Not all women are victims!

Today, the whole world is working together to help women fight all the wrongs done to them. Well, women didn’t have equal rights, and they are “biologically speaking” the weaker species – so yes, it is true that someone has to step forward for the upliftment of women. But, hasn’t the words women empowerment gained so much hype that some women are using this oppression to terrorize others. False rape accusations and dowry cases are as common as acid attacks, both destroying lives of innocent citizens in India. It has become so easy to accuse someone of rape or dowry that women use it as a shield to get whatever they want. Women rights give so much power to the “victim” that they become almost immune to the judicial proceedings no matter how false their accusation is. Add into it the fact, that whenever a woman is a part of some case, the media raises hellfire – harnessing the accused, their families and shaping opinions of others accordingly without actually knowing the truth. Section 498A of IPC was introduced to protect married women from cruelty and according to the law it is a criminal offense which is cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable. Thus implying that, if a woman lodges an FIR, the accused can be arrested without a warrant. This gives a woman an upper hand in the situation. These laws, the society and everything else is just a manifestation of our bias towards women. In Indian culture, women are considered so pure and pious that people don’t believe they can manipulate others or use the powers given to them to make others yield to their demands. But, bad people do exist regardless of their gender. Power corrupts no matter which chromosome people end up with at birth. Not only this, women are not ashamed of using the gender card for whatever they want – maybe it’s a seat in a local bus or pushing the blame of their inconsistent behavior on PMS. These things become so easy for them that they don’t even think twice before allegedly blaming someone for eve teasing or rape. I am not saying women are not raped or domestic violence doesn’t happen but there have been so many false accusations that it has become almost impossible to filter out which case is false and which isn’t. Also, we cannot ignore the fact that men suffer from these evils too. Also, this makes it difficult for a real victim to get justice. Many rural women still don’t take their cases to courts because of the time it takes to resolve a case and thus end up being a victim of mental and physical harassment. So, by doing this, we are not only stripping a family of its peace but also a real victim of her right to justice. Generalizing, each and every woman just because of a few is wrong, but we have to keep a check on their powers so that they cannot misuse their privileges and make the society suffer. Our society doesn’t need women empowerment or men empowerment, No! But it requires that we should be fair to each and every human being no matter what his gender or social status (s)he belongs to. So if we demand equal pay and equal choices, we should also give away equal rights to both sections of society.