PRESS RELEASE

Sub: Launching the Bangalore Chapter of the All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA)

About AIMWA:

All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA) was launched in Hyderabad on the 11th October 2009 to work in the area of elimination of all kinds of discrimination against boys and men. Today, this press conference is being conducted to launch the Bangalore Chapter of the same.

Why Men’s Welfare:

Ask someone about the problems of women and a list would emerge that would never seem to end. Ask about men’s problems and all one sees is blank faces. Does that mean that men do not have any problems? Or is it that there is no awareness for the same, as mirrored in the statement – “Absence of evidence is not an evidence of absence.”?

1. If we look back, in the last 62 years of Indian Independence not a single rupee has ever been allocated for men’s welfare from the Union Budget.
2. Not a single constitutional or quasi-constitutional body ever been formed to study men’s issues.
3. Not a single study otherwise also ever been conducted targeted to study men’s issues.
4. Not a single scheme ever been envisaged for men’s welfare.

Hence, in the backdrop of this emptiness, the Government and the society have absolutely no Locus-Standi to deny accepting men’s issues or avoid addressing them. And it is this emptiness which has led to the formation of AIMWA, to study men’s issues and demand for a National Commission for Men and Men’s Welfare Ministry.

Men and their identity:

Today, expectations from men have skyrocketed and acceptance levels for them have nosedived. In fact, there is no limitation to expectations from men and no acceptance of their limitations.

Today men are expected to,

1. Take care of extended families of parents, siblings, wife, in-laws and provide for them,
2. Take huge financial burdens and risks by undertaking various kinds of loans like home loan, car loan, education loan for siblings to name a few.
3. Undertake the primary financial responsibility of the house even if the wife is well-qualified, well-earning and capable to share the financial load.
4. Sponsor the education of young in-laws and their expensive visas and foreign degrees.
5. Bow down before their wives or face Legal Terrorism viz. misuse of Section 498A and Domestic Violence Act.
6. Act as FREE ATM MACHINES and SPERM DONORS.

And not only for the above, men have been expected to undertake the most risky and laborious jobs since time immemorial and also have been expected to be the de-facto PROTECTOR as well. It is not unusual to expect a 10 years old male child to escort and protect 30 years old able-bodied female aunty and it is also not unusual to expect a young boy to take charge when some monkey enters a household in rural areas.

However, at the same time, the de-facto protector is left unprotected with no protection available to him. Additionally, men are emotionally castrated right from the age of 6 as they are discouraged from expressing their pains and feelings. Dialogues like, “Do not cry like a girl”, “Be a man” are quite normal for the society to a 6 year old boy whose psyche and identity is just evolving. And the impact of these statements is so deep that the boy develops a fear of self-expression and remains numb to abuse the rest of his life.

As a result, men are finding emotional confrontations extremely painful when they grow up and most men contemplate suicidal tendencies during emotional turmoil in their relationship and a reasonable percentage of them actually commit suicide. The same is corroborated by suicide statistics,

1. 2005: 52583 married men committed suicide vis-à-vis 28188 married women.
2. 2006: 55452 married men committed suicide vis-à-vis 29869 married women.
3. 2007: 57593 married men committed suicide vis-à-vis 30064 married women.

Other than these, men face domestic violence from their wives and in-laws in the form of physical, emotional, mental, verbal and economic abuse. Added to this neither the society (including psychologists and marriage counselors) provides these men with any communication channel nor does the Government offer any legal relief.

Some other forms of harassment and discrimination faced by men,

1. Men pay more taxes than women at the same salary level.
2. Men are provided no protection against sexual harassment at workplace and against rape.
3. Men do not have the choice of being a domestic engineer, social engineer or into creative paths. Irrespective of his likes and willingness a man is forced to don the role of the breadwinner for the family or else face a social death.
4. Men are not accepted by the society the way they are; as human beings.
5. Men are not provided with a communication channel – a channel that listens to them without invalidating their feelings or justifying their problems.
6. No schemes are being furthered either by the Government or eminent social celebrities for boys the way they are happening for girls. This has led to more boys dropping out of school as per various media reports. Ultimately the boys are left under-trained to satiate the expectations as they grow up to be men and are developing resenting feelings towards the society which is leading to a lot of socio-legal problems.
7. There is no concept of MEN’s RIGHTS, only RESPONSIBILITIES and DUTIES are there in store for them.

National Commission for Women – The Enemy in the veil:

1. Very recently, in the case of alleged complaint of sexual harassment by an airhostess of Air India, it was clearly observed that the air-hostess had violated the rules of Air India and entered the cockpit when she was not supposed to and later on, she filed a false complaint of sexual harassment against the innocent pilots. Though innocent, the pilots were forced to take a bail, following an arrest, due to adverse media hype given to the case and unethical handling of the issue by the National Commission for Women (NCW) – the hotbed of male hatred.
2. Also, on the 12th of October 2009, the NCW proposed radical and vicious recommendations in Section 125 CrPC (maintenance for wife, children and parents) asking for “maintenance to adulterous wives” and forcing man to pay maintenance “irrespective of his sufficient means”.
3. Despite the fact that in rape and dowry cases, the testimony of the complainant is given a very high priority the NCW demands for death penalty in the two cases. On the other hand, at the same time the NCW is not ready to address the issue of Domestic Violence faced by unmarried daughters from their parents and by elderly mothers-in-law from their daughters-in-law.

It is very clear that under the barb and paradoxical veil of “Women Empowerment”, the NCW is perpetrating male-hatred and is working like a “National Commission against Men” instead of “National Commission for Women”.

On the occasion of 19th November the INTERNATIONAL MEN’s DAY AIMWA places the following of its demands from the Government and the society:

1. Form National Commission for Men to study issues of men and provide the Government with recommendations for Men’s welfare.
2. Institute Men’s Welfare Ministry that will implement the recommendations of the National Commission for Men on behalf of the Government.
3. Abolish all anti-male gender biased laws.
4. Close down the National Commission for Women.
5. Rationalize the tax provisions to make them gender neutral.
6. Form welfare schemes for boys and girls unilaterally.
7. Form an ombudsman to regulate the anti-male quotient in media, television and films.
8. Allow single adult men to adopt children before the age of 30.
9. Do not force men to don the role of the breadwinner against their wish and give them a choice about their life.
10. Address health issues of men like prostate cancer, short life expectancy, high suicide rates, etc with seriousness.
11. Government should urge the private sector to come up with Health Products specifically targeted to diseases affecting men in large numbers.
12. The World Economic Forum should start recognizing men as human beings as well as study and publish Gender Index of Men besides that for women alone.

AIMWA aims to work for men’s welfare and urge the Government and the society to take serious note of the problems of men.

Date: Friday November 13,

Thanks and Regards

All India Men’s Welfare Association, Bangalore

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