An evolved society is an equal society

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Tuesday, November 19 marked the International Men's Day. This paper carried a report of a serious debate on gender bias and skewed laws, which were discussed at an event in the city to mark the day. Though the day does not have the profile of International Women's Day, which has been better marketed, it is gaining some traction.

The report focused on men speaking about how they had been falsely incarcerated after being wrongly accused of the heinous crime of rape. While this edit is not to take sides or weigh in on who is right or wrong, there is great validity to the claim that some rape cases have been filed out of a desire to take revenge or get back at a man in case of a failed relationship.

This is not to discredit movements like #MeToo which have been born out of great courage and were, in fact, an initiative whose time had surely come.

We stand in solidarity with the suffering of rape survivors and acknowledge that women have most of the time been victims and targets of sexual assault and humiliation. These great wrongs must be addressed, recognised and redressed.

However, false cases discredit the real ones. They cast a shadow on genuine suffering, create doubt in people's minds, and unfairly defame not just the accused but the entire family. There should be stringent punishment for those who make false accusations. This is because the stain tends to stick and the humiliation is absolutely colossal.

If the laws indeed are skewed, let there be a re-examination. Do they need to be changed in today's times? Are they archaic? Is there space and scope for gender justice? Let us ask and more importantly, answer the inconvenient questions. Men's Rights are human rights and an evolved society is an equal society.

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