It’s not about quotas, women need to be treated with dignity’: Dr Kamini Rao

NT Correspondent

‘’We are not inferior and we deserve to be treated with dignity.’’ This is what women are looking for and not reservation per se, said Dr Kamini Rao, chairperson of International Institute for Training and Research in Reproductive Health (IITRRH) at the International Women’s Day programme organised by News Trail on Thursday.

At the event titled ‘Saluting Women Change Makers,’ organized at Lalit Ashok here, Dr Rao felt women should not restrict themselves to celebrating Women’s Day in March but should observe every day as their day. “We need to extract dignity from society and certainly from men. Women should be respected by other women. And this is what I have found looking at medical perspectives,’’ she said.

Switching to the subject of female foeticide, she said, “Why do women come to fertility centres for sex selection? And who brings her to us? It is another woman, the mother-inlaw. It is not her husband who comes with her. The mother-in-law wants a boy because she believes a boy can bring dowry,’’ she explained.

But for such illegal practices, the government finds fault with doctors. “The doctor is put in jail and the mother-in-law goes scot-free and so does the husband and patient. And who is the culprit? Neither the patient nor doctor is willing to talk about it. Both are in collusion. How are you going to change society?’’ she wondered.

It’s always women who visit fertility centres, not men. “The poor woman has to visit the fertility centre again and again because she fails to conceive. The actual problem could be with the man. What happens finally? The man marries for a second or even third time. He never accepts that the problem is with him,’’ she said.

“Men claim that just because they are sexually active, they are fertile too. The need of the hour is to change this mindset,’’ Dr Rao stressed. Infertility is a couple’s problem, not just of the woman. “You could divide the problem like this: forty percent is women, 40 percent is men and 10 percent is a combination while 10 percent is unknown,’’ she said.

Recalling the tragic death of Dr Archana Sharma in Rajasthan, she narrated how a woman was compelled to go for a fourth child even after having three caesarean operations.

The woman had three daughters but her family forced her to go for a fourth child as they wanted a boy.

“The woman died of excess bleeding but local petty politicians made it a big issue and blamed the doctor for the death. The gynecologist (Dr Sharma) hanged herself the next day,’’ she recalled.

She made it clear that doctors are not Gods but frontline warriors who are facing problems day in and day out. “If an engineer designs a faulty bridge and it collapses and causes the death of many, the investigation goes on for years and finally, no one is punished. Here, a woman dies and the doctor is hanged. Is this right? If a patient’s condition is worse, doctors can treat her but cannot assure a cure. We are not Gods. If News Trail can actually highlight such cases I will be very happy because people who are perpetrators of such crimes must be brought to justice,’’ she said.