assessments show the lot of a sizeable section of women has ``improved due to fall in inflation, expansion of employment opportunities and cheaper white goods providing greater comfort''. At the same time, the report admits that studies on the impact of liberalisation on women indicate a need for re- framing policies for access to jobs and preserving them. The government cites the National Crime Records Bureau figures to accept that crimes against women have increased, but says it has taken several measures to deal with the problem - like setting up all-women police stations in 14 states and strengthening present laws, an exercise undertaken by the National Commission for Women (NCW). The government paper does not mention that most states now want to close down these ``ineffective'' police stations while the NCW's 200-odd recommendations, including amendments to laws on dowry and trafficking, have been virtually ignored.No place is safe for a woman, not even home By Vinay Tewari NEW DELHI: Query a police officer on crime against women and he (the use of masculine gender is deliberate) will instinctively reach for his statistical handbook. He will tell you how rapes declined by two per cent (All-India figure for 1998). And how strict police action ensured women feel safer than ever before. But pouring over data culled by Delhi Police and the National Crime Records Bureau can only indicate the number of women who muster enough courage to report crimes. It quite effectively hides how unsafe women really feel. And it almost never tells you, that quite like those black borders around NCRB's data-charts, women are hemmed-in by a male attitude which virtually screams in their face...``I can do it and get away with it.'' And the shame is perhaps most stark in the nation's Capital. It's evident in abundance amongst men who refuse to vacate seats earmarked for women in DTC buses and then attempt all kinds of physical contact with them. And in tho...
