Gender sensitisation has to start from home, need to change society's mindset towards women: CJI Khehar

Gender sensitisation is not a matter of punishment and has to start from home, Chief Justice of India J S Khehar on Wednesday said while questioning the mindset of presuming a girl child as “a life-long liability”.

He also said gender sensitisation is a matter of “mindset” since the children see the behaviour of their parents at home as to who takes the decision and who controls the purse.

“Society must look into the matter of gender sensitisation. It is not a matter of punishment. Gender sensitisation has to start from home. It’s just a matter of mindset,” CJI Khehar said.

Speaking at a seminar on Gender Justice, organised by the gender sensitisation and internal complaints committee (GSICC) here, the CJI also questioned as to why man is the master of the house.

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“In this matter of sensitisation, man is the master of the house. Why? Because his wife cooks for him, cleans for him, washes his clothes, looks after children. Wife takes the responsibility of making the man and children comfortable.  That makes the man master. This is the mindset.

“What do the children see? They see the parents behaviour. They see the roles and management inside the house. They see who takes the decision. Who controls the purse,” he asked.

“A man goes out on his own free will but his wife with his permission. A man spends money as he choose to and his wife as he allows her,” he said.

The CJI expressed concern over the tendency of celebrating the birth of a male child but not that of a girl and said this is what our children see.

“When a girl is presumed as a life long liability, how do you sensitise people,” he said. The CJI also said a man would not understand about stalking, which is “very hard to bear”, and he has never seen a girl look up to him or any other man.

“Because for her she could be stalked the way you look at her. That’s how bad stalking is. She doesn’t want to be eve-teased. That is what the sensitisation we are talking about,” he said.

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The CJI also said that the greatest need for humans is food and the next equally important thing is “procreation”.

“It’s an urge. It’s a physiological urge. It’s not something you do as a matter of crime,” he said.

“If we see these rape crimes. They mostly emerges from very very poor strata of life. These men (labourers) come here year after year. They live on land which they don’t own. They live on stolen electricity, stolen water. And they do not live in privacy. Look at the pressure these people go through because they cannot live together,” he said.

“Society must look after this. For people to understand. It’s not the matter of punishment that can set things right.  It’s the manner you live at home that needs to change,” he said.