Violence against women bypassed in Development Debate

February 19, 2014, 12:00 pm Of the global actors, the UN has proved an exception to the above rule, but even the UN is yet to come out with a truly holistic conception of development. The Millennium Development oals of the UN have helped pinpoint some urgent concerns which go to the heart of development but one could state that the outlined aims have not been made to cohere in a synthesi!ing concept which could be referred to as development. The UND"#s $%&' (uman Development )eport is a testimony to the UN#s efforts to arrive at an over*arching conception of development. Nevertheless, these labours could be said to be fruitful because without them the world would still be in a state of ignorance as regards the essentials of development. +hen broaching the ,uestion of development, the issue that emerges predominantly is whether we have with us a consistent debate on it the world over. The sub-ect never won wide currency in the developed world or the lobal North for the simple reason that the issue has been seen as a pressing concern over the decades for mainly the developing world or the lobal .outh. /ut even in the case of the developing regions, what has passed for development is mainly economic growth and the productive capacities of economies. 0n other words, the mere material advancement of countries has come to be e,uated with development. This has been particularly so since the onset of mar1et economics over the past '% years. +hile criti,uing the idea of development should be seen as essential, this tas1 has not been a ma-or preoccupation of the ma-ority of states in the developing world and other ,uarters, for whom, development in the true sense must matter. Of the global actors, the UN has proved an exception to the above rule, but even the UN is yet to come out with a truly holistic conception of development. The Millennium Development oals of the UN have helped pinpoint some urgent concerns which go to the heart of development but one could state that the outlined aims have not been made to cohere in a synthesi!ing concept which could be referred to as development. The UND"#s $%&' (uman Development )eport is a testimony to the UN#s efforts to arrive at an over*arching conception of development. Nevertheless, these labours could be said to be fruitful because without them the world would still be in a state of ignorance as regards the essentials of development. 2 salient feature of the UN#s wor1 is the emergence of human well being as an important dimension of development. This aspect of development is brought out best in the UN#s concern

for humanity#s food security. 2long with elements, such as, considerable life expectancy, education and health, access to good, wholesome food by individuals and communities is seen as central to development and these inputs could be seen as welcome accents in the conceptuali!ation of development. /ut stable human security too must be seen as an essential component of development and the rising violence, sexual and otherwise, against women the world over must be viewed as running contrary to what informed and literate sections need to see as development. +e in .ri 3an1a are no strangers to this unsettling phenomenon of the increasing savaging of women. 0t would not be an exaggeration to state that the physical and emotional harming of women and children is an everyday occurrence in this country. 0t is up to women#s organi!ations and allied bodies, besides the state, to maintain accurate records of these distressing trends in societal degeneration. Unfortunately, women#s organi!ations and the li1e are deafeningly silent on these criminal tendencies that place a huge ,uestion mar1 over the 3an1an state#s claims to local socio*economic advancement. 0ncidentally, violence against women should be a concern of everyone with claims to culture and a social conscience, regardless of whether they are women or men. (opefully, the .22)4 +omen#s 4onvention which is expected to be held in the near future would ta1e up these and many other issues which are of relevance to women in .outh 2sia and the world over. The violence visited on women is now a global issue of the first importance because, as an 25" report in The 0sland +orld 6iew revealed a couple of days ago, ,uoting +estern researchers, one woman in every &7 the world over, admits to having been sexually assaulted by someone, other than a partner, at some time in her life. Overall, 8.$ percent of women, aged &9 years and older, are on record as having undergone humiliation of this 1ind. 2s the researchers very rightly express it, sexual violence against women is a pressing :health and human rights# concern. The irony is that all these and more forms of moral degeneration are occurring in our midst while :development# is said to be ta1ing place. This is all the more reason why development should compulsorily envelope human well being and wholeness. 2 society which cannot guarantee its members bodily and emotional security cannot be said to be developing in any sense of the word. Therefore, it is clear that the concept of :development# should be seen as needing further developing, amendment and fine*honing. The last word has by no means been said about development. 0t is a wide*ranging concept that should envisage, among other things, human security and health in all its dimensions. 0t is not only the victims of sexual violence who need to be cared for but the perpetrators of such violence too. /esides bringing such offenders to -ustice, their obvious emotional ill* health needs to be remedied. 2nd if more and more males in a society are prone to sexual violence, the inference should be drawn that the male segment in the society in ,uestion is gravitating dangerously towards collective emotional ill*health of a grave 1ind.

2n issue that arises from the foregoing for particularly developing countries is that the problem of collective mental imbalance cannot be managed through the adoption of stringent law and order measures. .tates, particularly of the authoritarian mould, could be expected to see the proliferation of sexual and other forms of violence as a purely security*related issue because of the wide prevalence of the view that development is no more than material or physical advancement. 0t will not be seen by law and order* conscious states that development, narrowly conceived, is itself the cause of collective psychosis within their boundaries. These and many more matters of concern need to engage the attention of the .22)4 ;ight and their leaders, besides the world at large. .outh 2sian political elites are apparently ta1en up with the notion of the :2sian 4entury#. ;conomic growth and physical advancement, together with the closer integration of 2sian economies, are seen as catalysts in this process of ma1ing real the idea of the :2sian 4entury#. :/read# and even :guns# are essentials for the survival states, but the .22)4 ;ight need to see well beyond development as meaning mere material well being. "hysical advancement of societies, minus emotional, spiritual and aesthetic advancement, could only precipitate emotional ill*health and moral decay. This is already happening in both the developing and developed worlds. 0t is not only :development# that needs to be criti,ued, it would be found. 0t is also :democracy# that needs to be further assessed. The developing world needs to in,uire as to how democracy, as they usually conceive it, is in tune with development, correctly conceived. There is no trade*off between :development# and democracy. .uch a costly compromise is possible only when :development# is seen narrowly as material well being and little else. /ut when development is seen as the total advancement of persons and societies, in all relevant dimensions, it could be seen as the natural concomitant of democracy, which is essentially the empowerment of individuals and communities.