India: India

India Dept: Indians have begun to recognize this epidemic of sexual hatred in their midst. Far from just a matter of rape, it s an environment where, in some regions, there are 800 girls alive for every 1,000 boys, because sex-selective abortion and female infanticide are so widespread; where the physical abuse of women is seen as mundane; where even major sex crimes are usually described in major newspapers as Eve-teasing. India finally awoke this week to its national shame, according to Globe and Mail. Rape and sexual violence against women are endemic everywhere, argued writer Owen Jones, denouncing those who describe India s situation as a national crisis, since it s just part of a global pandemic of violence against women. Discussions of India, Irish feminist Emer O Toole wrote , are misplaced as they only serve to minimize the enormity of Western rape culture and that caused something to happen first in Delhi, then across India that s promising and long overdue: Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets and the media to denounce a climate of widely tolerated sexual assault, and a police and judicial neglect of sex crimes, that can credibly be called the worst in the world. But then an odd thing happened in Canada and other Western countries: A number of prominent people, notably anti-rape activists and feminists, rushed to declare that India s crisis wasn t notably severe. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.