Delhi Protests Over Rape, Sexual Violence Prompt Criticism Of Law Enforcement

The second high-profile protest over sexual violence is taking place now in Delhi, and questions still plague the world as to how such heinous crimes continue to happen. Wasn't Jyoti Singh Pandey's tragic end enough to bring a country's gender inequality issues into the harsh light of reality?  

The Delhi gang rape case was a watershed moment in India, even prompting a panel of former judges which included a woman, to write a lengthy report on the proper enforcement of laws against violence against women that we mention in our first post. The report was legal in nature, but one wonders if it should have had more of a cultural impact as well.  

For a more personal look at how the Delhi rapes affect India, PolicyMic spoke to a few young women in the country who have to face these and other gender inequality issues as their generation comes of age.  

Provisions were made in late December 2012 to hire more female police officers on the Delhi force in an attempt to appease cries from protesters that law enforcement are just as insensitive to victims as their attackers.  Shuba Kamala Prasad, a university student in the capital city, says "The attitude of society in general needs to change and this includes women police officers. Those who are skeptical about the effectiveness of such a move state that these women are as ingrained in the patriarchal mind-set that blames the victim and often even female police officers prevent registrations of such complaints and counsel victims and their families about the negative ramifications in society if the victim gets labeled as 'impure'."  

Vaijayanthi Jagannathan, a college student in Mumbai says that though the latest reports on heinous gang rapes have had a profound effect on she and her friends, many feel politicians remain aloof and unfazed. She points to a historical problem with a corrupt and oft-ignored law enforcement in India, stating "The only thing we can hope for is that the punishment, rather than being harsher, should be made more certain, so that there is some fear of the law in people's mind, and one would think twice before committing such a crime."