Women Safety, Issues and Solutions, Khumi People of Bangladesh and Mizoram connection, Mission Polaris Dawn

(General Studies II – Polity & Governance Section – Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.)

• The brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata highlights the broader spectrum of violence faced by women, ranging from sexual harassment to dowry-related deaths.
• According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crimes against women increased by 15.3% in 2022 compared to the previous year. While physical impacts of violence are often recognized, the psychological toll, including the constant need for vigilance, remains largely ignored.

Reasons For Violence Against Women –

1. Cultural Norms and Expectations: According to a 2023 survey by UN Women, 82% of Indian women reported feeling unsafe in public spaces, which reflects societal expectations that place the burden of safety on women. These norms reinforce restrictive behaviors, limiting their personal and professional growth.
2. Inadequate Legal Framework: Despite laws like the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, delays in judicial processes remain a major concern. NCRB data shows that the conviction rate for rape cases was only 27.8% in 2022, leading to a sense of impunity among perpetrators.
3. Lack of Institutional Support: Marginalized women, especially from lower castes, face compounded risks. A study by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights found that 33% of Dalit women experienced sexual violence, often lacking institutional support and resources for redressal.
4. Underreporting of Crimes: NCRB estimates that nearly 70% of crimes against women go unreported, mainly due to fear of social stigma and distrust in the justice system. This leaves many cases unaddressed, perpetuating the cycle of violence.
5. Urbanization and Public Spaces: According to a 2023 report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), rapid urbanization without adequate safety measures in public spaces has increased vulnerabilities, particularly for women in cities. The report highlights that over 60% of women in urban areas avoid public transportation due to safety concerns.
6. Economic Dependence: Economic inequality remains a significant issue, with the Global Gender Gap Report 2023 ranking India 144th out of 156 countries in economic participation and opportunity. Economic dependence on male family members often traps women in abusive environments, limiting their ability to seek help.

Measures Needed To overcome the Current Crises –

1. Strengthening Structural Protections: Implement comprehensive safety measures, such as increased surveillance under the Safe City project, which is part of the Nirbhaya Fund. This includes better policing, installing CCTVs in public spaces, and establishing more one-stop crisis centers.
2. Cultural Reformation: Promote gender-sensitive education through programs like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, which aims to challenge patriarchal norms and encourage respect for women’s rights. Additionally, integrate these principles into school curriculums to foster long-term societal change.
3. Empowerment through Freedom: Enhance women’s freedom by improving access to safe public spaces and transportation. The Mahila Police Volunteers initiative, under which women are trained to assist in law enforcement, can be expanded to ensure safer public environments.
4. Support for Marginalized Women: Provide targeted interventions, such as legal aid and community-based safety programs. The Ujjawala Scheme can be leveraged to rescue and rehabilitate women from trafficking and other forms of exploitation, focusing on marginalized communities.
5. Comprehensive Justice Reforms: Reform the justice system with better training for law enforcement under the Mission Shakti program, which aims to strengthen institutional frameworks for women’s safety. Additionally, fast-track courts for crimes against women should be expanded to ensure timely justice.
6. Economic Empowerment: Implement programs to promote economic independence for women, such as the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), which supports self-help groups and provides financial literacy training. This can help women break free from economic dependence and abusive environments.

Violence against women in India is a significant societal failure, reflecting deep-rooted issues rather than isolated incidents. With over 220,000 reported crimes in the first half of 2024, urgent action is essential. Both the government and society must move beyond symbolic gestures to dismantle the structural and cultural barriers that enable this violence.

Key reforms should include strengthening the justice system, enhancing protective measures, and challenging entrenched patriarchal norms. Women’s safety must evolve from a mere aspiration to a fundamental reality, essential for India’s development and justice. Only then can the nation truly progress.

• The Education Ministry has defined ‘literacy’ and ‘full literacy’ in a renewed push under the New India Literacy Programme (NILP), a five-year initiative (2022-27) aiming to onboard one crore learners aged 15 and above each year across all States and Union Territories.
• Literacy involves the ability to read, write, and compute with comprehension, including critical life skills like digital and financial literacy.
• Achieving ‘full literacy’ is defined as reaching 95% literacy in a State or Union Territory.
• A non-literate person is considered literate under NILP if they pass the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT).
• India faces a significant literacy challenge, with the 2011 Census identifying 25.76 crore non-literate individuals aged 15 and above, including 9.08 crore males and 16.68 crore females.
• Despite the Saakshar Bharat programme certifying 7.64 crore individuals as literate between 2009-18, an estimated 18.12 crore adults remain non-literate.
• Non-literate individuals face disadvantages in financial transactions, job applications, understanding rights, and participating in higher productivity sectors.

Dig Deeper: Read about the New Education Policy and its features.

• A purported letter from the Khumi National Democratic Party (KNDP), addressed to Mizoram Chief Minister requested support for establishing a Khumi National Army (KNA) training camp in the border area of Lawngtlai.
• Lawngtlai, one of Mizoram’s three districts bordering Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), along with Lunglei and Mamit, is strategically significant.
• The Khumi people, also known as Khami or Kami, number fewer than 5,000 in CHT but have over 1 lakh members in Myanmar.
• Historically, indigenous peoples, including the Chakmas in the 1960s and the Kuki-Chin people in November 2022, have fled persecution in Bangladesh and sought refuge in Mizoram.
• Both the Khumi and Kuki-Chin people belong to the Zo ethnic group, which includes the dominant Mizos of Mizoram.
• Myanmar-based insurgent groups also held meetings in Aizawl and other parts of the state, allegedly facilitated by some civil society organisations.

Dig Deeper: Read about various ethnic tribes divided between India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

• The Pragyan rover data, part of India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 mission, confirmed ferroan anorthosite in the lunar soil, supporting previous findings by the Apollo and Luna missions.
• This discovery supports the theory that these rocks are remnants of an ancient magma ocean that once covered the moon’s surface.
• The Pragyan rover, which travelled about 100 meters from the Vikram lander over two weeks, used its Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) to analyse lunar dust, identifying ferroan anorthosite and other ancient debris.
• The findings suggest that a powerful meteor strike created the South Pole-Aitken Basin, dispersing material from deep inside the moon.

Dig Deeper: Read about Chandrayan 3’s explorations like Moonquakes and the Plasma Environment of the Moon.

• SpaceX is set to undertake the first-ever private spacewalk, testing innovative equipment, including slim spacesuits and a cabin without an airlock.
• The crew will launch aboard a modified Crew Dragon craft, embarking on a spacewalk at an altitude of 700 km—the highest since NASA’s Apollo program in 1972.
• The five-day mission will follow an elliptical orbit ranging from 190 km to 1,400 km from Earth, exposing the crew and equipment to harsh space conditions, including the Van Allen belt, where radiation poses significant risks to electronics and human health.
• The spacewalk involves depressurizing the Crew Dragon cabin and exposing it to the vacuum of space.
• While only two crew members out of four will exit the spacecraft, all will rely on their spacesuits for life support.
• Preparation for the spacewalk includes a 45-hour process to fill the cabin with pure oxygen, removing nitrogen from the air.
• Unlike NASA missions, private ventures like this are not subject to U.S. safety standards for spaceflight.

Dig Deeper: Read about radiation risk in the space and role of the dense atmosphere of Earth in masking harmful radiation.