The waves of violence on women continue unabated in the national capital and elsewhere in the country-from female fetus to even not sparing older women.The lurid narratives are disgusting and nerve racking with its shear scale and the savageness of its methods. Little children are abused by near relatives.Young girls are hurled in to brothels from the protection homes over threats. New and innovative methods are contrived to exploit women sexually.The mobile phone and internet are increasingly becoming handy tools for the perpetrators.The trials and tribulations for the women are aplenty.

Stalkers are on the prowl with the secret camera, recording the private moments in toilets and bathrooms.The victims are caught unawares and are ensnared by the blackmailing thereafter.The sex merchants are adroitly banking in the new media engaged on the potholes in love-affairs.The legal security vehicles are increasingly ascertaining its vulnerability to effectively play their roll as deterrents.The legal system is stuck in limbo and is toothless. . We have a plethora of new as well as old laws on sexual assaults at work places. The misery and morass to which the Indian women are put make a mockery of these laws.

The plight of the Delhi girl and the nationwide dither and uproar it engendered points to the sad commentary on the deplorable frailties of the laws when it comes to the safety of women. The incident shook the nation in its shoes and triggered a nationwide debate on the need for deterrents. It is in this backdrop that the central Govt was constrained to form a 3 member committee to suggest its recommendations to arrest the atrocities on women.The committee chaired by Retired Chief Justice of SC J.S. Verma, and retired Justice Leila Seth and Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium as members , was constituted on December 23, 2012, to look into the criminal laws related to sexual violence against women. The committee interacted with many rape victims and children who were victims of exploitation.It was deeply moved by the victim-hood narratives of the horrible tale of a girl who appeared before them that they gave her about Rs 1.5 lakh. The Indian Express quotes Justice Subramanium: "Do you know that not only had she been sexually exploited repeatedly, she had also not been paid any wages by the people at whose home she was working? Where is our sense of justice? What about her rights?" Wide range of recommendations poured in from political parties,social activists and interest groups.The committee examined 80,000 recommendations in 29 days.The bottom-line was on protecting the right to dignity, autonomy and freedom of victims of sexual assault and rape.The committee suggested across the board,definitive reforms in electoral laws, policing, criminal laws and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.

The committee observes that "In our tradition bound society, structured on the basis of conservative values, when a woman is subjected to sexual assault in any form, it translates into a multiple crime. She is raped at home (literally and figuratively) and in public, followed by demeaning medical examination, examination and cross-examination by the police . In sum, the victim suffers intermittent rape in full public glare and in court, in salacious media reports, and in the insensitive response of society, including family and acquaintances."

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