They want amendment in the anti-dowry law as it favours women.
It has often been observed that women have started misusing the anti-dowry law to file false cases against their husbands. Men have been complaining that women file false cases against in-laws and also demand compensation from them. According to them, the current divorce laws favour women as men have to suffer the most. Every year the top Men’s Rights Activists of India gather together for a National Meet, to discuss and strategize about how to further the cause of Men’s Rights Activism in India. This year Vaastav Foundation, Mumbai is hosting the 7th Save Indian Family National Meet with a focus upon male health and promoting gender equality in laws governing the society where about 200 activists from 50 NGOs all over India will participate in a 3 day conference to discuss about Men’s rights in India.
The society has created a plethora of gender-biased laws inspite of men’s rights advocacy groups highlighting the adverse effects of lack of access to justice for men – due to absence of laws addressing their concerns
As per latest NCRB Reports, every 5.9 minutes a man commits suicide in India. Most of the reasons for suicides of men are family problems and illnesses. Cases of married men’s suicides have decreased marginally in 2014 compared to previous year. But the cause for concern is that the ratio of married men’s suicide to married women’s suicide is still increasing and is 2.21 which directly show that men are having issues that need to be addressed urgently.
Amit Deshpande, President, Vaastav Foundation said, “We received more than 38,000 calls on the FIRST Men’s Helpline in the last one year, which is 34% more than the Women’s Helpline no. While debates are surrounding marital rape, blatant lies are being spread about the issue, that it is not covered by law. We would like to highlight that there are laws like 498a and Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 Sec 3(ii) already covering this issue giving relief to women complaining about marital rape or any sexual violence.”
“Misuse of laws like Sec-498a, domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment at workplace should be checked. More than 70 per cent of rape/molestation cases are Vengeance complaints’. Male rape is a reality and acknowledged in many countries. We have a law Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 to help victims of male rape below age of 18 years, but no support for victims above the age of 18 years. The rape law along with Sexual Harassment at workplace law should be gender neutral” he added.
“Our demands are that India should have a National Commission for Men constituted along with a Ministry for Men’s Welfare to address the concerns of men and their families” he said further.
Advocate Sushan Kunjuraman said, “Women have taken unfair advantage of Section 498A and have demanded money to end the marriage. Any case registered under 498A is non-bailable therefore she can get the husband, in-laws arrested easily. As of now police has started talking to both husband and wife before going ahead with the arrest and also tries to sort the matter. Section 498A should be made a bailable offence so that there would be a drop in such cases.”
Another lawyer Ejaz Naqvi said, “Mechanical changes must take place. The same police officers who had nabbed Kasab should not be handling harassment cases. Such cases should be specialised police officers who are more aware of these sections and have undergone some sort of counselling course or holding Diplomas in Social Studies.”
“More females are graduating out of our colleges and universities, at the same time more than 6 times boys are being forced into child labour compared to girls. This shows that the traditional roles of protectors/providers are burdening boys at a young age becoming a hindrance to their progress. Surveys carried out by government agencies like National Family Health Surveys should focus on questionnaire that addresses men as victims, currently those questionnaires are designed to only consider them as perpetrators” said Hussein All, Secretary, Vaastav Foundation.
Vaastav Foundation is an NGO based out of Mumbai working towards equal human rights for both the genders. The organization assists families in distress and crisis who suffer from toxic domestic relationships. They assist people who have suffered false dowry and domestic violence cases.
The organization is a part of a network of over 40 NGOs all over India which conducts weekly meetings in over 20 cities. In these meeting they try to create a positive space for men where they can be heard without being judged.
