Time to eliminate violence against women is now

Vasudha Zora | NT

Bengaluru: United Nation recognises ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women’ on November 25. Compared to other cities, the city of Bengaluru is relatively safer for women. National Crime Records Bureau reported 147 cases of rape in 2021 against 111 cases in 2020.

Bengaluru reported a total of 3,486 cases of crimes against women in 2019, followed by 2,730 cases in 2020 and 3,127 cases in 2021. A senior police official from Talaghattapura Police Station said, “Most crimes are committed against younger girls.

Adult women are mostly involved in disputes with spouses or family-related cases. Many of them tend to run away from their homes and are harmed by their lovers.” He said that children are victims of heinous crimes as they lack resources to defend themselves. Data interprets 355 cases of POSCO Act, with 278 cases in 2020 and 375 cases in 2021. The total crime cases against children was 442 in 2019, 333 in 2020 and 450 in 2021. Women involved in sex work are under constant threat for their lives.

“If prostitution was legal, some of these violent crimes would see a relaxation. There are a lot of off-record cases of women coming with severe injuries to report crimes against their customers.” said a police officer anonymously.

Under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of 1956, 298 cases were reported and detention of a person in the premises where prostitution was taking place accounted for 173 cases last year respectively.

Cybercrimes have increased and police officials claim that about 90 per cent of honeytrap cases use women to extract money, and most of them go unreported even after much counselling from the cops. Karnataka reported 8,136 cases of cybercrime in 2021 and Bengaluru topped the list with 6,423 cases last year, out of which money extortion-related cases saw a hike of 5.6 per cent and resulted in 2,883 such cases.

Women are prone to cyberbullying and should restrict themselves from sharing discreet images as chances of being morphed and misused on porn sites is a common threat. The total number of cybercrimes committed against women in 2021 under the Information Technology Act was recorded to be 69, Publishing or Transmitting Sexually Explicit Material under Section 67A/ 67B IT Act saw 68 cases.

On a positive note, Bengaluru reported zero cases of abduction with murder, but recorded 578 cases of abduction in 2020 and 590 in 2021 respectively. The city is known as the Silicon Valley and houses prestigious multinationals where most of the workingclass women are employed. The issue of safety arises during late nights and cases of kidnapping is a menace for women who work night shifts and live in criminalised spaces.

The rate of IPC crimes against women stands at 44.8 per cent with 1,849 reported cases in 2021. Harassment and assault in public transport and other public spaces have seen a relative growth too with 585 cases of assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty in 2020 and 597 reported in 2021. Dowry claimed lives of many oppressed women.

The NCRB stated 739 such cases last year. In order to be more approachable to women citizens, 60 special outpost stations curated for women are spread across the city where matters are addressed by women officials. Hoysala is approachable within 10 minutes and Mahila Sahayavani can be contacted for victims of violent crimes.

Police officials state a few preventive measures such as avoiding secluded places at night, knowledge of sex education, sensitisation of education, simplification of criminal law procedures, awareness of digital crimes and learning a form of martial arts can come handy for all genders.