The New York Times reports on a new study that finds Indian women are far more undernourished and underweight than women even in poorer countries.
You know what this results in? Undernourished babies, lots of whom die in or out of the uterus.
That’s the thing about hating women – it has some knock-on effects that even non-women don’t want. It’s hard to get the amount of hatred that should be directed at women exactly right. [Read more…]
And then there’s the rape victim in India who killed herself yesterday. She was being harassed by the rapists. That’s right. First they rape her, then they make her life hell afterwards because.
The police also got in on the act, making her report to the police station late at night and tell them all about the rape.
…as no arrests were made, the accused not only harassed the victim and her family, but also started issuing open threats. Hounded, the girl shifted to her aunt’s house in nearby Samana town on November 29. “Since the rapists started harassing her at Samana too, she consumed some poisonous substance around 5pm on Wednesday [Read more…]
Avicenna is on his way out to the protest, to provide medical coverage. He was already getting ready to go when the victim’s death was reported; now he expects riots. Be careful, Avi.
Meanwhile, experts were giving their views in the hours before the victim lost the fight.
“Had the girl simply surrendered (and not resisted) when surrounded by six men, she would not have lost her intestine. Why was she out with her boyfriend at 10 pm?” These comments made by an agricultural scientist at a seminar organised by the police provoked an outrage in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, and demands for punitive action against her.
Dr Anita Shukla, a scientist at the Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, had been invited to the seminar on “Women’s Empowerment” in her capacity as the president of Lion’s Club on Wednesday. Women, Shukla said in her speech, had misused the facilities and rights given to them.
Hmmyeah. She should have surrendered, and she shouldn’t have been out at 10 pm. She was doing everything wrong, wasn’t she. She shouldn’t have had a hole between her legs. She shouldn’t have left the house. She shouldn’t have grown up. She shouldn’t have been born. One mistake after another, she made.
Thanks, Dr Shukla. You’re a big help.
Oh hey, a good idea.
Chanting to cure snakebites, claiming to be a reincarnated spouse to obtain sex, and charging for miracles could soon be banned by an Indian state seeking to stop charlatans preying on the vulnerable.
Many superstitions are widely held in India but a campaign group is lobbying hard for a new law in the western state of Maharashtra to outlaw several exploitative activities, with penalties of fines or up to seven years in jail.