"Leave The Women Alone In This Country; Let Them Grow": Supreme Court Urges Govt To Widen Sensitisation On Crimes Against Women

While hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the alarming rise in crimes against women, the Supreme Court today strongly emphasized the need for a multi-pronged sensitization campaign that extends beyond educational institutions and targets the wider population, especially those who are uneducated or have dropped out of the formal education system.

The Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma heard submissions on the steps being taken by the government to address issues relating to gender-based violence, particularly sexual assault and rape, through value-based education and public awareness initiatives.

“Leave the Women Alone”: Justice Nagarathna’s Strong Message

During the proceedings, Justice Nagarathna made an observation highlighting the daily vulnerabilities faced by women across both urban and rural India. “Whether in cities or rural areas, the vulnerability of women is something men will never understand. The feeling a woman experiences the moment she steps onto a street, a bus, or a railway station with the constant burden of ensuring her own safety, is an additional mental load she carries alongside her responsibilities at home, at work, and in society,” she stated.

Addressing the broader context of the petition, Justice Nagarathna observed, “The only thing we request is to leave the women alone in this country, not monitor, not restrain, just let them be. Let them grow; that’s all the women of this country are asking.”

Justice Nagarathna also recounted real-life cases of women being sexually assaulted when forced to defecate in the open due to the lack of toilets in rural areas. “In villages, due to the lack of basic sanitation, young women wait until dusk to ease themselves, exposing them to the risk of assault. This not only affects their physical health but also their dignity and security,” she said.

Court Grants Three Weeks' Time

Appearing for the Union of India, the Senior Counsel informed the Court that while the National Education Policy (NEP) was available, the detailed syllabus and educational modules related to moral education and gender sensitisation were yet to be filed.

Justice Nagarathna, however, reminded the Counsel that the academic year had already begun and the matter could not be delayed indefinitely. “We granted you time earlier. Now is the time to act, especially with the new academic session already having commenced,” she said.

The Senior Counsel also suggested that NCERT may need to be made a party to the case, as it has separate committees responsible for curriculum decisions.

The Bench noted the submission and granted a final three-week extension to the Union of India to file a comprehensive affidavit outlining existing modules and proposed steps.

Sensitisation Must Extend Beyond Schools

Appearing in person, Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, the petitioner, stressed that education alone would not suffice, as many of the perpetrators of such crimes do not attend schools or are beyond the age of formal schooling.

“This cannot be limited to schools. Sensitisation must take place at the level of local self-governments, media, and through broadcast, seminars, and public advertisements,” he argued. He emphasized that many individuals, despite having received formal education, still demonstrate regressive and harmful attitudes towards women.

Ponda contended, "I am very grateful that the Hon'ble Court is taking pains to entertain my prayers. My principle prayer is, education yes, no difficulty, but the persons who indulge in this kind of behavior don't even go to schools and academics. I am therefore making prayers in my petitions, to sensitise the media and the local self governing institutions, about broadcast and awareness at all levels, even people who have passed out of schools, some of them, have very bad moral training. It won't be effective; if it is done at a level of schools, it must be done at local self governing levels by seminars, advertisements, by broadcast, by media by internet. The deterrence of these kinds of crimes, must be sensitized, not only to the educated but also to the uneducated people. Though we have free and compulsory education in the country, people do not go to schools. Practically, there is a big gap; there is a yawning gap between the provision and the actual implementation of people studying. We need to understand, that all syllabus, everything which is done today, is lacking gravely...I am saying, we need much more, this problem is a very serious problem. This whole attitude of this male chauvinism is reaching an extent, that it is becoming so immune to the people, that they are following it as a rule. This can't be done only in schools, with greatest respect. This is to be done in the homes..."

He further suggested that just as statutory warnings appear on tobacco products, similar graphic warnings and deterrent messaging, including visual representations of punishments like the gallows, should be disseminated widely through cinema, internet platforms, and public campaigns to instil a fear of legal consequences and raise awareness.

"You have statutory warnings for cigarettes; you have provisions to behave dignifiedly with ladies. Why there are not statutory warnings of the gallows and the death sentence, the skull and bones, educating the public in theatre, in cinemas, on the internet, through books, seminars, and pamphlets... People don't understand this. Only after committing the crime, they are like, No, no, we should not have done this. There should be a fear , a deterrent to awareness," Ponda submitted.

Court Acknowledges Broader Need for Mindset Shift

Previously

It is to be noted that on September 13, 2024, the Supreme Court had issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) raising concerns over the increasing number of crimes against women, particularly rapes.

The petition filed by Senior Advocate Aabad Harshad Ponda, who has over 32 years of experience in criminal law and practices primarily in the Bombay High Court, has sought the Court’s intervention to address the root causes of these heinous crimes and to ensure the effective implementation of existing laws. The petition pointed out that despite India’s robust legal framework, which includes stringent laws against sexual offences, the frequency of crimes such as rape continues to rise, reflecting a failure in the proper enforcement and communication of these laws.

The petition filed through AoR Sandeep Sudhakar Deshmukh expressed concern over the gap between the creation of laws by the legislature and their dissemination to the public, particularly in terms of educating society about the consequences of these offences. It underscored the urgent need for action before such crimes occur, rather than merely reacting to incidents. It highlights that while the courts deal with offenders after the fact, the real challenge lies in preventing the commission of the crime itself.

The petition noted that despite more stringent rape laws introduced after the 2012 Nirbhaya case, including harsher punishments, the rate of such crimes remains alarmingly high. "Despite the rape laws being made more stringent post Nirbhaya, this crime only seems to be on the rise. Therefore, reacting to such situations by making the punishments for rape more stringent with a knee-jerk reaction is no solution to the problem," the petition read.

Cause Title: Aabad Harshad Ponda v. Union of India & Ors. [W.P. (Crl.) No. 382/2024, Diary No. 41037/2024]