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Violence used to hinder women’s progress; 80 pc face harassment: Rahul Gandhi
At a Congress youth outreach event in Pune, Rahul Gandhi said violence is used in society to prevent women from progressing and cited alarming statistics on harassment, foeticide, and unequal opportunities. Students also shared personal experiences of harassment and financial barriers to education.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said on Saturday that violence is used in society to prevent women—whom he described as the country’s biggest asset—from progressing, and that 80 per cent of women face harassment. Speaking at the party’s youth outreach programme ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ in Pune, he urged women to stand for themselves and believe in themselves.
Gandhi listed what he called “three forms of violence against women—physical violence, violence through denial of opportunities, economic violence.” He cited a series of statistics: nearly 4.5 lakh female foeticides every year, 29 per cent of women enduring physical violence, 6 per cent facing rape, and 99 per cent of sexual violence incidents going unreported due to fear of social stigma.
Disparities in Education, Work, and Mobility
Gandhi said about 50 per cent of women are denied opportunities for education or employment in the name of safety, and that women have to spend an additional Rs 17,500 every year on safe travel. He claimed 60 per cent of women cannot go outside their homes alone.
Drawing a contrast between the freedoms of boys and girls, he said: “A boy is allowed to go out anytime and can come late, but you girls have to come back by 8 pm. Boys can go for any exams multiple times, but for girls, they get only one attempt. They are told it is their marriage time and no need to go for the exam.”
He further stated that 45 per cent of women have to leave education or work because of marriage or household responsibilities, while only 8 per cent own land. Highlighting household disparity, Gandhi said women aged 15 to 29 work 5.5 hours at home, while boys in the same house work only 30 minutes. He also claimed that 84 per cent of women need their family’s permission to take up employment, and that women earn 25 per cent less than men and do not get promotions easily.
Students Share Personal Experiences
Students interacting with Gandhi highlighted how sexual harassment, safety concerns, lack of safe public transport, and financial constraints continue to affect women’s access to education and economic independence.
Suchitra Pagi, an economics student from Vasai in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, recounted incidents of harassment she faced as a 13-year-old while walking home from school and later while travelling on public transport. She said the experiences instilled a fear of men in her, stressed that not all men are the same, and urged people to intervene when they witness a woman being harassed and to support victims instead of remaining silent spectators.
Student Maitri, studying psychology in Pune, said safety concerns can become a barrier to education, particularly for girls from rural areas. She noted that parents in villages often hesitate to send daughters outside for higher education because of safety concerns and instead prefer to educate their sons. She attributed this parental preference partly to social norms that assume sons will support their parents financially while daughters will marry and leave the family.
Pradnya Gavande, a second-year BSc student of cyber and digital science, highlighted financial barriers to pursuing specialised courses such as cyber security. She said reputed colleges charge around Rs 3 lakh for such courses, which is difficult for students from financially weaker families to afford. Gavande, who also works part-time, sought greater availability of cyber security courses in government colleges and scholarships for students. She also spoke about the growing misuse of artificial intelligence to create obscene images of women and extort money from them, stressing the need for stronger cyber security awareness and skills.
Students at the event raised concerns over women’s safety in public transport, saying they often feel unsafe both in crowded buses, where there is a fear of harassment or inappropriate touching, and in empty buses, where they fear being alone with men. They noted that ensuring safe mobility, affordable education, and freedom from harassment was essential if women were to have equal opportunities.
How each outlet told it
The Economic Times
Framing: Identical to ThePrint's headline, emphasizing the same claim; does not include any added context or nuance. — Neutral and factual, matching the wire report; no evident editorial tone beyond quoting Gandhi.
Facts Included:
Rahul Gandhi said violence is used to prevent women from progressing and 80% face harassment
Event: Pune, youth outreach programme 'Chhatron Ki Goonj'
Framing: Highlights the same core claim as The Tribune but omits the 'barrier to progress' phrase, focusing on 'violence used to hinder women's progress' and the harassment statistic. — Neutral and straightforward, as it is a wire report; tone in the body is factual, with no emotional framing beyond quoting Gandhi's statements.
Facts Included:
Rahul Gandhi said violence is used to prevent women from progressing and 80% face harassment
Event: Pune, Aug 22, youth outreach programme 'Chhatron Ki Goonj'
Described women as country's biggest asset; said they should stand for themselves
Listed three forms of violence: physical, denial of opportunities, economic
Framing: Emphasizes the statistic '80 per cent women face harassment' and violence as a barrier, positioning it as a central claim; leaves out the specific event and audience context. — Advocacy-oriented and solemn, evident in phrases like 'the country's biggest asset' and detailed listing of hardships; includes student voices to reinforce urgency.
Facts Included:
Rahul Gandhi said violence is used to prevent women from progressing and 80% face harassment
Event: party's youth outreach programme 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' in Pune on Saturday
Gandhi listed three forms of violence: physical, denial of opportunities, economic
Statistics cited: 4.5 lakh female foeticides/year, 80% harassment, 29% physical violence, 6% rape, 99% unreported due to stigma
50% denied education/employment for safety; additional Rs 17,500/year for safe travel
60% cannot go outside homes alone
Quote: 'A boy is allowed to go out anytime... but you girls have to come back by 8 pm'
45% leave education/work due to marriage/household; 8% own land
Women 15-29 work 5.5 hours at home vs 30 minutes for boys
84% need family permission for employment; women earn 25% less, fewer promotions
Student Suchitra Pagi recounted harassment at 13 and on public transport; urged intervention
Student Maitri said safety concerns barrier, especially for rural girls; parents prefer sons
Student Pradnya Gavande highlighted financial barriers to cyber security courses; mentioned AI misuse for obscene images
Students raised concerns about safety on crowded and empty buses
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimRahul Gandhi said violence is used in society to prevent women from progressing and that 80 per cent of them face harassment.
ClaimRahul Gandhi said: “A boy is allowed to go out anytime and can come late, but you girls have to come back by 8 pm. Boys can go for any exams multiple times, but for girls, they get only one attempt. They are told it is their marriage time and no need to go for the exam.”
ClaimSuchitra Pagi, an economics student from Vasai in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, recounted incidents of harassment she faced as a 13-year-old while walking home from school and later while travelling on public transport.
ClaimSuchitra Pagi said the harassment experiences instilled a fear of men in her, stressed that not all men are the same, and urged people to intervene when they witness a woman being harassed and to support victims instead of remaining silent spectators.
ClaimStudent Maitri, studying psychology in Pune, said safety concerns can become a barrier to education, particularly for girls from rural areas, and that parents in villages often hesitate to send daughters outside for higher education because of safety concerns and instead prefer to educate their sons.
ClaimMaitri attributed parental preference for educating sons partly to social norms that assume sons will support their parents financially while daughters will marry and leave the family.
ClaimPradnya Gavande, a second-year BSc student of cyber and digital science, highlighted financial barriers to pursuing specialised courses such as cyber security and said reputed colleges charge around Rs 3 lakh for such courses, which is difficult for students from financially weaker families to afford.
ClaimPradnya Gavande, who also works part-time, sought greater availability of cyber security courses in government colleges and scholarships for students.
ClaimPradnya Gavande spoke about the growing misuse of artificial intelligence to create obscene images of women and extort money from them, stressing the need for stronger cyber security awareness and skills.
ClaimStudents at the event raised concerns over women’s safety in public transport, saying they often feel unsafe both in crowded buses, where there is a fear of harassment or inappropriate touching, and in empty buses, where they fear being alone with men.
ClaimStudents noted that ensuring safe mobility, affordable education and freedom from harassment was essential if women were to have equal opportunities.