Capital punishment for rapists not the right solution: Eve Ensler

As a debate rages across the country on whether capital punishment should be awarded to rapists, noted playwright and women’s rights activist Eve Ensler said that such a move would not help solve the problem.

“Around one-third of the women in the world have been subjected to rape. So how many men will have to be killed? They are our fathers, brothers and sons. I don’t believe in capital punishment. The aim should be to fix accountability among men. Education and creating awareness is the key,” Ensler, who is in the city to create awareness about the campaign ‘One Billion Rising’, to be held across the world on February 14, told a press conference here on Wednesday.

“Widespread sexual education is the need of the hour. Along with this, the objectification of women should be resisted,” Ensler said, when asked about the rising cases of incest rapes in the state.Ensler said that the ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign, which will also be held in India, should be an occasion for women subjected to violence to express themselves in joy, proud of their bodies and their freedom.

The campaign is being held in the state in association with various cultural and women’s organisations.

National Mahila Federation president Annie Raja, who attended the news conference, said that the time was ripe to take concrete steps to end the violence against women, as the whole country was seriously debating the issue.

All-India Democratic Women’s Association state secretary K K Shailaja said that ‘consumerist culture and feudal anti-women rituals that existed in the country were responsible for the plight of women’.