Public
humiliation and instances of mob violence against women are not new to
Indian society. Groups of men harassing, attacking and raping women of
'other' communities in contexts of communal riots and political
conflicts are, unfortunately, common. There are also numerous instances
of women in remote and even the not-so remote areas of the country being
publicly and brutally lynched on being identified as witches responsible
for others' death, illnesses and misfortunes.
But it appears that now we need to include other acts of violence
against women to this unseemly inventory. Incidents in which a group of
men, not necessarily known to each other, physically attack women in
public places without any overt provocation have occurred in recent
times. The attack on two women coming out of a five star hotel in Mumbai
on New Year's eve and the molestation of women students of Delhi
University by a large number of men appearing for a police services
examination on the campus in September 2007 are two recent examples of
such incidents.
Public humiliation directed at particular women by members of a
community, when not guided by blind superstition, is usually a way of
punishing alleged social deviations and enforcing social norms. It is
also a well-established fact that violence purposefully directed at
women of other communities is a means of humiliating not just the women
but also the men of those communities. Is the underlying basis of such
acts of violence against women very different from the recent instances
of mob violence directed at women in the teeming Indian metropolises of
India? Admitted, being a part of a mob can induce behavior that those
who are part of a mob may seldom undertake when alone. Nevertheless, an
inclination, a tendency or a desire, howsoever dormant, must exist which
is ignited by the collective presence of a mob.
It is quite commonplace to see such incidents as the handiwork of
anti-social elements or to view them in terms of gender dynamics alone.
Thus the usual response is to blame the inadequate police cover for
women or the sickness of the male psyche. These incidents also
invariably give rise to a debate as to whether female deportment in
public places causes such behavior or whether particular men are
inclined to indulge in such behavior in any case. But should this
exhaust the terms of this debate?
While harassment of women in public places, euphemistically referred to
as 'eve teasing', is an everyday occurrence in most Indian metros, mob
violence against women can be seen as a particularly exaggerated version
of such routine incidents. Undoubtedly, criminality and misogyny have a
vital part to play in such incidents. But what are the broader social
dynamics at work here? When large numbers of anonymous men unite to
violate women, we are forced to look for explanatory factors that
produce such a possibility in the first place.
What needs to be highlighted when such incidents appear on the rise is
that their occurrence is directly connected with the widening social and
economic differences in society. The clash between men and women in
public places is not merely about gender differences. It is also about
the disparities of class, caste, region and ethnicity.
It is a sociological truism that most people, especially those strongly
embedded in specific social groups, do not harbor generalized
attitudes towards others whom they do not identify as part of their
society. There is often a stark difference in how one treats members of
one's in-group as opposed to those who are seen as belonging to the
out-group.
It is unfortunately true that for men of the dominated and marginal
social groups, women of the privileged groups often become soft targets.
There is also no doubt that men of privileged classes have not shied
from taking advantage of the women underprivileged groups. The men of
the weaker sections often seek to avenge their general domination by
directing all hatred towards the women of dominant social groups.
When caste and regional differences exaggerate the class divide, it is
easy to see why men of a similar social background can unite so easily
against women identified as belonging to a dominant or different social
group. Add to this the patriarchal belief regarding the moral turpitude
of all women who have dared to step into public domain.
This admixture appears to at least partially explain the pattern
underlying the recent episodes of mobs attacking women in Mumbai and
Delhi. In both instances, the men attacked women who happened to be of a
distinct class and regional background than that to which the attackers
belonged. Numerous instances of violence against women tourists in India
who visibly belong to a different social group also make sense from this
point of view.
It is not without significance that most terms of male abuse in
patriarchal societies invoke sexual violation of mothers and sisters of
the abused men. Anyone who is privy to these rude forms of public speech
or has watched a few Hindi movies would be aware of the offensive import
of such abuses.
It follows from the same logic that when subjected to routine sexual
harassment in public places, many women remind the male aggressors that
they too have mothers and sisters at home. Clearly, such sexual
harassment directed against one's female kin has little social
legitimacy. Thus even though violence is definitely used against women
of one's group, certain extreme instances of violence - especially
violence which is overtly sexual - often manifests across stark social
divisions.
It is thus that knee-jerk reactions urging a strengthening of police
patrolling and surveillance in the public domain are not likely to go
very far in curbing such incidences.
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