Empowering Men’s Rights: A Quest for Gender Equality in India
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Over the two decades, there has been an emergence of a new kind of expression regarding male rights in India. Beginning in the early 1990s and increasingly at the turn of the 21st century, groups organized around the gendered identity of men have tried to present the issue related to men’s rights in India. The concerns of these groups were the widespread abuse of laws introduced as a result of the feminist movement, particularly laws related to the family. Some of the key issues that brought rise to it included child custody, child support obligations, alimony, and female-on-male domestic violence. MRM social movements stood for equality between both genders. The demand of men’s rights groups has steadily gained visibility in the media, yet the phenomenon has not received serious attention.
The earliest men’s rights organization in India can be traced back to the mid-1990s in Calcutta, Bombay, and Lucknow. The Kolkata-based group Pirito Purush, and the Mumbai-based group Purush Hakka Samrakshan Samiti are popular men’s rights groups. These groups were formed to counter the misuse of section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. Under this section of IPC, the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman who subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to a fine.
The men’s rights group claimed that many women misused section 498 of IPC to such an extent that society began calling the husband the ‘harassed husband.’ This makes section 498A more dangerous to men who suffer at the hands of their wives. As per the report of NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau), 2020, there were 1,11,549 cases registered under section 498A – out of which 5,520 were considered as false by police and 16,151 cases were closed due to the mistake of false fact or law or insufficient evidence. While the 89,878 cases reveal the reality of continued violence against women, it would be remiss to overlook the 21,671 cases that were proven false. Men’s rights groups are united in their determination to fight for what they call gender equality under the law and the promotion of family harmony.
Men’s rights groups focus their endeavors on:
- Creating awareness among policymakers and in society about the misuse of women’s law in the country.
- Seeking to influence laws that are gender biased, such as Section 498A of IPC, and Section 304B of IPC (assumed dowry death of married women), sections 18, 24, and 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act.
- Establishing fathers’ rights in child custody cases. Children’s Rights Initiatives for Shared Parenting (CRISP), an organization based in Bangalore.
- Protecting men’s family and relatives.
In India, as in most parts of the Western world, the Internet revolution has added new dimensions to the forms of popular contention, particularly those engineered by the middle classes. By evading the limitations of actual existence, the Web has empowered social movements to scatter thoughts of dissent all over. The target of men’s rights has been to guarantee that their contact details and helplines appear each time somebody looks for Section 498A on the internet.
The intricate realm of issues concerning men’s rights plays a role in the pursuit of gender equality. It is important to acknowledge and address the challenges that men face not as a means to undermine women’s rights. As a necessary step towards fostering an all-encompassing and fair society. Achieving gender equality requires us to recognize that both men and women can be affected by stereotypes, biases, and systemic injustices and to actively work towards rectifying these imbalances. By advocating for men’s rights and collaborating harmoniously, we can make strides towards a world where all individuals, irrespective of their gender, have rights and opportunities.
About Author
Aditi Yadav is currently in her third year at the Delhi School of Journalism, where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Her academic journey is complemented by her deep passion for socio-political journalism. This article is a part of her college campaign assignment, focusing on the men’s right.
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