Doctors in India went on a nationwide strike, expected to involve more than 1 million employees in hospitals and clinics across the country. The strike is a continuation of the protests that swept India after a young doctor was found raped and murdered in a hospital in the city of Kolkata on August 9.
Just last week, doctors from major public hospitals announced that they were suspending planned operations until they received an answer to their demands for more security and protection for women.
Mass protests with demands for emergency measures
The brutal crime provoked protests across the country. Under the title "Let's take back the night" hundreds of thousands of women and doctors took to the streets in India to protest the violence. Their dissatisfaction is directed against the lack of sufficient security for those employed in the medical field, as well as for women who work at night. In Kolkata, protesters accused the authorities of not taking enough measures to investigate the case of the murdered 31-year-old woman. As part of the investigation, the law enforcement authorities detained a police officer.
At the end of last week, Prime Minister Modi demanded that the crime be quickly solved. "Monstrous behavior towards women must be punished severely," he declared. Under pressure from mass protests against insufficient protection of women from sexual assaults in recent years, the government has toughened penalties for rape. This crime is now punishable by the death penalty. "As a society we need to think about the cruelties inflicted on our mothers, daughters and sisters. The indignation is great and I feel and understand it," Modi also said.
Violence against medical staff is not from yesterday
Violence against medical workers, however, continued even after the brutal murder. Last Wednesday, a group of people rioted on the Kolkata Medical College campus. Cars were smashed and wards stormed. "We fight for safe spaces for doctors and women in general. But now we had to act very quickly and close the doors so that the mob wouldn't attack us. It was terrifying," Shreya Shaw, who is an assistant at the hospital, told DV. The attacks were "simply disgusting," added doctor Arif Ahmed Laskar, who also works at the hospital. "We were all outraged by what happened to our colleague. We wanted justice. And suddenly we faced the violence of these hooligans," he continues.
Such cases are not isolated incidents in India. In May last year in the southern state of Kerala, a patient stabbed a young surgeon. A few months earlier, a group attacked a cardiologist - allegedly for inadequate treatment of a patient. In reality, however, the doctor had nothing to do with the treatment in question. In 2019, doctors in West Bengal resigned after a mob attacked a young doctor. According to data from the Indian Medical Association, nearly 75% of all doctors in the country have faced some form of violence at work - from verbal abuse to physical attacks.
"We need more security measures," explains Indra Shekhar Prasad, president of a doctors' organization in Delhi. "The incident in Kolkata is not the first such case, nor will it be the last. The safety of doctors must come first."
Sexual violence is a serious problem in India
Representatives of 23 medical colleges in West Bengal said in a joint statement that the current wave of protests is not just about doctors. "This is a protest for the safety of all women in their workplace,", they write.
Sexual violence has long been a focus of public attention in India. There were protests back in 2012, when a 23-year-old student was brutally raped and killed by a group of young men. This brutal crime has led to calls for tougher penalties for such acts. In response, speedy trials were introduced, stalking and voyeurism were criminalised, and the age for prosecution was lowered from 18 to 16.
According to activists, however, despite the stricter legislation, the situation for women has not improved. National statistics prove it: crimes against women increased by 4% in 2022 compared to the previous year.