Proper treatment of women should begin at home in Chennai: Kanimozhi

CHENNAI: Proper treatment of women should begin at home. Only then will a society that treats men and women equally be created, said Kanimozhi.
Addressing a gathering at the Chennai Literary Festival - 2023 on 'Feminism in Tamil society' on Sunday, the DMK MP said, "Multiple laws, cameras and police monitoring will not bring about a change in the manner we treat women. It will come only if society, literature and media changes.
" Over the years, women have gained access to education, broken the devadasi system and are overcoming other barriers. "But we are yet to reach our destination," she said.Citing Ambai's short story on a woman making dosas as an example, Kanimozhi said there was an uproar in literary circles when the author explained in numbers the number of dosas a woman made for her family over the years.
"Society wondered if it is a subject to be written about. Making dosas is a casual activity. But when it is explained through statistics, it reveals the violence involved. Instead of feeling ashamed and introspecting upon it, society targets the author and those who raise questions against social issues," she said.
On violence against women, Kanimozhi said family abuse had increased during Covid-19. "Domestic violence is accepted casually. I have often demanded criminalisation of marital rape, but the central government say it is not easy as it impacts our culture." Pointing to the high incidence of violence against women in India, a country which claims to worship them, she said each family had its set of reasons to assault a woman including not cooking well, going out without prior information, arguing with in-laws, etc. "There are many loopholes in the laws that protect women. It was only Periyar who spoke about the freedom of women," she added.