Mere Celebration Assurance for Protection
Blog post written by Nazia Tabasum A
**Disclaimer**
*** This blog post addresses sensitive topic related to sexual assaults and harrasment faced by women and children in our society. Reader discretion is advised. ***
March 8th: Every year on this day, the entire universe enthusiastically gears up and celebrates International Women’s Day. On this day, specifically in India, government sectors, various private firms, NGOs, and individual groups recognize women with rewards and awards for their contributions and achievements.
Some individuals or a group of people on this day also host events and talk about women’s empowerment, gender equality, gender stereotypes, patriarchies, and other common issues faced by women in our society.
And probably most of the men and women randomly google women’s day quotes and share those with their circle of friends and family members.
This is how women’s day in our country is usually celebrated annually.
As soon as this day winds up with wishes and celebrations, we continue to hear incidents in various places about sexual assaults and harassment through news, which happens with women and children, especially girls.
Although there are many laws, orders and safety measures to prevent these kinds of inhuman acts, protection of women and girls are still questionable in our society.
According to the data analysis done by National Crime Records of Bureau (NCRB) data along with the child rights NGO, ”CRY”, child sexual assault incidents have increased from the year 2016 to 2022.
While there were 19,765 cases recorded during the year 2016, there was a surge in the numbers during 2022 with a total number of 38,911 registered cases.
These data and calculations can be helpful to track the number of incidents, as people are aware about these topics through various mediums, and thus they stand up against these crimes.
The reason stated by the NGO for the increase in the numbers is due to the awareness people have regarding these matters and that is what encourages them to report the issues.
Apart from incorporating awareness to the public, the government also states that strict laws and orders are being enforced to prevent and reduce sexual assaults and harassment.
But these incidents are still ongoing every day, and no matter having adequate awareness and taking comprehensive measures to ensure safety, this unsafe environment remains a major threat for parents, women and children.
To sum up, this blog post is not intended to reiterate on the already known preventive measures which promises to ensure safety of females, regardless of age.
Rather, this content emphasizes a permanent solution which is to severely penalize those who are subjected to create unsafe environments.
On the other hand, instead of merely focusing and celebrating women on a designated day, it would be impactful if the government, private firms, NGOs and every individual, collectively co-ordinate and pay attention to the safety and well-being of women and children.
Inturn, this will also be helpful in preventing various mishaps which are prevalent in our society.