Need to get to the root cause: Shabana Azmi on sexual assault cases

Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi says outrage over cases of crimes against women should not be selective and society needs to work to end the patriarchal mindset of people, especially since sexual assault cases have not decreased since the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

The actor attended a round table conference titled Creating a Safer World for Children, in association with United Nations Children's Fund. Asked to comment on the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata as well as the alleged sexual assault of two four-year-old girls at a school in Badlapur in Maharashtra, she said, "There has to be an outrage and not just today, the outrage should have taken place way back. And it should not be selective. All the incidents are extremely dangerous. If we continue looking selectively, we won't be able to go to the root [cause] of the issue. It is all very shameful."

Referring to the brutal gangrape of a physiotherapy intern in Delhi in 2012, the actor, 73, lamented that incidents of assault have not reduced despite the outrage. "There is a need to do away with patriarchy. There are strict protocols, and death penalty has also been awarded in some cases. But the incidents are not decreasing. We need to work on the root cause of these incidents. We need to work on the protocols given by the Justice Verma Committee."