It will not be an overstatement to state the kind of humiliation and helplessness a victim, especially a woman victim experiences after the actual crime is done is far worse and impact than the crime itself. Our society is built in such a way that the blame of the crime is associated with the victim and not the perpetrator. It is often the case that immediate family of the victim or the relatives, people from the society and sometimes even the police in some cases are heard saying hurtful and demeaning phrases like, “There’s no point of lodging a case, your husband is your only home”, or “it must be your fault somewhere for the bashing you got”. India can truly develop when it decides to work on these issues, by openly addressing the stigma, the perpetrator and the readdress of victim’s issues. Since not all crimes and injustices are gender-neutral, hence similar general approaches don’t necessarily apply to women’s issues. Here comes forth the need of customisation and women friendly approaches. To provide these opportunities and a whole new horizon to the equally able, agile and inherently wise rural women, since it was the famous feminist Virginia Woolf who in her essay “A Room of One’s Own” spoke about the absolute need of money and financial independence being the catalysts in women’s empowerment.
The misinformed and deeply prevalent gender stereotype that girls outpace boys verbally and boys are better in numbers and math in general is a deep setback in terms of women’s equality and their abilities. There are no roles that aren’t rooted in numerical proficiency. Antonia Grohmann, a Berlin-based economist, found that in 135 out of 144 countries, women understand finances less than men do. The roots of this discrepancy are found early in education, this bias continues to affect job placement as men are automatically perceived as more proficient in arithmetic and finances. The problem is that math aptitude on the tests is a reliable predictor of future income. So, if we want more women leaders in business, entrepreneurs and working women, we need to encourage women to “do math.”
