Why Gender Sensitisation In Educational Institutes Can Curb Gender-Related Crimes. Experts Weigh In

The increasing rate of heinous crimes against women needs to be addressed by means of education, awareness, and strong legal action against the perpetrators, say experts.

Crimes against women in increased by 15.3% in 2021 over the previous year.

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India has an array of laws, policies and programmes that seek to address gender-related crimes. Public resources are allocated annually to implement these, but it has been seen that most of these measures come into play only once the violence has already occurred. 

Several cases of extreme violence against women in live-in relationships are coming to light of late. One such case was the murder of Shraddha Walker, who was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala in Delhi. She was not only killed, but her body was chopped into pieces and disposed of in a forest. 

Then came to light two more gruesome cases — Nikki Yadav was allegedly killed by partner Sahil Gehlot in Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai's Megha Torvi, who was strangled to death by her partner Hardik Shah and her body was found in a bed box. 

Such cases are a grim reminder of the dangers women in these relationships may encounter. According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), crimes against women in India increased by 15.3% in 2021 over the previous year. 

Reasons Behind Gender-Related Crimes Among Youth

The increasing incidents of crimes against women can be attributed to various factors, including the prevalence of "patriarchal and sexist beliefs among men", as well as their hostile attitudes towards women, according to experts. Unfortunately, they say, aggressive and violence-supportive behaviour among men is not sufficiently condemned by societies, perpetuating the belief that it is acceptable for men to be violent towards partners. 

Several Bollywood movies like ‘Thappad’ and ‘Darlings’ have now started to address this issue, featuring protagonists who actively challenge such behaviour.

Focusing on a solution to stop such gender-related crimes, Dr. Shikha Kapoor, Head of the Department of Adult and Continuing Education and Extension at Jamia Millia Islamia, told ABP Live: “Intolerance and aggression have increased in youth. Parents should talk to their children about relationships and guide them on what’s right and wrong. Communication gap should be filled in parents and children.’’

She added: "It should be noted that lack of gender sensitization can be a reason behind such crimes, but there can be many reasons behind such crimes that are needed to be found."  

A woman student of economics, who did not wish to be named, told ABP Live: “Many parents stop their daughters from talking to boys in school and college and it has created a huge gap between the two genders. We can’t share our dating life with our parents. Communication is missing with parents. Parents should accept that their children are dating secretly and instead of stopping them, they should teach them the core values of a relationship.''

Divya Sharma, a Jamia student, added: "There is a need to change the mindset of society toward women." 

These types of incidents happen due to societal tendencies in general and reservation about women in particular, she said. "It is necessary to change societal attitudes toward women, and this should start in our homes itself. We must teach gender sensitization issues in classrooms also. This will help in the cultivation of positive minds." 

What Men Think About Violence Against Women

Aryan Gupta, a student of Law from DME College, said: “From childhood, we boys are always told that boys don’t cry, boys are strong. Due to these stereotypical things, I think that boys are not able to share their emotions with their parents or partner. In relationships, there are many factors that turn things into violence. Sometimes emotional damage turns into rage. I believe that we should talk to our friends and parents about things that are messing with our minds.’’

Talking about the Shraddha and Nikki murder cases, Amartya Bhushan, a student of law at Jamia, said: ''The common thread between these two cases are both the partners fell in love and started living together, and subsequently the male partner committed the heinous of crimes against the female partner. In my view, the fundamental reason behind the development of such ‘mens rea’ (which eventually ends as ‘actus reus’) in male partners is due to lack of 'basic principles of humanity' and insensitivity towards other gender.''  

He added: "Whatsoever, these perpetrators will be awarded the harshest of punishment by the court and an example must be set by the Judiciary to create a fear factor to prevent such offenses in the future." 

Gender Sensitisation In Educational Institutions 

The increasing rate of heinous crimes against women needs to be addressed by means of education, awareness, and strong legal action against the perpetrators, say experts.

Many universities have introduced curricula that focus on the parochial ideas that have become entrenched in male society. It has been emphasised that in order to create a world aware of the issues faced by women simply because they are women, men should be taught and trained in these matters, and through comprehensive programmes made sensitive to the issues peculiar to women. 

Dr. Kavita Suri, a professor from the Department of Lifelong Learning at the University of Jammu, conducted a workshop on "Gender Sensitization: Understanding Gender" at the University of Delhi on February 17, 2023. The workshop was organised by the Department of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension at the University of Delhi.

Dr. Kavita emphasised the importance of gender sensitisation during her interaction with the students, stating that it is crucial and should begin at home.

Talking to ABP Live, Prof. Rajesh, Head of the Department of Adult Continuing Education & Extension (DACEE), Delhi University, said: “These are the serious issues and challenges in our society on Gender issues that are happening rather increasing due to minimizing the role of the family and educational institutions."

He added: "We are continuously organizing sensitization sessions, counseling and guidance and one-to-one sessions, making the Department Gender sensitive giving space to discuss, interact, act, react and teachers to act as facilitators providing space to deal with isolation, cultural sensitivity bridging the rural-urban gap.”

Prof. Rajesh also said their aim is to make the educational system highly sensitive and proactive towards gender issues as the gap in the family and educational institutions and dependency on peer pressure are the reason along with isolation. "We have courses on counseling and guidance and family life education also to deal with the issue,” he added.

Besides Delhi University, several measures have been taken by Jamia Millia Islamia University also to promote equality on campus.

Dr. Shikha Kapoor said, "We at Jamia Millia Islamia are running a pilot project - GATI (Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions, under the Department of Science and Technology) and the Honorable VC, Jamia is the Principal Investigator. We frequently conduct interactive seminars on Gender Sensitization at the university campus."