This week on We Women Want we walk into the grey zone and ask are women always the victims and men the predator. The gender card sometimes works the other way with women taking advantage of loopholes in law to target and settle scores with men, some of whom do not deserve it and hence become the victims.
On the panel are Shazia Ilmi, BJP leader and a gender activist, Alkanshree Dhar managing partner at Law Offices of India and Deepika Bharadwaj, documentary filmmaker and activist. As Deepika pointed out surveys that show women as the underdog and victims never survey the men and ask if they are being abused? There are also cases where women use the dowry laws to settle scores with their in laws, including the mother in law. Shazia points out that in some cases such as the Hijab question, it may appear that the women has a choice, but supposing she opts out of wearing one she is in danger of being ostracized or at the very least being labelled by the society as one with `loose morals.’
Alkanshree speaks about the law and whether there is a gender bias that can be exploited by some women. We Women Want is a weekly show that explores issues that concern most women cutting across demographics. The show has dealt with issues ranging from body shaming, domestic violence, laws that help women (and also those that don’t), women’s health from reproduction to menstruation including breast cancer and IVF, acid attack survivors, domestic violence and women in the workplace. The show, moderated by Priya Sahgal, Snr. Executive Editor at ITV Network, is fast becoming a support group for women.