Indiens Oberster Gerichthof urteilt zugunsten von Vätern, die um Sorgerecht kämpfen

Two fathers fighting for child custody rights got the thumbs up from the Supreme Court last week. On Friday, a mother had to withdraw a petition trying to thwart a father’s legal quest for more time with his daughter. The apex court had weighed in on his side, directing the divorced couple to settle it out of court.

On the same day, in another case, where a father has been estranged from his son for two years, the Supreme Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to step in. The CBI has been given six weeks to find the mother who has gone absconding with her son. The apex court felt compelled to take this step since its repeated directions to state police departments on the matter had come to naught.

These two cases are quite extraordinary. For, the fathers involved have not allowed the frustration of repeated court visits to weaken their will. Instead, they have built up campaigns that have now found support beyond their home cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Hier geht es weiter.

Indien: Tausende drangsalierte Ehemänner demonstieren für ihre Rechte

New Delhi - A group of harassed husbands are to meet in the northern Indian hill town of Shimla Saturday to protest against domestic violence against men and the misuse of laws intended to protect women.

Men who are beaten up by their wives and have no avenue for redress or complaint, extortion of money through false dowry cases, cruelty to parents-in-law by wives, using child custody as a tool to demoralize men - these are just some of the issues that will be discussed at the national convention organized by the Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF).

'We have organized the national convention on August 15, India's Independence Day, because we want to use the occasion to speak out about how more and more men in this country are losing their freedom and are victims,' SIFF member Virag Dhulia said.

'About 100 leaders representing organizations working for men's rights will be attending the three-day convention in Shimla. They represent about 30,000 members,' Dhulia added.

Ob wir so etwas in Deutschland auch irgendwann mal hinbekommen?

Indien: Männerrechtler protestieren am Unabhängigkeitstag

Rage. That’s what one gets to see in the eyes of harassed husbands and men’s rights activists in the city, who, outraged by laws, which they claim are unfair, are now getting ready to voice their protest on Independence Day this year.

“We are abstaining from Independence Day celebrations this year to protest the unfair laws that favour women,” says Suresh, the convenor of the Chennai Chapter of the Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), an organisation fighting for men’s rights and family harmony under the aegis of the Save Indian Family movement.

Men’s groups across the country have been protesting gender-biased laws in general and the Domestic Violence Act and the 498A, in particular.

Citing an instance, he says, “At present, Indian law considers adultery as a crime when committed by Indian men, but not so when committed by women. This is blatant discrimination against men. Also, Indian law exempts women from punishment for domestic violence. The laws have been pampering women by not according them any duties, while creating obligations for men. By this decidedly anti-male mindset of the law, men in India have started to feel that it’s perhaps a crime to be born a male in India.”

Die Times of India berichtet und beschließt den Artikel mit dem Satz:

It seems that men have finally taken the fight for freedom from harassment to the next level!

Kann man sich einen ähnlichen Schlusssatz in einer führenden deutschen Zeitung vorstellen?

Kinderpornographie: von der Leyen muss sich bei Indien entschuldigen

Indien sei ein Land, das Kinderpornografie nicht ächte, hat Familienministerin von der Leyen wiederholt gesagt. In einem Brief hat die indische Botschaft diese Darstellung nun anscheinend zurückgewiesen - und ein neues Gesetz zitiert, das den Umgang mit Kinderpornografie unter Strafe stellt. Das Familienministerium gab sich zerknirscht: Offenbar sei Indien fälschlicherweise genannt worden. Von der Leyen hatte sich auf eine drei Jahre alte Studie berufen.

Hier erfährt man mehr.

Erste Präsidentin Indiens sichert Frauen festen Teil der Parlamentsitze zu

Am anderen Ende der Welt wird die Demokratie sogar noch mehr dem Feminismus geopfert als hierzulande:

India's new Congress-led coalition government is to press for a radical new law to reserve a third of the elected seats in parliament and in state legislatures for women.

The government has also pledged to introduce a bill which will set aside half the seats in elected village councils and city municipalities for women. At present only a third of the seats in village councils are kept exclusively for women.

India's first woman president, Pratibha Patil, announced the ground-breaking steps at the opening session of the new parliament in Delhi today. She also promised on behalf of prime minister Manmohan Singh's re-elected government that more women would be employed by the central government.

A National Mission on Empowerment of Women will also be set up to implement "women-centred" welfare programmes.

"My government will initiate steps within the next hundred days on these measures," she said.

Der britische Guardian berichtet.

(Pratibha Patil? War das nicht eine Figur bei "Harry Potter"?)

Nachtrag vom nächsten Nachmittag: Wie mir gerade ein Leser mailte, gibt es bei "Harry Potter" die offenbar indischstämmigen Zwillingsschwestern Parvati und Padma Patil.

Häusliche Gewalt gegen Männer auch Thema in Indien

Cases of wives abusing their husbands and giving them sleepless nights is on the rise and so are the number of divorces in the city

"My wife wanted me to be a cuckold husband. I was pushed into wedlock by guile and threat. I'm the only son of my parents. What I suffered for 10 years in marriage will read like a film script. But, let me tell you, I suffered her abusing my sick mother as no man had ever endured. My mother, Santamma (66), is an acute diabetic, but my wife is so cruel that she bashed my mom's head on the wall, leading to serious injuries. She was in KC hospital and later in NIMHANS," narrating the story, K Suresh, 38, says he received no justice from the world. (…)

But husband-battering has been invisible up till now. Recently, many young men in the third richest city are seen frequently rushing out of bedrooms howling. The 2006 and 2007 crime data say 1305 husbands in Bangalore ended their lives in 2006 and 1596 in 2007. It was 245 a decade ago. The national scene shows that 65.3 per cent of men committed suicides in eight cities in 2007. Bangalore comes third in the list.

Hier findet man den vollständigen Artikel.

Hum sab bhogi hai!

NEW DELHI: If you want to buy matrimonial peace just do whatever your wife says!

This is not some piece of advice from a marriage counsellor, rather it is from the country's apex court.

A vacation bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Deepak Verma observed, "Bibi joh boltee hai woh sunno (listen to whatever your wife says), as otherwise it could land you in trouble. Because if you do not listen to her, you will suffer the consequences."

"Hum sab bhogi hai (we are all sufferers)," the bench said in a lighter vein.

The bench further said that a husband has to accept the suggestion of a wife irrespective of the fact whether it is sensible or not.

"If your wife asks you to put your face that side, put it that side. If she says, put it this side, then put it this side. Otherwise you will face trouble. Hum sub bhogi hai," the bench remarked again.

The interesting suggestions from the apex court evolved on Tuesday during a matrimonial case involving an Air Force official Deepak Kumar who complained that his estranged wife Manisha had ruined him and his family by implicating them in false criminal cases including sodomy.

Die Times of India berichtet – und die indische Männerbewegung kommentiert:

Being a founding member of a prominent men's rights organization observing the way men are treated, these views by the Supreme Court are hardly surprising to me. This attitude has been prevalent in almost all courts since many years and it is for the first time that the Supreme Court has said this formally, even in jest.

Hier geht es weiter.

Lesermail (Hilfsprojekte)

Genderama-Leser P.K. schreibt mir:

Unter dem Titel "Licht im Kinderheim" berichteten die Nürnberger Nachrichten am 5.5.09 von einem Kinderdorf in Indien, das durch Leserspenden unterstützt wurde. Offensichtlich handelt es sich bei Naya Jeevan um ein reines Mädchendorf. So weit so "gut". Betroffen macht aber vor allem die Lage der HIV-infizierten männlichen Jugendlichen, für die – im Gegensatz zu den weiblichen Infizierten – so gut wie keine Infrastruktur zur Verfügung gestellt wird (siehe Artikel). So wie es aussieht, wird auch in naher Zukunft keinerlei Unterstützung für die männlichen Infizierten geplant. So verweist der Artikel zwar auf ein Spendenkonto für Naya Jeevan, ob oder wie den männlichen Jugendlichen geholfen werden kann, darüber erfährt man nichts.

Mir fällt in letzter Zeit auf, dass Spenden immer geschlechtsspezifischer – sprich für weibliche Kranke, Hungerleidende, Kriegsopfer usw. – gesammelt werden. Gerade bei den Schwächsten, also den Kindern, sollten Spenden aber geschlechtsneutral gesammelt und verwendet werden. Deshalb haben Spendenaufrufe von Naya Jeevan oder Amnesty International ("Menschenrecht ist Frauenrecht") einen durchaus schalen Nachgeschmack.

Indien: "Jungen häufiger missbraucht als Mädchen"

Wieder einmal ein aktueller Artikel von der anderen Seite des Erdballs:

Mumbai: While the recent Mira Road rape cases have brought to light sexual crimes against girls in society, the fact is that boys are even more victimised than girls.

"In our experience, we found that boys were more sexually abused than girls. And they were even more reluctant to report it than girls," said Pooja Taparia, founder-CEO, Arpan, a non-governmental organisation which works to prevent child sexual abuse and heal those who have been affected by it.

Taparia said the effect of child sexual abuse on a boy or a girl stays through the victim's lifetime. When it comes to child sexual abuse, there are several myths: the first one being boys are not at risk.

Hier geht es weiter.

Indien: Männliche Opfer häuslicher Gewalt tun sich zusammen

Sunday marked two years since the Domestic Violence (DV) Act came into effect. But some men observed it as black day. They say the act is inhuman since it ignores men completely.

Mohan (name changed, 30), a civil engineer with a construction company, had an arranged marriage two years ago and says he is being beaten up by his wife daily. "She wants to have control over me and wants me to do everything she says. My brother stays with me and she doesn't want me to support him or give money home.

Whenever she finds out that I have helped my family, or we have an altercation on the matter, she beats me with wooden sticks and iron rods," he said.

Hier geht es weiter.

Neuseeland: Männerrechtler barrikadieren Haus eines Richters

Ein kurzer Artikel, um wieder mal daran zu erinnern, dass unser Engagement noch immer ein internationales ist.

Ach ja, und in Indien empören sich Männerrechts-Aktivisten über Werbespots, die Gewalt gegen Männer als lustig darstellen. Kommt einem auch irgendwie bekannt vor ...

Indische Studie: Männliche Teenager am häufigsten Opfer sexueller Gewalt

Nachdem er auf die durchgehend irreführende Berichterstattung unserer Medien über die südafrikanische Studie zur sexuellen Gewalt gegen Jungen aufmerksam wurde, hat ein Genderama-Leser ein wenig weitergeforscht – und berichtet mir über einen neuen Fund:

Heute habe ich beim Googeln diese Studie über rund 1000 Jungen und Mädchen in Indien entdeckt, auch mit "überraschendem" Ergebnis. Diese Überraschungen scheinen sich weltweit zu wiederholen, wenn man dorthin leuchtet, wohin man bisher nicht zu leuchten wagte.

Der verlinkte Bericht über eine Studie aus dem Jahr 2007 ist überschrieben mit "Adolescent boys, not girls, are bigger victims of forced sex". In dem Artikel heißt es:

According to a study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University of the US, 15% of boys and 3% of girls reported that someone forcibly tried to have a physical relationship with them. Boys who had friends of the opposite sex were more likely to report attempted forced physical relationships. In fact, the most commonly reported perpetrators were female friends for boys (72%) and neighbours (60%) for girls.

"Times of India" fragt: Sind die Gesetze unfair gegenüber Männern?

But the section of society that is the most worried, or rather, outraged by some of the recent changes in Indian law, is no doubt the men. Be it the Domestic Violence Act passed by the government last year or the recent ruling of the Rajasthan High court that stated that a wife could live with her paramour – men seem to have been shortchanged by the entire judicial process. Or so the responses of our readers, bloggers, and a cross section of men we spoke to leads us to believe. According to most of our readers, the law is becoming increasingly biased against men.

Hier findet man den vollständigen Artikel.

Indische Männerrechtler stürmen ministerielles Treffen mit Feministinnen

Männer waren bei dem feministischen Regierungstreffen zum Thema häusliche Gewalt offenbar nicht erwünscht – aber sie erkämpften sich ihre Teilnahme:

New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) A meeting called Wednesday by Women and Child Minister Development Renuka Chowdhury to discuss the law relating to the harassment of women over dowry turned acrimonious after some 50 men and their families barged into the venue, alleging the law was blind to their torture at the hands of women.

The high drama lasted over one hour at the India Islamic Cultural Centre here, with the minister initially refusing to talk to the men when they barged in. She asked them to withdraw from the small hall packed with women delegates, including experts, psychiatrists and psychologists.

Hier geht es weiter.

Indische Männerrechtler erreichen Überprüfung des Gewaltschutzgesetzes

Faszinierend: Im Land der Heiligen Kühe ist der politische Aktivismus der Männerrechtler erfolgreicher als hierzulande. Wie ich hier bereits berichtet habe, gibt es auch in Indien ein "Gewaltschutzgesetz", das massiv in die Kritik geraten ist. Jetzt, so erfährt man aus einem indischen Blog, plant die Regierung, dieses Gesetz zu überprüfen und danach möglicherweise zu ändern. Gegen diese Überprüfung gibt es selbstverständlich bereits massive Proteste von Feministinnen:

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development’s proposal to set up a panel of lawyers to review the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA), has become a cause of worry for women’s activists. (…) The New Delhi-based advocacy group, The Lawyers’ Collective (Women’s Rights Initiative), has started an e-campaign against the setting up of the panel and over 170 activists and groups have already signed e-petitions and sent it to the Ministry. (…) “We are aware that there are several men’s groups, who have set up blogs and websites campaigning for and demanding a review of the PWDVA, alleging that the law victimises innocent husbands and in-laws. No such demand has come from the women’s movement,” states the petition.

Und dass in der Geschlechterdebatte Proteste zur Kenntnis genommen werden, die nicht von der Frauenbewegung kommen, scheint für die Inderinnen unfassbar zu sein. Da denken sie ganz ähnlich wie die Feministinnen in Deutschland.

Gewaltschutzgesetz in Indien kritisiert

Wie ich schon öfters erwähnt habe, ist der Kampf von Männerrechtlern gegen eine sexistische Gesetzgebung längst ein internationaler Kampf geworden. So findet sich seit letztem Sonntag ein bezeichnender Artikel in der India Post, der unter anderem ein einseitiges Gewaltschutzgesetz beklagt. Ein Auszug:

The Domestic Violence Act which was passed in 2005 at the instigation by radical feminist groups, especially the National Commission on Women, who have the quiet sponsorship of the ruling party in India. This law states that "only a woman can file a complaint against her male partner". A man who is a victim of domestic violence has no recourse under the law.

And comprehensive studies by various groups have found that women are no less abusive as men in intimate relationships - yes even in India. Giving such sweeping legal powers to women also tends to give quite a few of them the opportunity to take advantage of the law and hold men to blackmail and legal terrorism. This part of the law is nothing else but systematic legal victimization of men as it is one sided and withholds legal protection to male victims.

Das Hauptgewicht des weiteren Artikels liegt auf einer Kritik des "Anti-Dowry-Laws" (dowry: Aussteuer, Mitgift), wobei es sich allerdings um ein speziell indisches Gesetz handelt.

"Guardian" berichtet über indische Männerbewegung

Die Männerrechtsbewegung in Indien ist dem britischen "Guardian" einen Artikel wert, der die Argumente beider Seiten aufführt. Da das hier ein maskulistisches Blog ist und uns die Geschlechterdebatte in Indien nicht direkt betrifft, gebe ich hier einmal die Argumente der Männerrechtler wieder und verweise für den Rest auf den verlinkten Artikel:

Kumar's wife, Pratibha, a lecturer at a local college, had made a complaint under India's dowry law. The offence would allow for arrest and jailing of him and his parents without investigation.

(…) One men's organisation is demanding a ministry for men, arguing that 82% of taxpayers are men but that no money has ever been allocated for "male welfare".

(…) Sarkar, who works in marketing, set up the foundation after his wife filed a "false case" against him in 2002. "I know what it is like not to be able to sleep or work. We want only gender-neutral laws not one-sided ones." He talks of government data which show that 134,757 people were arrested under the anti-dowry law but only 5,739 people were convicted. He wants the anti-dowry offence decriminalised and the threat of jail removed.

(…) The first shots have been fired in India's gender war. There are about 60 websites committed to promoting the well-being of men in India. Men's groups say males are increasingly subject to myriad forms of subtle discrimination in the name of progress. Some groups cite job insecurity and unemployment as the problem. In the five years to 2005, 1.4 million men lost their jobs while one million women gained new employment.

(…) The Save Indian Family Foundation argues that, compared with women, nearly twice as many married men (up to 52,483) take their own lives - being "unable to withstand verbal, emotional, economic and physical abuse".

(…) The male lobby claimed a symbolic victory when the government of India observed an international men's day in November.

Indien: Männer rufen am Frauentag nach Gleichberechtigung

August 26 is Women’s Equality Day. And this time it will see men crying for equal rights on the streets. Hundreds of “harassed” husbands, including IIT and IIM grads, engineers, doctors, lawyers and NRIs, will gather at Jantar Mantar on Sunday as part of the countrywide protest against dowry harassment and the more recent domestic violence laws. "We are all victims of these biased laws,” says Swarup Sarkar of Save Indian Family Foundation, the organiser.

Hier geht es weiter.

Über die fragwürdige neue Gesetzgebung in Indien hatte ich z. B. hier und hier schon berichtet.

Lesermail (Indische Präsidentin)

P.C.L. schreibt mir:

Das Ereignis ist ja schon einige Zeit her, aber es scheint mir hier nicht registriert worden zu sein. Ich halte es für zentral, zu beobachten und zu berücksichtigen, dass die feministische Kolonialisierung der Kulturen sich pandemisch weltweit durchsetzt, so schnell wie Coca Cola und Blue Jeans, Fernsehen und Handys - und ebenso naiv als Segen und nationaler Fortschritt gedeutet wird.

Häusliche Gewalt in Kalkutta

Immer wieder gern blogge ich hier Beiträge aus der Geschlechterdebatte in Indien. Warum? Weil es am anderen Ende der Welt liegt und eine in vielem komplett andere Gesellschaft als die unsere ist und ich es deshalb faszinierend finde, wenn sich dort geschlechterpolitisch zum Teil ähnliche Debatten abspielen. Aktuell etwa kommentiert der „Telegraph“ aus Kalkutta:

Each country has its own specific statistics, its own customs and social attitudes, and in India, there can be no doubt that women suffer all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation far more than men. The changes in law and the protections offered to women have therefore been all the more welcome here. But the law, which should ideally be non-discriminatory and impartial, does put men at a disadvantage. Cases of dowry-death and torture, for example, are so numerous, that a complaint is enough to put the husband and his immediate family behind bars. It is also a non-bailable offence, and may therefore cost the man his job even if he is later found not guilty. The situation, given the disadvantaged position of women in Indian society, is truly difficult. So the Centre’s recent move to correct the imbalance in the laws to give men some protection must be welcomed as a necessary one. It is a harsh truth that it has become easier for women, if so minded, to accuse men of violence or violation, or claim self-defence after being violent themselves. The guidelines against sexual harassment in the workplace, again, allow for such loopholes.

Den kompletten Artikel gibt es hier