A society that cannot protect its daughters from the hands of its own men is not wounded — it is morally failing
NIGHAT ARA
The recent incident in Galwanpora, where a 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered while on her way to a darzgah, has shaken the conscience of society. A child lost her life in the most horrifying way possible. But beyond the grief and outrage, this tragedy forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth: our society still teaches women how to survive violence more than it teaches men not to commit it. A little girl should not have to grow up learning fear before freedom. She should not need survival techniques simply to exist safely. The responsibility of preventing such crimes cannot continue to rest on women and girls alone.
For years, society has focused on controlling women’s behaviour – how they dress, where they go, how they speak, yet crimes against women continue. This proves that women were never the problem. The real issue lies in the failure to educate boys about respect, consent, empathy, and accountability.
When a child is raped and murdered, the conversation should not begin with what girls must do differently. It should begin with asking what kind of mindset allows a man to destroy a child. Why are we more comfortable teaching daughters fear than teaching sons responsibility? Awareness should not only be for daughters. Awareness is equally needed for sons.
Parents, schools, communities, and religious institutions must begin speaking openly about male behaviour and responsibility. Boys must be taught from a young age that strength is not dominance, masculinity is not aggression, and women are human beings deserving of dignity and safety.
When society only teaches girls how to protect themselves, it silently accepts violence as unavoidable. But violence is not unavoidable. It is learned, tolerated, and ignored – and therefore it can also be prevented through education, accountability, and social change.
The question is no longer how many more girls must be told to stay careful. The question is: when will society finally start teaching men not to become the reason women are afraid? A society that prepares girls for violence instead of preventing boys from becoming violent has already failed its daughters.
A little girl left her home and never returned alive. Somewhere, her books remain untouched, her clothes still carry her presence, and her family is left with a silence so heavy that no words can comfort it. And yet tomorrow, society will once again teach daughters how to be careful, while failing to teach sons how not to destroy lives.
How many more girls must lose their childhoods, their safety, or their lives before we understand that the problem was never women existing freely, but men growing up without accountability? A society that cannot protect its daughters from the hands of its own men is not wounded — it is morally failing.
( The author is a columnist)
