Rapid Urbanization Partly to Blame for Violence Against Women in India

Feminist writer and publisher Urvashi Butalia says rapid globalization, competition for jobs and class and caste differences begin to explain what motivates the recent acts of brutal violence against women in India.

She says that the competition between Indian men and women for scarce jobs adds to the tensions.

But Butalia tells host Marco Werman that deeply held traditional beliefs about women in Indian society can be challenged.

“A lot of the time we say changing mindsets is really difficult,” Butalia says. “But the speed with which globalization has changed mindsets makes me feel that it’s possible and that it can be done. If Coke and Vodafone can reach every village in India, why can’t state policies, why can’t governance, why can’t the sort of changes the society really needs? There has to be a will behind that.”