Save Indian Family Foundation

Last updated

Save Indian Family Foundation
Formation2005;19 years ago (2005)
TypeIndian men's rights organization
Location
FieldsMen's rights, domestic violence
General Secretary
Rukma Chary
Nagpur
Rajesh Vakharia
Founders
Anil Kumar, Pandurang Katti
Website saveindianfamily.org

Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) is a men's rights group in India. It is a registered, non-funded, non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) and works with various like-minded NGOs in India. [2]

Contents

History

Founded in 2005, SIFF is an advocacy group against what it calls misuse of Indian laws related to dowry harassment. [3] It is an umbrella organisation of a number of men's and family rights organisations spanned across Indian cities and provinces. [1] SIFF has supported the founding of other like-minded organisations, such as the "All India Mother in Laws Protection Forum" [4] and "All India Men's Welfare Association". [5]

In 2010, the group claimed on its website to have "30,000 members on the ground and over 3,500 on the internet who are fighting this legal terrorism with vigour and passion like commandos". [1]

Activities

SIFF created an app and a helpline for men, which got over 25,000 phone calls in four months. [6]

The group campaigned against domestic violence legislation (such as Section 498a of the Indian Penal Code, (1983) and the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act 2005), stating that these laws have been misused, and manipulated by Indian women. They assert that men are abused physically and are subject to legal, mental and social harassment by their wives because of these laws, [7] and that lawyers and women use them to extort money and family property and to deny child custody to fathers. [8] SIF members have sought to have the laws made gender neutral and be amended to include protection of men against abuse by women. [9] [10] The media comments that the organization is insensitive to high rates of domestic physical abuse committed against women in India [11] In addition, they note the organization's use of 'strong language', including describing as "terrorist activity"  the support given by women groups for the domestic violence legislation, and describing the women politicians who spearhead the legislation as “modern Surpanakhas”. [11] [12] [13]

SIFF asserts that dowry harassment of women and their families is a figment of the feminist imagination, [14] and that the woman is the abuser in almost all cases of family abuse. [15] They campaign for decrimininalisation of anti-dowry offences, with the threat of imprisonment removed. [16] In contrast, police and women's groups have denied the group's claims of widespread misuse of anti-dowry laws, stating that only a small minority abuse the law, [10] and the approximately 7000 deaths of women every year who die due to dowry demands. [17] [11]

SIFF has also advocated for the creation of a Men's Commission in India. [18] SIFF also protested against the 2010 Amendment to the Marriage Act. [19]

SIFF also spoke out against a 2022 court petition which could criminalize marital rape, and sponsored a "marriage strike". [20]

Elections

SIFF ran an independent candidate, Satish Babu SN, in the 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election from B.T.M Layout constituency; he finished 7th, gathering 333 votes (0.24% of the total valid votes). [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment by the groom, or his family, to the bride, or her family, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride, or her family, to the groom, or his family. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at the time of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control.

The men's rights movement (MRM) is a branch of the men's movement. The MRM in particular consists of a variety of groups and individuals who focus on general social issues and specific government services which they say adversely impact, or in some cases, structurally discriminate against, men and boys. Common topics discussed within the men's rights movement include family law, reproduction, suicides, domestic violence against men, false accusations of rape, circumcision, education, conscription, social safety nets, and health policies. The men's rights movement branched off from the men's liberation movement in the early 1970s, with both groups comprising a part of the larger men's movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in India</span>

The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the time of recorded India's history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordination continued to be reified well into India's early modern period.

Bride burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. A form of dowry death, bride-burning occurs when a woman is murdered by her husband or his family for her family's refusal to pay additional dowry. The wife is typically doused with kerosene, gasoline, or other flammable liquid, and set alight, leading to death by burning. Kerosene is often used as the cooking fuel for small petrol stoves, some of which are dangerous, so it allows the claim that the crime was an accident. It is most common in India and has been a major problem there since at least 1993.

Dowry deaths are deaths of married women who are murdered or driven to suicide over disputes about dowry. Dowry deaths are found predominantly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran. For context, dowry are the material exchange that the brides gift the groom's side in the course of a wedding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indira Jaising</span> Indian lawyer (born 1940)

Indira Jaising is an Indian lawyer and activist. Jaising also runs Lawyers' Collective, a non-governmental organization (NGO), the license of which was permanently cancelled by the Home Ministry for alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act in 2019. The Bombay High Court later passed an order to de-freeze NGO's domestic accounts. The case is ongoing in the Supreme Court of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005</span> Indian Act of Parliament

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to protect women from domestic violence. It was brought into force by the Indian government and Ministry of Women and Child Development on 26 October 2006. The Act provides a definition of "domestic violence" for the first time in Indian law, with this definition being broad and including not only physical violence, but also other forms of violence such as emotional, verbal, sexual and psychological abuse. It is a civil law meant primarily for protection orders, rather than criminal enforcement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminism in India</span> History of the feminist movement in India

Feminism in India is a set of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and opportunities for women in India. It is the pursuit of women's rights within the society of India. Like their feminist counterparts all over the world, feminists in India seek gender equality: the right to work for equality in wages, the right to equal access to health and education, and equal political rights. Indian feminists also have fought against culture-specific issues within India's patriarchal society, such as inheritance laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Men's rights movement in India</span>

The men's rights movement in India is composed of various independent men's rights organisations in India. Proponents of the movement support the introduction of gender-neutral legislation and repeal of laws that are biased against men.

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Gender inequality in India refers to health, education, economic and political inequalities between men and women in India. Various international gender inequality indices rank India differently on each of these factors, as well as on a composite basis, and these indices are controversial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic violence</span> Abuse of members of the same household

Domestic violence is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. Domestic violence is often used as a synonym for intimate partner violence, which is committed by one of the people in an intimate relationship against the other person, and can take place in relationships or between former spouses or partners. In its broadest sense, domestic violence also involves violence against children, parents, or the elderly. It can assume multiple forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, financial abuse, or sexual abuse. It can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and other violent physical abuse, such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that may result in disfigurement or death, and includes the use of technology to harass, control, monitor, stalk or hack. Domestic murder includes stoning, bride burning, honor killing, and dowry death, which sometimes involves non-cohabitating family members. In 2015, the United Kingdom's Home Office widened the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to domestic violence:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic violence in India</span>

Domestic violence in India includes any form of violence suffered by a person from a biological relative but typically is the violence suffered by a woman by male members of her family or relatives. Although Men also suffer Domestic violence, the law under IPC 498A specifically protects only women. Specifically only a woman can file a case of domestic violence. According to a National Family and Health Survey in 2005, total lifetime prevalence of domestic violence was 33.5% and 8.5% for sexual violence among women aged 15–49. A 2014 study in The Lancet reports that although the reported sexual violence rate in India is among the lowest in the world, the large population of India means that the violence affects 27.5 million women over their lifetimes. However, an opinion survey among experts carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked India as the most dangerous country in the world for women.

Domestic violence in Pakistan is an endemic social and public health problem. According to a study carried out in 2009 by Human Rights Watch, it is estimated that between 10 and 20% of women in Pakistan have suffered some form of abuse. Women have reported attacks ranging from physical to psychological and sexual abuse from intimate partners. A survey carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked Pakistan as the sixth most dangerous country for women while India ranked 1st as the most dangerous country for women. Given the very few women's shelters in the country, victims have limited ability to escape from violent situations.

Violence against women in Tamil Nadu includes molestation, abduction, dowry-related violence, and domestic violence. The police recorded 1,130 cases during the first seven months in 2013, compared to 860 for the corresponding period in 2012. In Usilampatti Taluk, around 6,000 female children were killed in a span of 2 years during 1987–88, accounting to the single largest instance of recorded female infanticide.

Violence against women in Pakistan, particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence, is a major public health problem and a violation of women's human rights in Pakistan. Women in Pakistan mainly encounter violence by being forced into marriage, through workplace sexual harassment, domestic violence and by honour killings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violence against women in India</span> Public health issue of violent acts against women

Violence against women in India refers to physical or sexual violence committed against a woman, typically by a man. Common forms of violence against women in India include acts such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, and murder. There are several forms of violence against women, murder, female infanticide, sexual crimes, acid throwing, perpetuation.

Gender inequality has been improving a lot in Bangladesh, inequalities in areas such as education and employment remain ongoing problems so women have little political freedom. In 2015, Bangladesh was ranked 139 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index and 47 out 144 countries surveyed on the Gender Inequality Index in 2017. Many of the inequalities are result of extreme poverty and traditional gender norms centred on a patrilineal and patriarchal kinship system in rural areas.

The dowry system in India refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the groom, his parents and his relatives as a condition of the marriage. Dowry is called "दहेज" in Hindi and as جہیز in Urdu.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Polanki, Pallavi (17 July 2010). "Men Who Cry". OPEN . Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "SIFF - About Us". Save Indian Family Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
  3. ↑ ANI (29 November 2006). "Wife harassing you? Call for help". IBNLive . Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
  4. ↑ George, Daniel P. (6 September 2009). "Moms-in-law of the world unite." The Times of India . Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  5. ↑ Sengupta, Sudipta (31 October 2009). "Now, a forum for 'tortured' husbands". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Save India Family Foundation: Men's helpline gets 25,000 calls over four months in Kolkata". The Times of India. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Singh, Jangveer (26 November 2006). "Sour dates in India's Silicon Valley". Tribune News Service. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  8. ↑ Karnad, Raghu (3 December 2007). "Now, Is That Malevolence?". Outlook magazine. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
  9. ↑ Sandhu, Veena (7 November 2006). "Men new "victims" of domestic violence". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  10. 1 2 Ramesh, Randeep (13 December 2007). "Dowry law making us the victims, says India's men's movement". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  11. 1 2 3 Gupta, Monobina (27 October 2006). ["Malevolence for women's law - Men go to PM against female 'terrorist activity' "Malevolence for women's law - Men go to PM against female 'terrorist activity'"]. The Telegraph, Calcutta. Retrieved 27 January 2007.{{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  12. ↑ Bhattacharya, Chandrima S. (30 October 2006). "What are men scared of?". The Telegraph, Calcutta. Archived from the original on 29 October 2006. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  13. ↑ Sengupta, Sudipta (31 October 2009). "Now, a forum for 'tortured' husbands". TOI. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  14. ↑ Karnad, Raghu (3 December 2007). "Now, Is That Malevolence?". Outlook magazine. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
  15. ↑ Das, Radhika (8 June 2007). "Is the law biased against men?". Times of India. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  16. ↑ Ramesh, Randeep (13 December 2007). "Dowry law making us the victims, says India's men's movement". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
  17. ↑ Ash, Lucy (16 July 2003). "India's dowry deaths". BBC News. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
  18. ↑ Ovais, Dar (24 February 2019). "Rally seeking national panel for men on March 3 at Delhi's Jantar Mantar". Indian Express. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  19. ↑ "Men's rights groups sore at marriage laws bill". Hindustan Times. 16 February 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  20. ↑ Frayer, Lauren (8 February 2022). "Marital rape is still legal in India. A court decision could change that". NPR . Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  21. ↑ "Men's rights NGO to field independents in elections". 15 April 2018.
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