Women’s liberation, Women’s empowerment, Women’s independence, no doubt these words are very impressive and hold a lot of meaning in present day society and lifestyle, but sometimes it also forces you to think that do these words reallyexist. Specially in Indian middle class where even today, rules for the daughter and daughter-in-law are different.

If we look around observe and peep into the lives of those women who are neither educated nor have cultural and social bindings attached to their value system, you for a minute are compelled to think whether their life is better than number of those women who are a part of a well educated, progressive middle class. For number of times does this not happen that an uneducated women when brought to brink by her husband retaliates, shouts, fights, hits and leaves the house for days together till she calms down and comes back to fall into the rut ready for it if it happens again.

Now compare this to a women of a middle class with values. Even when abused, harassed or exploited she does not voice it. Number one because her conscious and value system does not allow the family name to be tarnished outside her home, number two, she wants that it should not reach her parents .

If we are to stop and address this problem then we’ll have to go to the genesis of this problem. In my opinion there are two main reasons .

1. Childhood experiences and impressions witnessed by a child in the form of domestic violence which gets engrained in his subconscious.

2. Discrimination between male & female child where a male child is given preference and made to think that he is superior.

Change in attitude is must in both the areas if violence against women is to be curbed.

Bell Bajao campaign hope will ring the bell in peoples’ mind against domestic violence but it is wishful thinking that its not too late before the bell rings.

By. Jaishree Joshi

Head Mistress, Genesis Global School

Wave Inc (The Chadha Group)