Every time a law for protecting or strengthening women's rights fails to deliver , a small media-savvy coterie of NGOs starts a hysterical campaign for making it more stringent.The government of the day obliges by adding a few draconian provisions to placate the NGOs and their allies in the media as it helps deflect attention from its failure in implementing existing laws with honesty. Since most of these laws are passed as knee-jerk reactions , their 'use-by date' is over even before women for whose benefit the law has been passed get to know of its provisions or intent.Zealous reformers soon bay for more stringent punishments to be added to the much-amended law , as they did with laws to combat dowry , domestic violence , obscene portrayal of women in media, foeticide and so on.They are often enacted even before law makers have had the time to define the crime with clarity and accuracy . Last year , Minister for Women and Child Development , Krishnna Tirath , got the age of consent for consensual sex raised from 16 to 18 — thereby treating a 17-year-old male who has consensual sex with another 17-year-old as a 'rapist.'This pious measure , however , did not act as a magic wand for persuading or frightening teenage girls from having sex before they turned 18 . In the meantime , the police made merry by harassing young lovers . The police also made a kill by implicating men on the basis of trumped up charges or absurd allegations of rape under the supposedly 'lenient provisions' of the existing law .For example , in recent years several women had their lovers and /or live-in partners arrested for “raping them continually for number of years” after making false promises . These men deserve condemnation for breach of promise . But to charge them with rape is making a mockery of other women who suffer gruesome assaults on their bodies.To say that a man is legally obliged to marry a woman with whom he had sex and failure to do so will mean 10-20 years prison is to play with fire . Are we willing to extend the same logic to women and have them arrested and jailed if they change their mind about marrying a man with whom they had an affair ? Can women demand such one-sided laws in the name of equality without making themselves objects of disdain ?Predictably , the only people who benefit from such fierce laws are corrupt policemen and unscrupulous lawyers . The recent measures are a result of TV channels making rape into a cause celebre , following a few gruesome incidents . In sheer panic the government appointed a special commission which in sheer panic submitted a humongous report in record 30 days' and then pressed more panic buttons to demand that their recommendations be turned into an ordinance . The public hearings of the commission , held just 48 hours before they were to submit the voluminous report were a mere formality .So now we have a situation where even before there is consensus on whether to call the crime 'rape' or 'sexual assault ,' whether to raise or decrease the age of consent , how to define 'voyeurism' or 'stalking' --these acts are proposed to be made are non-bailable offences — the moment a woman makes this charge , police are duty bound to arrest the person and send him to jail ; only courts will have the power to give him bail .It has also been decided in the new draft law that the minimum punishment for rape will be raised from 10 years to 20. Now that BJP has decided to beat the feminists at their own game , it is going to support a 'tough law' simply to get one-up on Congress ! I have a humble suggestion to help the government : It should enact another law that mandates that every woman must at all times carry copies of all the laws (along with their numerous amendments ) enacted for protection of women on her person .They should be duly certified by the area magistrate so that she can wave the appropriate law with utmost confidence about its authenticity at whoever comes to harm her . Failure to carry any or all of these laws on her person should invite strict action against the woman or at the very least disqualify her for seeking the help of the police in booking the said criminal because failure to wave the law with a confident flourish is indisputable evidence of 'contempt and mistrust of government' and 'lack of trust' in the magical power of the said law .This simple measure may not help curb crimes against women ; but it will surely bring a radical decline in the number of women who will walk into police stations to report and register crimes . After all , a woman who does not feel strengthened by the sheer ferocity of draconian provisions written into law made especially for her protection , needs 'consciousness raising' by duly certified feminist NGOs.For this purpose , the government should allocate a corpus fund of Rs 50,000 crore with 10% additional yearly increase to provide handsome grants in perpetuity to feminists of the correct political persuasion to conduct legal literacy classes , psychiatric counselling and the art of waving laws with speed and flourish whenever they feel endangered .Once government makes high voltage feminists become 'partners in woman's empowerment' they will be able to protect it from disgruntled citizens , far better than the government knows how to. If this too does not work , let us please request the British to come back for a specified period and update all our laws to fit the requirements of a 21st century India , since we have failed to do the job on our own.The author is Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies