Women in Hinduism
The fatal gang rape in December last year of a student in Delhi has awakened a fury across all sectors of society in India, and not just amongst women. Amongst that anger and frustration at the rising violence against women, many religious leaders argue that women should go back to ‘tradition’. One even suggesting that the victim was somehow to blame for not giving in to her attackers and seeing them as ‘brothers.’
Traditionally though, as Sunita Thakur reports, the most dominant role models for Indian women are powerful Hindu goddesses. And she asks whether the worship of the female figures for their power and glory is at odds with the views men have of women in wider Indian society.
