An Empirical Study of Women Prisoners in Central Jail in Srinagar

Abstract

Women have been held in contempt, used and abused, tortured and suppressed by patriarchy as a system in which men subjugate women, a system which is universally pervasive, durable over time and space, and steadfastly maintained in the face of occasional challenge. From the years of formative socialization, the male child grows up in a culture that positively values maleness and devalues femaleness. The male becomes increasingly aware and arrogant of his own male identity and through time tries to attain distance and a sort of separation of identity from the woman. During adulthood, the males already have a strong chunk of emotional carryover from early years of infancy and toddlerhood towards women and with time they develop negative attitude towards women, a sort of superiority complex that pushes them to control and subjugate women. The female child grows up in a culture that devalues women and she develops a submissive attitude. Radical feminists argue that in every social institution be it marriage, class, caste, race, ethnicity, age, or gender, systems of domination and subordination exist, the most important and fundamental structure of which is the system of patriarchy. Radical feminists also devise a mechanism of overcoming this situation, that is, through a radical overhaul of the patriarchal system. It is this element of radicalization that certain women in Kashmir have resorted to, by ending the lives of their husbands. The present study tries to analyze the situation of women prisoners in central jail in Kashmir and tries to explore the reasons behind the crime commission by these women.