New Delhi, June 24
Marital rape is condemnable
as is violence against women in any form, said Union Minister for Women
and Child Development Maneka Gandhi. Her view assumes significance as
it runs contrary to the government's position that charge of marital
rape was untenable in India due to the nature of the society and its
beliefs and mindsets.
Gandhi said that marital rape is about
a man's need to assert his power on a woman. "My opinion is that
violence against women shouldn't be limited to violence by strangers.
Very often a marital rape is not always about a man's need for sex; it
is only about his need for power and subjugation. In such case, it
should be treated with seriousness," Gandhi told IANS in the course of
an interview.
The government's stand on marital rape sparked a
row recently as it held that this cannot be treated as a criminal
offence as marriage is seen as a :"sacrament" between husband and wiife
in India.
Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai
Chaudhary had told parliament that there is no proposal to bring any
amendment to the law for criminalizing marital rape. "It is considered
that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot
be suitably applied in the Indian context owing to various factors, e.g.
level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and
values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat marriage as a
sacrament, etc," he said.
Contradicting the argument, many
activists and champions of women's rights, as well voices in the
opposition ranks, have denounced the government stand as retrograde,
with many pointing out that the UN Committee on Elimination of
Discrimination against Women has recommended to India that marital rape
be criminalised. The Justice J.S. Verma committee also recommended the
criminalisation of marital rape. According to United Nations Population
Fund, 75 percent of married women in India were subjected to marital
rape.
This is not the first time Gandhi has voiced her difference
with the decisions of her government. In March, Gandhi had come out
with her opposition to the proposed amendments to the Anti-Dowry Act. It
has been reported that the home ministry was mulling amendments to the
Act to check the spurt in the fake cases of harassment and misuse of the
law. Gandhi was quoted as saying that the legislation should not be
changed as it was women-friendly.
In another dissenting note,
Gandhi's recently wrote a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
protesting the slashing of 50 percent allocation to her ministry's
budget for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme.
However, Gandhi told IANS that the finance ministry has now assured her
that the funds won't be cut. "I got an assurance from the finance
ministry that the funds for ICDS would not be cut," she added.
(Preetha Nair can be contacted at [email protected])
