Following high profile cases of violence against women in India, Christian Aid urges those in power not only to punish perpetrators of violence, but also to address the structural inequalities that it says hinder the implementation of policies that would keep women and girls safe.
The charity says more needs to be done to address the patriarchal norms and structural inequalities in India that continue to keep women and girls trapped in a cycle of poverty.
In a new report, War on Women: The global toll of conflict and violence, Christian Aid stresses that global gender inequality is exacerbated by the prevalence of all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), including forced abortions, rape, female genital mutilation and femicide.
The international NGO has asked leaders in countries, including India, where UN policies to address the issue are not fully implemented, to pay attention to the implementation of the CEDAW (UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) report.
In India, millions of poor minority and excluded communities, including Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims, are trapped in poverty as a result of stark inequalities, such as gender, caste, ethnicity and religion.
Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to consequential violence – at home and on the…