Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

A female doctor recently told me that her husband, also a doctor, threatens to hit her and throw acid on her face if she ever "disobeys" him. She has thought of divorce many times, but the words of her father-in-law resonate in her mind: "We don't allow divorce, we burn the daughter-in-law instead."

There is a separate women's compartment in the Delhi metro rail, because that's how much discomfort female Indians feel around men.

When a woman is abused, many people claim that she invited it somehow, either by the clothes that she was wearing, or the person she was with, or the place she was at.

Such beliefs can be found across the globe. But while violence against women takes place everywhere in the world, few societies witness it with as much regularity and severity as India.

In a poll conducted in 2012 by a panel of gender specialists across the G20 nations, India was voted the worst country for women.

The reason that India made it to the top of the list is because in India a woman is raped every 22 minutes, thousands of female fetuses are aborted illegally every year, and thousands of women lose their lives due to dowry related abuse and honor killings.

Crimes against women did not receive their due attention until December 2012 when a young paramedical student was brutally gang raped in Delhi.

Since then the government has passed new sexual assault laws, including a mandatory minimum of 20 years for gang rape, and set up six fast track courts in Delhi for speedy proceedings in rape cases.

New proposals for recruiting female police officers to make women one-third of the force have been put into place. Recently a state-run gun maker even went as far as to introduce a light weight gun, Nirbheek (meaning fearless), for women.

And yet every month for the last year, news of assault and abuse of children, women, foreigners have been reported increasingly. The growing awareness of such cases is leading to more women having the courage to report assaults, although rape cases are still seriously under-reported.

Indian women live with a debilitating sense of fear. This is because we live in a culture where sexual harassment is as regular as a daily cup of tea.

Harsher new laws and establishing safe environments like the separate women compartments in the Delhi metro are extremely important steps, but these can only do so much.

Similarly, light weight guns are the privilege of the rich. Nor is promulgating a violent solution the answer.

The root causes of violence and misogyny have to be dealt with. Domination by men over women everywhere, be it in relationships or at workplaces, is considered a birthright, literally.

A belief of being superior, stronger and the main decision-maker is inbred in most Indian males, both in rural as well as in urban areas.

The public service message entitled "Stop creating rapists at home" addresses the fact that generations of men grow up witnessing and believing that female subjugation and male violence are regular social norms.

So, the change has to start at home, at school and at work places. Children, both male and female, have to be taught from the beginning about the importance of equal status of both in the society. 

Education is an important tool, but equally important is that women are made aware of their identities and voices.

Let's hope that my colleague files a complaint with the police against her husband and his family and that more women are ready to fight for their rights and identity.

The author is a general practitioner and freelance journalist based in India. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn