On International Women’s Day, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s comments come as a shock

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi comes under fire for her remark saying girls of 16 are hormonally very challenged

By Upasana Mantri

Updated on Mar 09, 2017 | 04:39 AM IST | 2.8M

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, who is known to advocate women’s empowerment, received flak for her regressive comments when she said that early curfew for girls in hostel is needed to protect them from their own ‘hormonal outbursts’.

After her interview with a leading channel, Women and child development minister, Maneka Gandhi, came under fire on social media for her ‘hormonal outbursts’ remark. Ahead of the International Women’s Day, Maneka Gandhi was quoted by a leading channel as saying, “As a parent who is sending a daughter to a college- or a son- I would expect her and him to be protected. And perhaps one of the protections is against themselves. When you are 16 or 17 you are also hormonally very challenged. So to protect you from your own hormonal outbursts, perhaps, a lakshman rekah is drawn.”

If this wasn’t enough, Gandhi went on to mock the security guards posted at women’s college by saying that one can’t expect two “Bihari” guards posted at the college gate with dandas (wooden sticks) to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. When asked if the matter cannot be resolved by tightening security at women’s colleges, the minister said, “It has to be solved literally by giving time limits for everything… Give them (boys) two nights to go to the library and two nights for girls, if you want to go to library.”

In retrospect, Maneka Gandhi, in 2016, speaking at the 60^th session of the Commission on the status of women, had said, “Governement of India remains fully committed to advancing the goal of gender equality and empowerment of women, and to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women.” Well, what were you thinking, Minister ji, we wonder!

Also, if you remember the recent ban by CBFC on the movie Lipstick Under My Burkha, citing it to be ‘too lady oriented’, we wonder if it’s high time we not only preach but practice gender equality.