Bulletin Gender SpeakSpeaks

Wednesday October 7, 2020 Volume : 25 www.pacindia.org

New Caste and Gender Violence: The Case of Hathras in

The most recent case of the gangrape and murder of respectively. the 19-year-old dalit girl from Hathras, Uttar Pradesh (UP), is an alarming reminder of where we stand as a country in terms of gender equality.

Cases of violence against women in India is not an uncommon phenomenon. The latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) last week reveals that a total of 4,05,861 of crimes against women were recorded in 2019 alone, an increase in 27,625 (7.3%) cases in a single year. While the statistics in itself paints a shocking picture, anecdotal evidence suggests that the actual cases of violence may be much higher since most cases go unreported. NCRB statistics point to the fact that most cases are registered under cruelty by husband and/or family members and assault pointing to the effect of strong patriarchal structures that gender equality outcomes in the country. Data points to the fact that in 2019, 88 cases of rape werein�luence reported every day on an average.

India has had the infamous privilege of being ranked as the most dangerous country for women in the world in 2018, according to the Thomson Reuters’s World’s Most Dangerous Countries annual poll. The Nirbhaya case in 2012 that shocked the country, led to the development of anti-rape laws to protect Source: Author’s Analysis women. However, crimes against women continue to gender equality being a point of concern for all states inrise. India This as hasper the been Niti re�lected Aayog’s inSDG various Index . ways, with Delving deeper into the issue, district level data on The case in Hathras, that has received global atten- crimes against women for the state of UP was stud- impact of caste within gender-based violence. Caste crime rates against women in the past one year in basedtion through violence media, is an exertion re�lects of the power disproportionate inequalities allied. the The districts �irst Figure of the shows state. the Data trend from in growthNCRB for of and women get caught in the intersection between 2018 and 2019 shows that the rate of crimes caste and gender. While the gruesome incident is against women has increased in the past one year. most certainly a gender-based crime, a larger part of While 59445 cases were reported under various the crime has to do with the caste of the girl, who incidences of rape, dowry death, threat to modesty belonged to the Valmiki community in Uttar Pradesh and sexual assault in 2018, the number has risen to (UP). The Valmiki community has been categorised 59853 cases in the year 2019. Nineteen districts as a part of the Dalit community in India. In her dying out of the 76 districts in the state account for 40% declaration, the girl had named four men from the of the cases of crimes against women in the state, upper caste, Thakur community as the perpetrators i.e. almost 1/3rd of the districts account for maxi- of the violence, indicating caste-based violence. The mum number of cases registered. These districts handling of the case by the state administration and include well-known constituencies such as Prayagraj, , Gorakhpur, Unnao and Varanasi, globally. It has been reported that the Thakur com- among others. While Hathras and Balrampur are munitythe police in Hathrashas also and received nearby �lak villages both nationallyhave come andout not a part of this high incidence of crimes against in protest to support the accused in the case. women districts category, the growth rate of crimes does show an increasing trend in reported cases of According to data from NCRB, in 2019, Uttar Pradesh gender-based violence. While the state capital, recorded the most number of cases of violence Lucknow, tops with the highest number of cases against women and against the Dalit community in reported (2922), Prayagraj follows with the second the country. Of the total cases of violence against the highest rise in cases (from 1950 in 2018 to 2149 in Scheduled Caste community reported in the country 2019). in 2019, 25.8% of the were from UP alone. The state registered 59853 cases of crimes against women in There is a need for immediate action to address the the previous year alone, accounting for 14.7% of the increasing caste and gender-based violence in the national total. state and across the country as well. However, policies and schemes for the protection of women A look at data from 2014 to 2018 shows a 45.4% will not be successful unless social structures such increase of cases of crimes against women in UP as the rigid caste system and patriarchal norms are alone, matched only by Haryana and Uttarakhand. A addressed. The Hathras case must become a call to similar trend is observed in the case of crimes against action for the country to examine internalised Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe which have social beliefs to truly achieve gender equality. seen a 48% and 509% increase in rate of crimes

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