Is Women Empowerment Being Misused?

If history is looked up and seen, it is very clear that at the earliest women were respected and deemed to be important for society not just for giving birth but in every aspect of men’s life. After that, slowly without realizing men began to dominate and the voice of women was lost somewhere in that domination. And this continues till the society which were built upon the contributions of both men and women, formed into men oriented society. In this society, women began to face many challenges which were humiliating, degrading, dangerous, and much more. But it is quoted from the very start that,

Everything has to end, and

Every ending is a beginning itself

When the atrocities against women reached their peak and it became next to impossible to relate with the domination of men, tiny voices began to emerge from the crowd against these atrocities, and together it became louder and louder with time and earn itself a title ‘Women Empowerment.

Now, women empowerment was born for women to make a place for herself in the tyrannical society of men and over time it gained legal aid which made it more evolved all over the world, but this power started being used for selfish gain and is being misused by the very person for whom it was created.

Now let’s talk about facts from all over the world.

The survey was conducted by the group of Sant Xavier College students for the social discrimination of men. A total of 58.95% of the respondents said that men were threatened by by-laws for protecting women, and 66% of respondents said that the laws for women’s protection are being misused.

The most misused provision of law in India is The Dowry Prevention Law (Section 498A/ 406 of IPC).  There have been numerous instances in which this law has been abused. Women utilize this law to extort money from their husbands during divorce proceedings and to establish their supremacy over their in-laws. Small grievances are brought up in front of the law just to make their stance clear. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that on average about 1,00,000 cases are filed under section 498a annually. The rate of conviction — where the accusation was proven — varied between 20% in 2011 and 14% in 2015.

A survey conducted by Fight against Misuse of Dowry law has revealed that 98% of the cases filed under section 498A are false.

The greatest weapon of women against men is Rape (section 376 IPC). According to the Indian penal code, rape is a nonbailable offense and is gender-specific, which means the accused will be arrested immediately. The accusation of rape can be false for various factors but the most concerning factors are lies, revenge, attention-seeking, sympathy gain.  In a 2010 study of 136 reports of sexual assault investigated by a university police department, 8 (5.9%) were coded as false reports.  

It is sad to say that some women are using their power to fulfill their own desires. They forgot the actual purpose of these powers.

It is very important to stop these acts to maintain harmony in society and provide justice to those who actually need it.

In a landmark judgment, the honorable Supreme Court had said that women are spreading legal terrorism in India.

 After all these facts, it can be concluded and should be concluded that,

 There is no such thing as a weapon that is either right or wrong.

What matters is in whose hands it is being welded.

So it’s necessary to understand how, when, where, and why these powers should be used. Women are given these powers to protect themselves, not to hurt others because everything is about balance, if it staggers then everything will fall apart and starts giving the different outcome of what we’re actually desired.

Let’s just take an example of ‘#MeToo’ movement which was closed down because of false accusations.