Opinion

India Needs to Improve on Gender Equality Issues

The barbaric rape and setting on fire a 15-year-old girl in India is just the latest in a continuous series of rapes in the country.
India Needs to Improve on Gender Equality Issues
An Indian demonstrator holds a candle as she takes part in a vigil and silent protest against the alleged gang-rape of a nun in the eastern state of West Bengal, and attacks on Churches in Pakistan and India, in New Delhi, on March 16, 2015. Hundreds of priests, school girls, and other protesters staged a peaceful rally March 16, 2015, in the Indian city of Kolkata to support an elderly nun who was gang-raped at her convent school. Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images
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The barbaric rape and setting on fire a 15-year-old girl in India is just the latest in a continuous series of rapes in the country. Repeated cases of gang rape in India are not only isolated incidents, but a reflection of widespread gender discrimination in the country. It is difficult to equate India’s rapid economic and technological development with such brutal practices that, in many cases, end up with the death of women.

Female feticide is the earliest and most brutal manifestation of violence against women. Researchers for The Lancet estimate that more than 500,000 girls are being lost annually through sex selective abortions. Female fetuses are selectively aborted after pre-natal sex determination. Sometimes, the elimination of women occurs even after they are born. This situation of female infanticide has existed for centuries in India.

A survey by the Thomas Reuters Foundation found that India is the fourth most dangerous place in the world for women.