Activists want a ministry for men

Men’s rights activists want domestic violence laws to be gender neutral. Armed with statistics of high suicide rates among men, their wish list includes a ministry for men’s welfare, a national commission for men and a review of the anti-dowry law, which they claim is grossly misused.
    “Men are suffering from ‘legal terrorism’ at the hands of some women. If you can have a ministry for animal welfare, why not one for the welfare of men?’’ asks Swarup Sarkar, coordinator, Save Family Foundation, Delhi.
    According to the 2007 National Crime Records Bureau, 57,593 married men have committed suicide compared to 30,064 married women. Men’s activists say while these figures should be self-explanatory, women’s suicides are often ascribed to marital woes while men’s cases are mostly put down to financial problems.
    While claiming that laws are tilted against them, men’s activists cite the case of a man in Tirupati who committed suicide within a week of getting married in 2004 because he was allegedly harassed by ‘ugly’ and ‘impotent’ taunts from his wife.
    Earlier this month his wife was let off by the Supreme Court which upheld the quashing of her prosecution for allegedly abetting the suicide.
    Sarkar feels men need a ministry to look into their specific issues on the lines of ministry of women and child development. The proposed ministry’s main concerns would be to redress the many legal issues that are otherwise tipped in favour of women, he added.
    Sandeep Bhartia, president, Gender Human Rights Society, also wants a national commission for men on the lines of the National Commission for Women. “It is the need of the hour,’’ he says. Bhartia gets a minimum of two-three cases per month of men claiming spousal harassment.
He narrates the woes of banker Amit
    Choudhary (name changed) who approached GHRS for help. Choudhary is fighting for the custody of his child. His wife, the banker claims, has kept the child with her maternal grandparents where he has virtually no access.
    According to Bhartia, denying parents-in-law the right to their own house is the commonest misuse of the law. “Several senior citizens are thrown out of their own houses by daughters-in-law,’’ he alleges.
    Men’s activists also feel that since multiple organizations, both indigenous and from abroad, cater to women “to attract international funding’’, they are under pressure to tell a one-sided story. “At present, there are about 30 new proposals by NCW and WCD,’’ says Bhartia, who feels that it’s time some organization is required to tell the story from men’s perspective.
    Agrees Kamal Vikram, member, GHRS. “Men are suffering in silence. It’s the only country where the father is not considered important for the child,’’ he says.
    These men want a platform to discuss and redress their problems and be part of a solution. “We want to be heard,’’ says Kamal. And for this, they’ve repeatedly petitioned the government.