Laws Are Made To Protect Women's Rights Not Harm Men

Recently, I came across a video on Instagram in which a man was explaining ways in which other men can protect themselves from fake cases in marriage. This is not the first video where men were being cautioned to protect themselves from the judicial system. These videos raise many questions in my mind. Are men really unsafe under the current law and judicial system? Are the laws blindly favouring women at the cost of men's safety? 

In the most recent video, the man talks about how men get caught up in false domestic violence, dowry and rape cases in India quite often. It also talked about the toll that paying alimony takes on men. These happen and we are not denying that. Women often misuse the law and target men to extort money or maintenance. However, even if done in a humours way, such videos may perpetuate false narratives. The video has further said that maybe taking dowry can help men pay the alimony. This is not right. Dowry is a crime.

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Alimony doesn't justify dowry

Taking dowry objectifies a woman and reduces her into something that can be measured in terms of money. It makes women a burden on their parents who are expected to pay hefty dowries to get their daughters married, the only destination of a woman's life. And if dowry is not paid, the woman has to bear a lot of harassment, sometimes leading to her death. So nothing ever can justify dowry.  As far as alimony is concerned, it is a woman's right. 

Laws are made to protect women not harm men

Laws are made in our country to protect women's rights to individuality. It is true, no matter how much you ignore it, that women are the weakest section in our society. They have to face trials and tribulations at every point in their life. There are laws against child marriage but still, women are married at an early age and made to undergo the pain of sex and pregnancy. There are laws against dowry and domestic violence but still almost every day we report cases of domestic violence and dowry harassment. Some are not even reported because abuse in marriage is normalised. Why is no one speaking about that? Why is no one pointing out this failure of law?

Before when such laws were not created or not given much attention, women were being silently abused. No one came up and said that men were not following the laws. Or that women are not aware of their rights. Even today, many women deny registering cases against abuse because they consider it against the morals and rules of their family. They don't want to hurt their family members. 

Now, when men are feeling abused or unsafe, they have become restless and have started questioning every injustice happening to them. I am not saying that it is wrong. One should always, whether a man or a woman, question injustice. But just look at the stark difference. The laws that were initially made to save women from abuse are now being criticised by men for making them feel unsafe. Men have the power of patriarchy so they can question things so easily. 

Men need to understand that laws are favouring women for a reason. It is not that it is blind towards fake cases. There are trials for that too. But criticising the laws completely is not a way out. Many women need it to escape the poisonous life they are living. So rather than criticizing the law, let's educate men and women to not misuse the laws.  

Views expressed are the author's own.