The post Customs, norms and ethics appeared first on KanglaOnline.com.
In the face of cries and claims of social crimes against women and instances of exploitation of women and children in the state, it is rather disquieting to note the rising trend of incidents where guardians of girls, including minors resort to ‘social compensation’ (ijat daabi) as a way of settling disputes without any regard for legal procedures. To begin with, the practice of eloping before marriage as an accepted practice by the society gives a wide awning for young women to be sexually exploited under the cover of this tradition. There have been innumerable cases where women have been duped into sexual relations with the promise of marriage, which follows in most incidences. While legally such actions can be challenged and action taken against the errant men involved by filing legal cases citing reasons for cheating and false promises, it is the social practice of ‘compensation’ and other social practices that complicates matters especially when minors are involved.
There may be arguments that legal actions when it does happen also result in financial compensation, which in a sense is also what also takes place in the practice of social compensation. But one glaring difference is that legal punishment also involves sentencing and legal censure, which is not considered in social resolution. In a sense, the social resolution route in such cases can also be seen as an out of court settlement without time and effort being spent on legal procedures but can unfortunately lead to the men being involved in the further exploiting of other women. Once money enters the picture and the man involved gets to know that it speaks volumes, it can only contribute to taking women and society for granted. Legal sentences and directives are more public and hence lead to a more careful and cautious approach, if only to save face. In certain cases, parents and guardians hush up elopements involving minors by resorting to ‘ijat daabi’ being involved rather than file criminal charges.
There is another practice called Keina Katpa, which literally means offering the girl. Co-incidentally, the practice of eloping was earlier not socially sanctioned and those who did elope were married off with great haste without much fuss and this was called Keina Katpa. In the present times, eloping before marriage has become a norm while Keina Katpa is enforced by women vigilant groups on couples who they claim have been found in ‘compromising situations’ and are carried out without any regard for individual choices or the couple in question being ready for marriage. There is no legal sanction in these types of practices and in fact, stringent legal action can be taken up against the said women groups for forcing marriage without consent. The irony of women groups revealing identities of young girls and women so caught in their vigilant drives is another sad face of the gender justice perspective in Manipur today.
In present times again, the spectacle of Joint Action Committees in the state over any issue has also touched upon the gender sensitive or gender blind debate. The incident of the rape of a young married woman in Thoubal as we have seen, stands out because the woman in question was kept in judicial custody before wheels fell into place. But the travesty and farce of calls for justice, falls through when one hears of the JAC being named after the woman in question. The identity of a woman who has been a victim of sexual violence cannot be revealed either by the media or any agencies without a written consent from the women in question. This is done mainly to shield the woman from further social stigma and is critical in a small place like Manipur where there is a tight knit community. Leave alone names, media reports cannot even hint at the identity of the woman or give away any leads that can aid in establishing her identity. But a cursory scan of the newspapers in Manipur will reveal just how much rights awareness is known and being put into practice when it comes to gender related rights.
The post Customs, norms and ethics appeared first on KanglaOnline.com.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2013/01/customs-norms-and-ethics/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=customs-norms-and-ethics