The doctors had given up, the tubes had been removed and the crash cart pulled away. For a heart-stopping moment, it felt like end of the world to the parents of a young girl who aspired to become a Physiotherapist and a valuable contributor to the society.  A family that migrated to the city, treated their daughter no less than a son and educated her despite the hardships, was left devastated, wondering how can this possibly happen to them! On the surface, a rape and murder case seems like just another crime in a state struggling hard to maintain law and order condition but largely it’s a matter of twisted value system at personal level and misplaced national priorities at the governance level.

How long before we realize the importance of a thoughtful, exhaustive and impact oriented education system having the power of developing sensitive, productive and responsible citizens.  The Indian education system manufactures 100,000 graduates of which only 53 percent are employable. A Wall Street Journal article states “75 percent of technical graduates and more than 85 percent of general graduates are unemployable by India’s high growth global industries.” In a country with more than 65% population below the age of 35, unemployability in high quality jobs and a woman being raped every 20 minutes, what exactly are we teaching our children again?

Major changes have taken place in the status of women in some parts of the world in recent decades but the norms that restrict women to the homes are still powerful in India, defining activities that are deemed appropriate for women. They are, by and large, excluded from political life, which by its very nature takes place in a public forum. Certain broad circumstances in which the Indian women live affect the way they participate in the economy and it further widens the inequality. It is both in homes and in educational institutes where systematic efforts need to be made to inculcate in boys respect for woman and in girls a sense of responsibilities outside homes.

Definition and nature of power is fast changing and a window of opportunity is open for youth to transform the deep rooted patriarchal social structure. All what is required is a strong commitment and women need to prepare themselves for leadership roles in order to even up gender-specific vulnerability. Knowledge, skill-set and professional mindset are great equalizers in our times.

So far all sorts of preventive measures and amendments in criminal law to deal with sexual assault cases have been debated but there seems to be no immediate resolve.  It’s a long way from here when society will see the results of these micro level initiatives but a beginning must be made now.