Women are more at risk from accidental fire, even if we ignore the violence against women that puts them at a higher risk - why is this?
Women are more at risk from accidental fire, even if we ignore the violence against women that puts them at a higher risk – why is this?
While at one hand, women are celebrated as Maa Durga, Lakshmi or Saraswati, the actual plight of women is contradictory. Increasing violence against women in every field is at an alarming rate. Women are not safe even in terms of accidental fire deaths…
Yes, here we are going to talk about the most ignored but the most important threat that lies in all of our homes/ places that we visit – fire safety, that is.
According to the NCRB data in the year 2018, the total accidental fire deaths are 12748 of which 7244 are women, that is 56.8 per cent of the total fire deaths. It means more women die in our country in fires.
If we look at the past 4 years data, here’s what it says:
Lack of awareness of fire safety – In general, we don’t give any importance to fire safety. How many of us learn about it or educate people around us about it? Do we know what to do if you are in an emergency situation?
Nonchalance – A prevailing mindset that nothing can happen to us. A fire can happen to anyone, anytime. Remember the news that we read every morning – “Gas burst killed a family of five” or “Electrical short-circuit in a High-rise killed 4” This passes as just a piece of news and we don’t give any value to it beyond that.
Threat and accident-prone – Women, in our country, toil every day in the kitchen. This makes them prone to accidental kitchen fires. If we look at the data, many women die due to cooking gas bursts.
Fire accidents are preventable. If we take due care to educate ourselves about fire safety, we can be more vigilant and prevent emergency situations in the first place. Having said that, in such a situation, fire safety education will help you to know what you should and shouldn’t do.
Here is a resource guide that can help you to prevent fires: Home fire safety checklist.
Image source: Pyar Ke Papad Serial
A passionate mom, Writer @Women's Web, Digital Marketing Consultant, an avid learner, and a foodie read more...
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This strange love story reminds me of Princess Diana when she gave an interview about Prince Charles - "There were three of us in this marriage!”
This love was flawed and broken the way only we humans know how to break things with our ego, pride, insecurity and complexities!
Where do I even begin to tell the story of how deep a love can be, how it transcends time, place and people. Perhaps this is a story about how women are their own worst enemies. Either way it is a story that tells us how frail, fragile and fraught we are as humans and how much we hurt each other.
This love story began when I was two years old. Growing up in India in a culture that wove love stories like Laila Majnu, Heer Ranjha and the epic symbol of love, the Taj Mahal, into the very fabric of our existence, love was always an integral part of our lives.
One such love story was of a boy and a girl who were neighbours. The boy, an athlete, artist and a poet, found his muse in this shy, thoughtful and in her own way poetic girl, who seemed to worship the very ground he walked on. Her face could be found in all the paintings he created, and her name in every poem he wrote. The girl called him Sagar, which means ocean, symbolizing his all-encompassing love for her.
Everything thing was going well; their wedding date was being finalized, till the boy’s older brother who was a doctor in the same little town, got accepted into Stanford Medical School to do his MS.
Earlier my husband would say, 'Arey! What is there in making dal-roti? It's so simple.' After he had to cook everyday when I was ill, he has stopped saying that to me!
“Arey! What is there to do in making dal roti? Put a handful of lentils in the cooker and let it whistle and make two rotis. After all, how long will it take?” A handful of dal (lentils) and two rotis! This is the story of every woman and no one seems to understand.
Some time ago, after a shopping spree, my husband and I entered the house, exhausted. I had just about kept all the bags aside, when my husband said, “I am very hungry, can you make something.”
I looked at my husband in amazement and thought, ‘He had just had food, how did he get hungry again so soon?’
My husband, as if he had read my face, said, “Arey! You know that my stomach is not filled with outside food. Just make dal roti. What is there to do in making dal roti? Put a handful of lentils in the cooker and let it whistle and make two rotis. After all, how long will it take?”
‘Is this the way dal (lentils) and roti are made?’ The thought came to my mind. ‘After all, I also went along and now I am tired too.’ I was also getting angry at myself that after all, I had spoiled the habit of everyone in the house.
Ours is a country where as many as 55 percent of the women face domestic violence. Isn't it time we spoke up and did something about it?
Ours is a country where as many as 55 percent of the women face domestic violence. Isn’t it time we spoke up and did something about it?
Ours is a country where the percentage of violence and injustice against women is highly prevalent. Thus, it is no longer surprising to see women being considered the weaker gender- both emotionally and physically. This, even in the age when women are doing their best to walk shoulder to shoulder with the men.
I am fiercely passionate about doing something against the violence women face in this country since it is an issue very close to my heart. And I am constantly looking for ways to be a part of solutions in creating awareness for this. My blog is one step towards this cause.
So today, let me give you a glimpse of what goes on in the lives of women who are the silent victims of domestic violence and never talk about it. Behind closed doors, women are constantly tortured.
Women, especially those further marginalised by caste, class, etc., are seen as 'disposable', and 'punishment' has just pushed rapists to 'finish off' their victim completely, further increasing violence against women.
Women, especially those further marginalised by caste, class, etc., are seen as ‘disposable’, and ‘punishment’ has just pushed rapists to ‘finish off’ their victim completely, further increasing violence against women.
This week, as we are celebrating triumph of our women in the Tokyo Olympics, how is it looking for respect for women in the nation? Betterment of gender rights – reduction of gender violence – and all other such?
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The girl, as per reports, went to get water in the crematorium, and never returned. Instead, the crematorium staff showed her mother her dead body after notifying her that she had been electrocuted, stopped her mother from reporting to authorities, and forcefully cremated the body.