Although Women may be victims of any of the general crimes such as ‘Murder’, ‘Robbery’, ‘Cheating’, etc, only the crimes which are directed specifically against Women are characterised as ‘Crimes Against Women’. Various new legislations have been brought and amendments have been made in existing laws with a view to handle these crimes effectively. These are broadly classified under two categories.
(1)
affecting women significantly have been reviewed periodically and amendments carried out to keep pace with the emerging requirements. The gender specific laws for which crime statistics are recorded throughout the country are (i) Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ii) Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (iii) Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 (iv) Sati Prevention Act, 1987
The Crimes under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
Rape (Sec. 376 IPC) Kidnapping & Abduction for specified purposes (Sec. 363 373 IPC) Homicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B IPC) Torture - both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC) Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC) Sexual Harassment (Eve Teasing) (Sec. 509 IPC) Importation of girls (upto 21 years of age) (Sec. 366-B IPC)
Reported Incidents of crime
(Incidence…2,28,650) A total of 2,28,650 incidents of crime against women (both under IPC and SLL) were reported in the country during the year 2011 as compared to 2,13,585 incidences in the year 2010 recording an increase of 7.1% during the year 2011. These crimes have continuously increased during 2007 2011 with 1,85,312 cases in the year 2007, 1,95,856 cases in the year 2008, 2,03,804 cases in the year 2009 and 2,13,585 cases in the year 2010 and 2,28,650 cases in the year 2011. West Bengal with 7.5% share of country’s population has accounted for nearly 12.7% of total crime against women by reporting 29,133 cases. Andhra Pradesh, accounting for nearly 7.0% of the country’s population, has accounted for 12.4% of total crimes against women in the...