What women want?

Every individual, be it a man or woman must ask this to his/her self at least once. I don’t think there will be any confusion when the answers come. Being a Market Researcher, I have personally spoken to people from different age groups and the findings were very interesting. I managed to speak to over 100 people from all age groups and put them in categories accordingly. Since the sample size was too small to represent the entire country population, I have put them in words rather than in figures for all to understand.

Age Group 16-21 gave the most carefree, confident, not mature but thought provoking answer. This age group is of the opinion that a woman does not need any special treatment and she can fight for all her rights along with a man. They are strictly against discrimination and were of the opinion that they would have an equality based society when their generation comes to age. When questioned about a hypothetical situation like the Delhi bus Rape case, they promptly say they would help the victim reach a hospital, call up the cops and stay at the hospital till more help arrives. They are of the opinion that the laws of today are very mild when it comes to dealing with the criminals having crimes towards women registered against them. They feel that stricter laws are needed, though they were not able to elaborate on this point due to the lack of maturity. This age group feels they will change the face of society when they come of age and will definitely not need intervention from the constitutional level only to make a woman breathe free. The change they feel is needed to come from inside to look at a woman walking on the road as any other fellow passer by rather than looking at her as an object of sex. Thought provoking and inspiring too.

Age group 21-35 was the younger generation who wants to be the voice of today and feel that women need to be empowered. They wanted stricter laws and faster delivery of justice in cases registered by women. They are of the view that a woman should be able to walk fear free at any hour of the day (or night) without getting molested or raped and any person/s trying to do so should be given harsh punishment (death penalty included) so that the crime against women ratio reduces drastically. When questioned about a hypothetical situation like the Delhi bus Rape case, they promptly say they would  help the victim reach a hospital, call up the media and protest for a speedy trial against the criminals involved. They would be the first to stage a “Dharna” if not heard by the Government and would not mind holding a placard saying “This is not Hindustan, Its Rapistan”. This age group is the most active age group. This age group feels that something needs to be done immediately to bring India at par with the western countries, where women are more empowered as compared to women in India.

Age group 35-50 was the middle aged group who again wants special laws made for the women so that they can go fearless to work and outside. If given the same hypothetical situation similar to the Delhi Bus rape case, they would call the media and the police to help and would definitely take the victims to the hospital. They would want media take an active role in such case and would rather want stringent laws. They would not be so keen on “Dharna” or a “Morcha” but would rather wait for justice to happen. This group, though not having faith in the mild laws of today for crime against women, are hopeful that  our system will change eventually with continued efforts. This age group feels that an equilibrium is needed to bring in a balance between men and women in terms of rights and freedom.

Age group 51-65 was the group which wants to weigh the situation before passing comment. This age group believes that women empowerment within a limit should happen citing cases where women have used the law rather twisted and used the law to falsely implicate the opposite sex in a few cases. They would want reforms to happen at a constitutional level after discussion and debating keeping all aspects in mind. When questioned about a hypothetical situation like the Delhi bus Rape case, they promptly say they would  help the victim reach a hospital after police intervention, but at the same time would not want the police to delay reaching beyond a point, failing which they would themselves take the victims to the hospital. They would register an official complaint and it would be up to the cops to involve the media as the case would be sensitive from the victim’s point of view. This age group feels that change is needed constitutionally to empower women further and maintain an equilibrium.

Age group  66-80 was the group who still are caught up in the old times and feel that women too are equally responsible for the crimes happening around. When questioned about a hypothetical situation like the Delhi bus Rape case, they would want the law to take its own course and would call up the police and the ambulance service, but would not take “law in hands” by touching anything at the crime scene (including the victim/s) They would meet a senior politician eventually to make a protest against what has happened and would ask for justice. They are of the opinion that the current situation is not bad and women have got what they deserve in terms of position and respect in the society.

After analyzing all the above age groups I am of the strong opinion that the change has definitely come into the society and the future looks bright. The majority opinion says that women are no longer to be treated as a weaker section needing protection. The constitution should empower them and awareness of their rights should be made at all levels so women come up in the society more confidently. Summing it up we can say that the woman of India has definitely come out of the “Kitchen and Ghunghat” image and has stepped out of the house. Now we need to empower them so that they feel confident to work outside the house without fear. We can soon see an India where all the women would be free to wear what they want, do what they like and walk any street at any hour without any fear from their own family’s thought process, without any fear of the society they live in and most importantly without any fear from the opposite sex. We will soon see the dawn of the day when ‘women would not want to be treated separately or equally’, as they would be equal to men in all aspects. Men would not want to ‘know the difference’ as there would be no difference.

This post is dedicated to #WomenPower and “I’m blogging for the India Today Woman Summit 2015 #WomenPower activity at BlogAdda.”

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