A UN special envoy on Wednesday faulted India's efforts to tackle discrimination and violence against women and urged the government to empower women and foster social change. Rashida Manjoo, UN special rapporteur on violence against women, was on a 10-day tour of India following protests and public outcries against the rapes of women and children in the country.
Manjoo said the government's "law and order approach" to sexual wrongs, including the recently announced death penalty for certain crimes against women, had failed to address the root causes of violence against women. "A legislative and policy approach will not bring a substantive change if it is not implemented within a holistic approach that simultaneously targets the empowerment of women, social transformation and the provision of remedies that ultimately address the continuum of discrimination and violence and also the pervasive culture of impunity," she said.
Manjoo said violence against women in India extends from the "womb to the tomb" and includes female feticide, child marriages, domestic violence, dowry-related deaths, honour killings, witch-hunting, violence against lesbians and self-immolation by widows.