One year ago today, a 23-year-old college student was brutally gang raped on a bus in India, on her way home from the movies. Her male friend was beaten by the rapists as he tried to protect her. Her injuries from the rapes eventually led to her death. During the following weeks, massive protests took place all over India and the world.
So where are we one year later?
* India’s parliament passed anti-rape legislation earlier this year that would criminalize offenses like stalking.
* Organizations launched campaigns, in an effort to bring awareness to the prevalence of violence against women and offer suggestions for ways to stop it. This in-depth PBS NewsHour report from April details the some of those efforts.
* Earlier this year, in New Delhi, a help line was set up to encourage women to speak up and report crimes when they happen.
* And police in Delhi say that they conduct “surprise raids” on public transportation routes in which large numbers of women travel to monitor the incidents of harassment
According to the Wall Street Journal, more women in India are coming forward – reporting rapes and harassment. ” In Delhi, for example, 1,493 rapes were reported to police in the first 11 months of this year, more than double the number reported in the same period of 2012.”
It’s an encouraging indicator, but experts caution that there is much work to be done.
Ranjana Kumari who heads the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, told the AFP: “The society is indeed becoming more sensitive to rape victims now, but there is still a long way to go. You cannot deny there is a rape epidemic in the country.”
