violence. Very often, they are made to believe that the man cares and he has a right to exercise control over them. Many women don’t want to come out in the open to take their husband/ partner to task. It is not because they really don’t want to but due to other factors such as social stigma, being ridiculed by society, taken advantage of, loss of residence or economic destitution. If there are children, the problem only gets heightened by further responsibilities, including the guilt of taking the children away from the abusive father. Time to Put a Stop Domestic violence is against the law. However, implementation of the law has to take place to ensure prevention of such violence. Sabina Martins informs us that in Goa there have been numerous instances when violence has actually stopped, but not without the police playing an important role. It was noticed that when the police have been stern with perpetrators, women have reported that the beating had actually stopped. However, there are also times when police side with the accused for obvious reasons. This leads to the accused getting emboldened which thus leads to further violence, for he now uses violence as a means of revenge to teach the woman a lesson and condition her mind that no amount of complaining will help her. With the current law, the systems collapse in the absence of honest, sincere and sensitive
April - June 2018
people who have the skills and efficiency. It fails further when there is no political will to provide infrastructure, budget and adequate powers to safeguard women citizens who are beaten day in and out for no rhyme or reason. In Goa Bailancho Saad is working to prevent such issues of domestic violence and beating. They have been trying to have meetings with authorities to prevent such violence in the state. A recent meeting with the Director of Women and Child Welfare along with BDOs, organisations and service providers was quite fruitful where suggestions have been provided. However, there will be no support for women in such situations from the political class as there is no political will to solve the problem. Ultimately, it all comes to education or economic prosperity. First, enabling boys to change their attitude and behaviour can help improve gender equality. There is a need to coerce boys to work together with girls so that it can hasten the change in norms and do away with stereotypes. Thus by understanding the consequences of their actions boys will get motivated to develop the much needed skills to manage relationships. Besides, engaging boys also impacts gender stereotypes and power dynamics at community level. Tactfully positioning boys as role models in preventing, stopping and ultimately ending harmful practices can have positive outcomes. Danuska is a journalist and a teacher, loves to write about society, gender, folklore and culture.
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