Nagpur

: The laws and policies in the country are inclined towards women in a way that they are based on the assumption that women can never be perpetrators of a crime. While this has been a bone of contention for men’s rights activists, they now believe it is time that men’s social, emotional and physical wellbeing is given due importance while designing policies.

During their 7th annual national conference on Saturday, over 180 delegates representing 50 NGOs under the banner of Save Indian Family (SIF) discussed these issues. They met to brainstorm on the need for gender neutral laws in the country. A few resolutions were passed during the meet, which will be turned into a memorandum of demands and handed over to several authorities including PM Narendra Modi.

“Over the last ten years that we have been running a helpline for men, there have been a lot of distressed and abused men who have had some common complaints. Often, these are men with a familial strife going on. If these problems end up in the court, it is assumed by most legal entities that women don’t lie or cheat. Such biased opinion of lawmakers only makes it more difficult for men facing abuse to seek legal resort,” said Swarup Sarkar, founder of SIF’s Delhi chapter.

For any kind of domestic abuse, be it verbal, emotional, sexual or economical, there is no protection of men in present Domestic Violence Act, said president of Mumbai-based

Vastav Foundation Amit Deshpande

. “The law here assumes that women can only be victims of abuse while only men can be the perpetrators. Even the questionnaires given to men and women under

the National

Family Health Survey (NFHS) reflect this thought. It should be no surprise that dowry law, domestic violence law and rape laws are the most abused laws in the country,” he said.

The number of false cases under these laws is so high that the men’s rights activists call it ‘legal terrorism’. They are also concerned that marital rape laws will also be misused if not made gender neutral.

“Even when it comes to legal separation of a couple with children, a mother is always looked as a better caregiver than a father. The courts overlook the fact that for its overall development, a child needs both his parents. Though men pay more than 82% of income tax, the government has not bothered to address our problems,” said Bangalore-based activist Kumar Jahgirdar,

national president

of NGO Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP).

SOME PROBLEMS FACED BY MEN

High suicide rate: Male to female suicide ratio is 2.1: 1. Every 5.84 minutes, a man commits suicide in India with family disputes being the single largest reason.

Abuse against boys not given prominence: When violence against women and girls are always on everyone's agenda, abuse of boys is never talked about or discussed despite a recent Women and Child Development ministry survey report showing that among those sexually abused 53% are boys

Misuse of harassment laws: Laws meant to protect women from dowry harassment, domestic violence and sexual harassment at workplace are among the most misused laws in the country with a huge number of cases being false allegations.

Mothers given preference over fathers for child custody: Even working women expect the father to take care of all the child’s expenses and give her alimony. Yet, fathers get a few hours in a week with the child in the name of visitation rights.

No one to look into men’s issues: Whether it is their health problems or social issues, there is no study, records or statistics

RESOLUTIONS PASSED