Gender Equality is a concept that believes that people of all genders are equal. Gender Neutral Laws are blind to the gender, meaning punishments are based solely on the crime. This concept is prominent in several regions but in India it is sorely missed.

Section 375 and 376 are the laws that are against rape. Within this section though, only woman are identified as victims. This means that men, transgender(s) and people of other genders are not protected by this law. According to studies in the USA, 92,748 men get raped every year. This figure constitutes of only reported cases; men don’t usually report cases due to the social stigma associated with this issue. Also, India’s population is about 4 times that of the USA. Considering this, one can only imagine the number of men who get raped in India, not even account for other genders. (I could only estimate and not quote India’s data because we don’t have any).

The Domestic Violence Act (2005) follows suit by only identifying woman as victims. The Guardian’s baffling stats report that 40% of domestic violence victims are men. Given that large estimation, we still lack any accommodations, laws or facilities to support men in these issues. We only seem to offer ridicule, if anything at all.

I do not intend to present a case that says men have it worse or anything along those lines; we have enough sources encouraging gender bashing. I present this issue as a symbol of how we only seem to care of the big picture of which gender is more “empowered” rather than looking at specific issues and tackling them. I also present this case to show how flawed our perceptions of gender are: ranging from our disbelief of transgender people’s existence, to lines like “Men don’t cry”; we are all humans and deserve to make our own personal gender identity as well as hold individuality in our own identities. Lastly and certainly most importantly, I present this case because the issues are real and are to be tackled at many more levels than just acceptance; they are made unfairly and if you believe in gender equality or at the most basic level, justice you should join in this fight.

If you are still not convinced on this idea of Gender Equality or would like more information on how it applies to India or how it tackles more issues and more, please visit: www.genderneutralutyindia.tk

Thank you so much for taking out the time to read this petition and I hope you will go further by signing and sharing this petition. Go Forth!