prioritise violence against women in its legislation, it is the patriarchal culture that plagues India that is to blame for the violent rapes of the two women who have featured in our news in the past month.

Violence is used in a male dominated culture as a means to maintain control over women. Because of course, violence propagates fear of violence. If you live in constant fear of violence, you’re unlikely to challenge those who may be violent towards you.

Patriarchy in India permeates every facet of life.  Women are traded like dispensable commodities for lucrative gains such as dowries and trafficked to become sex slaves. Millions of baby girls are killed before they are born, simply because they are girls.

But here’s the thing. India struggles with specific cultural atrocities that aren’t necessarily experienced by the rest of the world (although other equally violent practices plague other countries and regions).

But these atrocities that plague India are symptoms of patriarchy. Patriarchy – in all of its forms, and with its varied symptoms - remains a dominant feature of the world we live in.

Women all over the world experience domestic violence.  Globally, at least one in every three women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. Usually, the perpetrator is known to the woman. One in five women will be the victim of rape in her lifetime.

Violence against women is not just India’s issue. It is our issue. It is our issue as a global community. It is our issue as Australians, as men, as women. It’s time that we came to understand that it’s the responsibility of everyone everywhere to overturn the prolific patriarchy that remains – to varying degrees – everywhere in the world.

The attacks on women in India over the past month are horrifying, and we must rally in response to them and demand that the world is made safe for women to catch public transport without fear. But we must remember that these shocking incidents are not the only way that women experience violence, and that it doesn’t just happen in India.

On the 14th of February, the One Billion Rising Campaign will see one billion women across the globe call for an end to violence against women and girls. Demands to the Indian government are likely to include the instatement of protection officers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, and the establishment of a specialist women’s group to review all women related government policies and build a feminist perspective towards social justice.

These measures will address the root causes of gender inequality in India, and in Australia, we must support those in India making those demands. The recent attacks in India are atrocious. But they have generated international media attention around an ever-present issue that is rarely discussed on such a large and public scale.

Let’s not miss this opportunity to acknowledge a global problem for what it is, and to make the decision to overcome it once and for all, by getting caught up in the example of violence against women in India. Let’s stand in solidarity with women in India and simultaneously use this moment in history – here and now – to commit to overturning the culture that is producing this violence by demanding a world which is free of patriarchy.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEDT.

Most commented

64 comments

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    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      12:10pm | 15/01/13

      Here is an interesting idea- How about Australia deals with its own problems and let India deal with theirs…...

      Reply

    • DOB says:

      03:16pm | 15/01/13

      Here’s an idea - how about when Indian women are as free as our and the place starts getting run properly and with less corruption and gives Australians the flow on effects of another giant market and lots of opportunities for Australians. Doubt it will happen in my lifetime but the key to an advanced economy and civilized society is in its treatment of women. Without that as the first step, forget it, the place will remain a basketcase and an unstable danger to the region.

      Get it?

    • HC says:

      03:21pm | 15/01/13

      Here’s an even more interesting idea, how about being less selfish and acknowledging the fact that we’re all human and as humans we can all work together on issues that transcend imaginary and arbitrary borders.

      Sheesh it’s just violence it shouldn’t be so hard for us supposedly civilised people to reduce across the world.  I guess we aren’t as removed from animals as we like to imagine.

    • Cars says:

      12:10pm | 15/01/13

      Loved this article. It addresses two great points. 1. Respect for women needs to increase. 2. We need to start identifying ourselves as humans first, and less as Indians, Afghans, blacks, arabs, female, homosexual etc

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      04:21pm | 15/01/13

      So you want more respect for one sex, but you don’t want people to identify as that sex?

      Duh.

      How can the grievance groups claim their affirmative action entitlements if they cannot identify as a politically preferred constituent?

      Didn’t think through much, did you?

    • Colin says:

      12:13pm | 15/01/13

      Facts are facts, and many of those on The Punch who actively and insidiously question the Rights of Women should take heed.

      But, oh, just wait for the misogynist-pig retorts:

      “But it’s so UNFAIR; women get all the attention..!”

      “What about Men’s rights?”

      Blah, blah, blah.

      Face it; men are the problem for women, and it is up to us men to address it. And all the whinging, and gnashing of teeth, rending of clothes and beating of chests will not alter the fact that it is so.

      Reply

    • JTZ says:

      01:25pm | 15/01/13

      @Colin. You do know that many perpertrators in India of beating and female feotocide are mother in laws. Maybe you should look further then sexist position you have at the moment.

      To say women are not violent I will point out Indra Ghandi term second term in office. She order the attack on the Golden Temple and also hired a goon to commit sectarian and racial violence in Punjab.

      Here is an interesting fact you seem to forget. 90 - 95 % of bullying and cyber bullying is committed by young girls.

    • Rob says:

      01:34pm | 15/01/13

      Colin you have a problem. You far outweigh any flag bearing set by the disgraced Eric or your misoynyst labelled unfortunates. Even your tone is rabid. Cross dressing high on your list? Because I think you are female. And of course your posts never censored out because you represent the female viewpoint which is sacrosanct.

    • ByStealth says:

      01:37pm | 15/01/13

      I was going to respond to this and then I saw it was Colin. You need to be more creative in your trolling.

    • Tim says:

      01:53pm | 15/01/13

      Ah the condescending paternalist strikes again.

      You keep telling those poor little women how you’ll make their life better and protect them from the evil menz. I’m sure they appreciate it.

    • Colin says:

      03:30pm | 15/01/13

      @ ByStealth

      “I was going to respond to this and then I saw it was Colin…”

      But, you DID respond… LOL grin

      “...You need to be more creative in your trolling. “

      Sigh. Anything that anyone says that you do not like is not automatically ‘Trolling’, you know..?

      @ Tim

      “Ah the condescending paternalist strikes again…”

      Heads up, Tim; repeating something about me that isn’t true - ad infinitum - does not make it true… Despite what your strange worldview would have you believe.

    • James says:

      04:21pm | 15/01/13

      “Heads up, Tim; repeating something about me that isn’t true - ad infinitum - does not make it true… Despite what your strange worldview would have you believe. “

      How ironic.

    • Can't we all just get along says:

      06:13pm | 15/01/13

      Colin - I seen you around. Under what paradigm is it possible to have rights assigned by gender? That rights should be granted to all of the population regardless of gender was what decades of feminist struggle was all about. That is the core, fundamental, non-negotiable RIGHT upon which all others must be based.

      You seem to misunderstand the objection when men write things such as you have quoted in your comment. Unless issues are put in the context of humanity rather than gender, what we are doing is completely ignoring the victims that are not of the proscribed gender, and allowing the perpetrators peace of mind knowing that they are not the subject of any government campaign or social movement. When we talk about society as a whole, we are men and women, black and white, and everything in between and we must care for everyone.

      I know where you’re coming from, but your take on the subject is very simplistic and lacking in nuance.

    • Chillin says:

      12:15pm | 15/01/13

      LOL, let’s tell India what to do, I wonder what their response will be.  Love the leftys!

      Reply

    • Borderer says:

      02:34pm | 15/01/13

      You could tell them to have child labour laws, establish industrial relations laws, have free public health care and a social security safety net while you’re at it….. aim high…

    • Cars says:

      03:24pm | 15/01/13

      Not concerned with human rights issues as long as it’s in another country. Love the rightys!
      Why does it matter that they’re Indians? They’re still people and a large number of them have shocking attitudes towards women.

    • n_dude says:

      04:13pm | 15/01/13

      @Borderer,
      Then they won’t become the low cost outsource heaven that Western companies want

    • Chillin says:

      05:03pm | 15/01/13

      Head on over there Cars and start telling them how to run their country.  Let us know how you go.

    • Tubesteak says:

      12:15pm | 15/01/13

      The thing that will change India is it’s growth from a developing economy to a developed one. As things move on the people become more educated. The more educated they are the more egalitarian/meritocratic they become and also the less their economy relies on simplistic production methods. India’s economy will become a tertiary economy similar to Australia’s in a few generations.

      But a world without patriarchy means what? A matriarchy? Hardly instils one with confidence if you remove one regime for another. Especially one led by women.

      Nor do I see how a protest here is going to have much effect elsewhere. We don’t change their laws or change their policing methods. If you want to protest why don’t you go over there and do it. Or would that be too hard and too dangerous?

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      01:42pm | 15/01/13

      You should have watched Welcome to India on SBS last Wednesday to see a great example of a Matriarchal powerplay in action, Muslim mother with twelve kids, married off the eldest daughter to capture a SIL with a truck for her developing business and then cuts him out of the action by getting her own truck.
      Their business mind you is acting as a go between for recycling plastic bottles, huge business in Mumbai, developing so big that they started importing plastic bottles to shred and the market dropped through oversupply.
      Next in series is this Wednesday.

    • Baldricke says:

      12:16pm | 15/01/13

      I’m confused.  What exactly am I supposed to do about women being raped in India?  This is even worse than those posts on Facebook asking me to “Like” some picture of a puppy, or “ignore” if I want the puppy shot.

      “demanding a world which is free of men.”

      Fixed it to be in line with the required tone of Punch articles.

      Reply

    • Dr B S Goh Australian in Asia says:

      12:34pm | 15/01/13

      India’s biggest problem is its exploding population.

      Two years ago India’s census reported that India has 1,200,000,000 people with 180,000,000 added in the last TEN years. The rate of increase is not slowing down significantly. Thus each year the increase in India’s population is almost equal to the total population in Australia.

      About 80,000,000 people in India live on about one dollar a day. 300,000,000 do not have electricity.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      01:26pm | 15/01/13

      @Dr. Goh - it is true that the number of births in India is high, but that’s because of the large population base- the birth rate is actually dropping, and is half what is was a generation ago.  It’s well below those of most African countries, or of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    • Nafe says:

      03:09pm | 15/01/13

      I wouldn’t be worried to much about the 300,000,000 who don’t have electricity, What about the 100,000,000 who don’t even have a home, not even a slum to call home

    • Dr B S Goh Australian in Asia says:

      03:14pm | 15/01/13

      @ marley. Thanks for your comments. I believe you have lived in India before and so you know what it is like in India.

      In my view the issue on the table is the question whether or not Indians want to live like Americans. If so my guess is that the optimal sustainable population for India is about 400m.

      China has been very lucky to have a forceful and famous rocket scientist to argue for the one child policy with Deng Xiao Ping, see http://ipezone.blogspot.com/2008/07/missile-scientist-song-jian-father-of-1.html. Without its one child policy China would have another 400m by now. What a mess China would be now.

      China is suffering extreme air pollution these few days with readings up to 900 micrograms per cubic meter in Beijing when the safe level is below 50.

      Ideally if Chinese want to live like Americans their population should be 700m not 1.34 billion

    • Stephen T says:

      04:14pm | 15/01/13

      @Dr BS Goh: I lived in India for several years, I lived principally in Ranchi and traveled extensively throughout Bihar, Nepal and Jharkhand.  I’m afraid that I would have to disagree with you with regards to population being their biggest issue, in my mind the greatest hurdle that they face is the caste system as it effectively dehumanises a large proportion of the population.  A secondary problem is the divide between Hindu and Muslim communities in tribal areas where the opposite demographic is considered to be fair game, also in tribal areas the majority of rapes would go unreported. I contacted friends at the Ranchi Lions Club after the News Reports and they provided partial statistics for 2012 it worked out that a woman was raped every six hours, in the first eight months of 2012 the state recorded 846 reported cases of rape. A majority of the victims was from the poor and weaker sections of society. And the culprits were usually from the neo-rich and dominant classes, in effect dominant castes are using it as a tool to establish supremacy.

    • marley says:

      04:16pm | 15/01/13

      @Dr. Goh - Indians want the good things in life - who doesn’t? - but at the same time they have somewhat different values than we westerners do, less focused on immediate gratification and more on the inner self.  That explains why many will, as they grow older, give away their possessions and go on pilgrimages.  It’s a mindset that’s not totally attuned to the crasser aspects of our materialistic culture.

      And if there’s one thing whole series of outsiders have learned about India over the centuries, you might be able to rule them for a time, but you can’t change their embedded culture and values easily at all. So the thought of some NGO changing Indian society, when the Raj couldn’t, nor the Mughals before them, is a bit of a laugh.

      The change will come, but it will come from within, as the more educated and progressive people, the middle class, demand more for and of their daughters and wives.  But it’s going to be a long, slow learning curve, at least in my opinion.

    • Dr B S Goh Australian in Asia says:

      04:28pm | 15/01/13

      @ Stephen T. Thanks for your comments. I certainly respect the views you have expressed about the terrible issues India faces.

      Glad to know that you have lived and worked in Asia.

      Most Australians do not realize how tough and nasty life is in many parts of Asia. We are so lucky but sadly we seem to have lost some survival instincts while living in the most dangerous neighborhood in the world.

    • AdamC says:

      12:34pm | 15/01/13

      I do not believe in patriarchy. I have never seen one or heard one, and I tend to be suspicious of arguments made based on abstractions.

      Defined gender roles exist. Discrimination against women exists. Sexist attitudes exist. Violence towards women exists. They seem a better area of focus for action than ill-defined notions like ‘patriarchy’.

      I think there is a risk to seeing sexism around the world as a continuum, with somewhere like India on one end and feminist utopia on the other. (With somewhere like Norway sitting between the two.) Rather, sexism seems to take different forms in different societies.

      For example, in Australia, sexism (which is a taboo, I should stress) takes the form of stereotypes and value systems built around traditionalist gender roles. In India, it seems that women are treated as naturally subservient to men; as chattels. That has never really been the case in the West. Likewise, in muslim societies, sexism seems based around fear of women’s sexuality. (That has some resonance in the West, but with far less intensity.)

      Different forms of sexism warrant different responses. Thus far, India’s Western-inspired, legalistic response to institutionalised, culturally-based sexism, such as banning dowries, have been a complete failure. I am not sure what the answer is, but it is not ham-fisted legislation. Nor is the answer harsh penalties for sex offenders. Still, at least people are talking about what should be done in India. Which is a start.

      Reply

    • Hamish says:

      01:33pm | 15/01/13

      Countries where institutionalised sexism exists and violence against women is implicitly condoned, like India, don’t need to get bogged down in silly concepts like patriarchy. The concept of patriarchy is only really useful as a rent seeking device and for radical feminists to use to explain away decisions which normal women make which feminists don’t agree with.

    • Tubesteak says:

      02:38pm | 15/01/13

      AdamC
      Don’t you know what the Patriarchy is?

      The Patriarchy Elves come into your room on your 18th birthday and they give you a million dollars, plus a university degree/trade qualifications in a lucrative area and you get a job earning $100,000 pa straight away.

      But only if you’re a man. The Patriarchy Elves don’t visit women.

      I remember when I woke up the morning after the Patriarchy Elves visited. It was a little bit like Tom Hanks in Big but I got used to it.

    • James1 says:

      03:02pm | 15/01/13

      The first rule of Patriarchy is you don’t talk about Patriarchy.

      As such, Tubesteak, you are now out of the Patriarchy.  You can hand your $1 million and university degree in at the secret headquarters.

    • Sam says:

      04:21pm | 15/01/13

      Patriarchy is essentially a nonsense term used as a catch-all root cause for anything feminist ideologues don’t like.

      I would love to see the author:

      1. Empirically demonstrate that something called ‘patriarchy’ actually exists.

      2. Empirically demonstrate that this monolithic ‘patriarchy’ is directly and causatively responsible for everything the author claims it is.

      Good luck mate!

    • Anniebello says:

      05:17pm | 15/01/13

      @ Sam

      from wikipedia:
      “Patriarchy (rule by fathers) is a social system in which the male is the primary authority figure central to social organization and the central roles of political leadership, moral authority, and control of property, and where fathers hold authority over women and children. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination. Many patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage. The female equivalent is matriarchy.”

      your argument is invalid

    • Sam says:

      05:36pm | 15/01/13

      @Anniebello

      You used Wikipedia as a source. Your argument is invalid.

    • Steve of QBN says:

      12:38pm | 15/01/13

      And they picked Valentines Day…...

      Patriarchy - A system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line. Or A system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.”

      Wow.  Just like so many other countries around the world.  Are you advocating a world wide “Arab Spring”?”

      But you are right of course.  We must speak out.  Here’s a thought.  Since India and Pakistan are both members of the Commonwealth, how about Senator Carr (Minister for Foreign Affairs) speak to them as fellow members of the Commonwealth?  I mean, we’ve seen how well that worked with Robert Mugabe right?  Or can I just click a “like” button somewhere?

      Why am I taking this attitude?  Because, when we come to “name and shame” India, we will get calls of “racist” and “white overlords” and “colonialism” and y’know, they might just be right.  Women as chattels runs deep in some parts of the world and without going out and killing every male over the age of 5, you will never get rid of it. 

      And consider, when reading of these stories and those of where a bride burning has occurred, how many times the co-defendant was the guys mother who considered her daughter-in-law to not be good enough for her son.  Yep.  Runs deep.

      Reply

    • Rishi says:

      03:04pm | 15/01/13

      True, Runs too deep. Oh and to point out the obvious, there are many more rape occurrences than reported, not to mention the fact that due to the attitude of the police and widely-prevalent corruption the victims or their families never go to police nor do they trust the judicial system there. Oh and in case you are wondering, yes I was born in India (now a migrant Australian citizen though - proudly indeed) and I know exactly what I am saying. I am not portraying India as bad - I am proud of what it stands for as a country (though I don’t agree with many things happening there), but I am insisting the fact that the problems are deeply rooted and have many sides to it which people would not know or would not acknowledge. It is pretty much rooted like the gun-culture in US. It will take much more than stricter laws etc..

    • Ben says:

      12:57pm | 15/01/13

      Agreed agreed agreed. This is a hugely important issue, not just for women but also for men affected by the patriachy.

      Reply

    • O_O says:

      04:39pm | 15/01/13

      “men affected by the patriachy” - what do you mean by this? Men who haven’t done as well as their male peers and are looking for someone/something to blame for their lack of success?

      Righteo.

    • Chillin says:

      05:06pm | 15/01/13

      O_O

      Women do it, so it’s only fair to let men do it.

    • Gregg says:

      01:35pm | 15/01/13

      Somehow Archie I reckon you are displaying typical symptoms of being in denial.
      ” The root cause of violence in India must be addressed. But in focusing too specifically on the crisis in India, we run the risk of coming to understand violence against women as India’s issue. And that it most certainly is not. “

      Whilst as you illustrate, violence against women is not Indias’ alone, it is very certainly a great issue for India.

      Ironically you then go on with:
      ” While the police in India must be more vigilant, the accused must be held to account, and the Indian government must continue to prioritise violence against women in its legislation, it is the patriarchal culture that plagues India…....... “
      Yes, it is such a great issue, so culturally ingrained it would seem that the Indians themselves must not be in denial either for it is going to take a huge effort in perpetuity to bring about any meaningful change.

      ” Patriarchy in India permeates every facet of life.  Women are traded like dispensable commodities for lucrative gains such as dowries and trafficked to become sex slaves. Millions of baby girls are killed before they are born, simply because they are girls. ” is just more support of what you are saying is not when it very clearly so much just IS.

      It may be fine to know that ” Women all over the world experience domestic violence. ” and quote all sorts of global figures and even also state
      ” Violence against women is not just India’s issue. It is our issue. It is our issue as a global community. It is our issue as Australians, as men, as women. ”
      and then you can ask yourself what really do you think Australians can practically do to change things in India?

      About the most telling action might be to put India on a black list as far as immigration goes and perhaps that would not be such a bad move for do we want to be importing foreign cultures we feel are reprehensible.

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      05:22pm | 15/01/13

      “put India on a black list as far as immigration goes” - yes, exactly correct.

      After all, didn’t Indians blame “racist Australian culture” when some African refugees attacked Indian students in Melbourne’s western suburbs a couple of years ago?

      It seems appropriate and fair.

    • Rob says:

      01:54pm | 15/01/13

      I wonder why the default to blame patriachy (or males) for anything and everything. Feel free to scream if I’ve left myself open with an invitation for the rabid minded.

      Australia in my view is run by the matriachy. Particulalry with all the feel good nirvana deominance in our decision making. Families are definitely dictated by the matriachy. Policy derivitives are run by the matriachy. Legal systems derivitives are dictated by the matriachy. Education is dictated by the matriachy. Legislation dictated to matriachal ideology. Discrimination dictaed to matriachal ideology.

      What’s so wrong with patriachy that it needs to be exterminated. Patriachy, apart from the throw away default lines proflegated by the author, also represents honour, integrity, and dedication to elegality. Not dishonour, deceit and opportunism.

      Based on the author’s and Colin’s theories we must exterminate patriachy and supplant it with matriachy. Any intelligent person knows that extremes at either end of any spectrum are dangerous. I know that discipline in the home ceased when fathers were legislated out of the family unit.

      Why do men in Australian society need to be curtailed to the point of the irrelevence that we are fast approaching. Have they done nothing wothwhile. Never credited to having done so. Apparrently achieved everything via diswcrimination.

      Go on Colin, Colleen or Collinette, whatever your name is launch yourself into self destruct mode.

      Moral of the story is will this blog survive the pervading matriachal censorship. You know under free speech developed by the patriachy.

      Reply

    • James says:

      02:38pm | 15/01/13

      Very true, there is nothing wrong with Patriarchy just like there is nothing wrong with Matriarchy. Try as some people might, the institution of strength and honour will never die.

    • Sickemrex says:

      05:39pm | 15/01/13

      So you’re saying women can’t have strength and honour, then?

      How about a meritocracy? Why does it have to be one or the other?

    • Rob says:

      06:48pm | 15/01/13

      Sickemax, well one thing you’ve proved is that you can’t read

    • ByStealth says:

      01:58pm | 15/01/13

      I subscribe to a theory of entrenched gender roles. Focus on ‘patriarchy’ besides demonising 50% of the population and attempting to promote change through shame, doesn’t touch on the real problem.

      The very word itself is inflammatory, but feminists largely refuse to change it to anything resembling its true face; ‘entrenched traditional gender roles’, and hide behind phrases such as ‘patriarchy hurts men too’.

      ‘These measures will address the root causes of gender inequality in India, and in Australia,’ - More attempts to appropriate victimhood from horrific crimes in the third world which is then to be harnessed to fuel the feminist cause in the West.

      You cannot free women from their gender roles, without freeing men from theirs. As always, we consistently see articles calling for combatting violence against women and girls but not boys and men. Its quite clear which gender you value the most.

      Reply

    • Jason says:

      02:34pm | 15/01/13

      That is because its socially accepted for boys to punch the shit out of each other and for women to hit men. Heaven forbid if you teach a young boy that its ok to use violence and stick up for himself he may actually use it against a woman one day!

      It makes me pretty angry to think that people believe that as men are the main offenders in using violence that those men who are victims of it do not count? The abused kid and the abuser as an adult syndrome…..

    • Tony says:

      02:50pm | 15/01/13

      Judging by their comments here, eschewing violence against women is obviously in the “too hard” basket for some wimps.

      Reply

    • Colin says:

      03:14pm | 15/01/13

      @ Tony

      “Judging by their comments here, eschewing violence against women is obviously in the “too hard” basket for some wimps.”

      Amen to that.

    • Steve of QBN says:

      03:20pm | 15/01/13

      @ Tony, like charity, violence against women begins in the home.  And it must be fought there.  I do not condone violence against women, likewise I do not condone it against men.  50 years ago, men seeing a woman being assaulted in the street would rush to her aid.  Some years ago in Melbourne, two men tried doing that.  One was killed, the other crippled for life.  Call me “wimp” if you like but a safe distance and a triple 0 call for me is better than a chest full of .44 slugs.

      So Tony, what’s your stand?  You for it or agin it?

    • Tim says:

      03:34pm | 15/01/13

      Ah no,
      we are all against ending violence against women and indeed men.

      We are not however in favour of blaming it on a vague concept like the “Patriarchy”.

      Here I’ll give you an example of what the author is doing.

      I have a friend who’s child has cancer. I think her cancer is caused by a vaccination she got.
      If you don’t support my anti-vaccination campaign then you think children deserve to get cancer and die.

    • Sammy Jankis says:

      03:37pm | 15/01/13

      I just feel so sorry for sexist men.  Why all the focus on the violence against women throughout the world while their suffering, such as having to read about said violence at The Punch, is completely ignored?  When was the last time you read an article at The Punch detailing the daily struggle that is being a misogynist?  Every day all over the world these men are brutally exposed to opinions about women that conflict with their own.  There was a time when marital disputes could be resolved with a good backhander - a right stripped away in the PC gulag we call Australia.  The days when blaming the victim of a sexual assault was perfectly reasonable?  Gone forever.  But we never hear about the plight of the poor, downtrodden sexist male who can longer slap the office secretary on the backside or tell sexist jokes at work without drawing the ire of some man-hating, fire-breathing feminazi.

      Misogynists of the world…UNITE!

    • James says:

      03:40pm | 15/01/13

      That’s because it starts and ends with what we teach our boys and girls. Education is always the answer.

    • Can't we all just get along? says:

      04:00pm | 15/01/13

      My take is that looking at any issue from a human perspective is too hard for both the apologists and the attackers. I support the perpetual struggle to reduce violence in our society, no matter who the perpetrator or the victim is. That is equality. Anything else is sexist crap. You know where I learnt that? Feminism. Real feminism that is, the way it was last century when there were real issues in this country to fight for. Not the grasping entitled rubbish that parses for feminism now.

    • ByStealth says:

      05:33pm | 15/01/13

      Ben, we saw it more starkly outlined in the theatre shooting in the US. Men were expected to sacrifice themselves for their women (a gender role). The man who ran was denigrated as a coward (shaming enforcing those traditional gender roles). Women weren’t expected to do anything at all in the moment.

      Again, this goes back to hyper and hypo-agency. Men are the agents, women are objects. Men are responsible for everything including causing women’s issues (patriarchy) and fixing women’s problems.

      You see how feminists appropriate men’s agency when its convenient (eg only men can stop… *insert feminist agenda here*). You never see ‘Only women can stop child abuse’, do you?

      They manipulate the use of gender roles when its useful for their imperative, but rail against it in other circumstances as it suits them.

    • Tony says:

      06:37pm | 15/01/13

      And now there’s a few more wimps still trying to make excuses.

    • Sam says:

      03:58pm | 15/01/13

      The ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign sounds like 2013’s version of ‘Kony 2012’ (remember that?), and demonstrates the mindblowing stupidity of activists who think that ‘raising awareness’ of a problem does anything to practically ameliorate it. It (unfortunately) does very close to nothing.

      I certainly agree that violence against any people, female or not, should be criminal (isn’t it already?) and fought against. Rape is illegal and should always be denounced - this is a given. I am not an expert on Indian society, law, or politics though so I wouldn’t have a clue of the best way to proceed - and frankly I’m not sure it’s Australia’s concern. Or rather, it’s right for us to be concerned by crimes happening, but it’s not our place to enforce policies in other lands. Surely the Indians should be leading the way on their own policies?

      I have to say also, Archie, this article seems a bit fast and loose with “facts”. One in three women have been beaten, coerced into sex or abused? One in five have been raped? What is the source for these “facts”? They sound more like grossly inflated estimates to me. And I have to agree with AdamC who posted above - I don’t believe in this mythical patriarchy thing that is allegedly the cause of all the problems in the world. That’s a really simplistic and problematic argument to take up.

      Reply

    • Chillin says:

      05:15pm | 15/01/13

      I remember how the Punch LOVED the Kony campaign.

    • Greg says:

      04:41pm | 15/01/13

      Where were all the feminists during the Bilal Skaf gang rapes in Australia?

      Why were there no demonstrations and protests from feminists then?

      They all went into hiding, just as they did when Bill Clinton had “sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky.

      Feminists will abandon other women in defence of left wing causes every time. Left wing politicians, multiculturalism, & homosexual causes are always more important to them.

      Reply

    • Colin says:

      05:03pm | 15/01/13

      @ Greg

      “Feminists will abandon other women in defence of left wing causes every time…”

      Yes, that’s right; you keep telling yourself things that make you feel better about not caring about women and blaming the victims for their own problems…If that’s what it takes to keep seeing yourself as a man.

    • Greg says:

      06:35pm | 15/01/13

      An ad hominem attack, unsupported by any evidence at all. Is that all you’ve got?

      No rebuttal to the points made? No reasoned response? No counter argument at all? Nothing.

      If you want to keep seeing yourself as a man, despite all the evidence to the contrary, you will have to attempt to achieve some basic level of logical discourse, instead of all the emotive, shrill and pavlovian feminist diatribes that have become so characteristic of you.

    • Pisces says:

      05:04pm | 15/01/13

      Agree with Sam says’ comments, including his/her skepticism about the patriarchal culture in India.

      Since it’s women who raise their sons and main, disfigure and/or kill their daughters-in-law if they are perceived to be less thn expected, isn’t it fair to say it’s a strong matriarchal society?

      And let’s not forget that mst despicable cultural element, the caste system.

      Reply
 
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