B'wood, regional films fuelling crimes against women, asserts Maneka Gandhi

Panaji : Blaming movies for the rising crime against women in the country, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has urged the film fraternity to portray women in a better light.

"We have very important reason why men believe they can get away or they indulge in violence against women and that is films. If you look at films, which is a way to communicate messages, you will find romance almost always starts with eve-teasing.

"The man and friends will surround a woman, be mean to her, trip her up, show her down, abuse her, touch her inappropriately and slowly she falls in love with him," Gandhi said while speaking at Goa Fest on Friday.

She said that violence against women is increasing because of the indecent representation of them in Bollywood and regional movies.

"Romance in almost every film starts with eve teasing, be it Hindi or in regional films," she added. Gandhi further said that the powerlessness of men also lead to violence against women.

"The man's feeling of powerlessness, he is being shouted at, his failure in job is also one of the reasons of violence against women," she added.