MEN, the most discussed yet the least favoured specie on earth. They are uncelebrated for their acts. They are never praised keeping the exceptions aside. Despite this "hate effect" against them, they rule the world. 90% of personalities in "FORBES LIST OF THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE" across the globe feature men. On contrary WOMEN are glorified by pointing all odds against them. Several news channel support their social cause by mass voting on questions like : "Should women come out of their home and walk at night after 8pm? Type 1 for yes and 2 for no". The result shows a bar graph depicting 90 % of people in favour of late night movement of women. The whole nation decides the fate of a women irrespective of her choices. Yet she is the worst sufferer of all crimes. WHAT AN IRONY!!
Two points need to be cleared here are:
Firstly, women must be empowered and not pitied at. Not all women are victims.
Secondly, men must be criticized for all the wrongs but not ignored. Not all men are criminals.
If you see the general trend, men are usually considered as a perpetrator. Surprisingly, according to a recent study more than 40% of victims of domestic violence are men. Males experience not only the sexual abuse but also psychological, physical and mental abuse.
Domestic Violence: The Male Perspective, states: "Domestic violence is often seen as a female victim/male perpetrator problem, but the evidence demonstrates that this is a false picture."
The 2008-09 bulletin states: "More than one in four women (28%) and around one in six men (16%) had experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16.
-THE GAURDIAN
According to a recent study,51.5% males experienced violence at the hands of their wives/intimate partner at least once in their lifetime and 10.5% in the last 12 months.
As per the NFHS 2004 data, male abuse is not only restricted to female partner but also caused by relatives of wife. The rate is higher in cases of love marriages or divorce. There are several incidents of false dowry FIRs against men. In September, 2017, a two-member bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit stated that every complaint under Section 498A of the IPC received by the police or the magistrate had to be looked into by a three-member family welfare committee. Even the Supreme Court has placed restrictions on the use of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, it is a weapon that many wives like to use against husbands during a marriage breakdown.
Violence and sexual abuse against males in the younger age include harrassment by a relative or family member which are usually unreported as in case of young girls. The boys usually fear reporting an unusual scenario never talked about.
The reason behind this rising trend of household violence against men is our "silence". Indian society feels shy to talk about most of the critical social issues like same sex marriages, LGBTQ, sex education and women's menstruation. Abuse against men is also a part of bigger gender issue problem which we hardly consider to be true.
The family pressure of being the arm of the house, belief that "men don't cry" and the notion that sexual abuse and violence is a thing of women and not men have restrained our males to come forward and speak about their issues.
The reasons can be many, causes can be many but the solution lies only in gender neutrality. One can't leave women in some aspects and men in other. If we are unable to solve the problem of any gender, any human, any living being then we will fail as a holistic society. There is a need to break this silence and come forward. There is a need for gender neutral laws to have an equitable justice. Moreover there is a need to change our parochial mindset that discriminates on the basis of gender. There is no great in maintaining a patriarchal society which has never protected it's female and today has even left behind it's male.
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