Tuesday, Jul 15, 2003
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Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad
By M. L. Melly Maitreyi
Here recently in connection with the first regional workshop on gender sensitisation to police officers at the National Police Academy, she spoke to The Hindu. "The Commission cannot confine itself to awareness campaigns. We want it to investigate, get the views of stakeholders across and to help the Government come up with a policy that would serve the purpose''. ``Look how the Government had been handling AIDS awareness. Ten years ago, we were aggressive on condom lobby, with focus on distribution of condoms and thus equating AIDS with sexually transmitted disease. You have seen the repercussions and the negative impact. The moment a woman is diagnosed HIV positive, she has to suffer the stigma attached''. ``After 10 years we changed our posture and harping on four pathways to AIDS, injection syringes, blood transfusion among them. We may change yet again in another 10 years,'' she said. She emphatically says: The commission does not want to repeat the mistake. It is imperative to talk to stakeholders, victims themselves, on any issue, in the initial dialogues before it culminates in a policy. But we seem to thrive on `Expert committees with no place for the target groups'. "The term expert baffles me,'' she quipped. Ms. Poornima wanted women's organisations to be active, and ensure accountability from the public institutions, including national and state commissions. ''Make life miserable for them so that they function effectively''. She disclosed that the commission had embarked on the cause of socio-economic development of women in states and union territories. But how to evaluate the status of women ? "We issue a public notice inviting all NGOs, not only those receiving grants from the State alone, people from all walks of life. ``There we discuss issues, from dowry, sexual harassment, equal wages, child labour, denial of livelihood under impact of WTO. The real concerns come up in the meeting and our future agenda thus gets evolved. The following day we have a meeting with secretaries of all Government departments and place the agenda before them''. Apart from long-term benefits, this approach would have short term gains too, she says, recalling the stoppage of `Bar Balas' (young dancing girls) in pubs in Maharashtra. She recounts an incident where the police were hand in glove with brothel owners. But a good officer can make a difference. A DCP who conducted a raid at the instance of the commission rounded up clients at a place where even minor girls were in trade. The incident created a sensation and none dared to visit the place for a week. Ms. Poornima had taken exception to efforts to dilute 498 A that had been achieved after a long struggle. Only three amendments concerning women had been brought in IPC since 1860 and now there is a move to dilute them too. "he commission is filing a review petition against the overarching statements made by a Judge''. The commission is also formulating a draft bill on sexual harassment. Appreciating Neha for emerging a role model for young women to take cudgels against dowry demands, she said mere laws would not serve purpose unless there were enforcing agencies and political will.
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