June has been a month of news breaks. If the ongoing Lalit Modi controversy and the Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s case is getting all the media attention, there is another news which has become a hot topic for discussion. Two women from Mumbai are in the spotlight for their drunken driving episodes. While Jahnavi Gadkar, an advocate, in an inebriated condition drove Audi on the wrong side eventually killing two people, a drunken Shivani Bali, to escape the breath analyser test locked herself in the car for two hours. High drama ensued till the police broke the car glass to get her. A few weeks ago, there were reports that Kolkata mayor’s niece Debopriya Chatterjee, again in an inebriated condition, broke traffic rules twice in fours and even assaulted a traffic personnel. What has emerged out of the debates, discussions and analyses of these rising cases of drinking and driving, is the way society looks at women committing a crime. While there is a lot of awareness about alcoholism, the acceptance of women getting affected by it is still low. Giving an example, a colleague remembers the way the family would look at a group of male friends when they would drop one of their drunken female friends home. “They would look angrily at us as if we are responsible for her drinking. They could not accept that their grown up daughter is capable of making her own decisions,” he recalls.
At Hope Trust Rehabilitation Centre, Rahul Luther meets different kinds of addicts. “When it comes to drinking problem in men and women, some things are the same and some different,” he points out. “The things like after getting drunk, one’s judgement gets impaired and long term abuse will lead to erosion of value system and relationships are all similar. But the onset of alcoholism is more rapid in women,” he says and adds, “If a woman is sharing a drink with her male colleagues and wants to match up to them with three drinks, she will get more drunk because of physiological issues. While a family is usually aware of the drinking problem in a man, in a woman, it would be in an advanced stage before it gets detected.”
Numbers speak
| 2011 | one case |
| 2012 | Five cases |
| 2013 | 14 cases |
| 2014 | 17 cases |
| 2015 | Seven cases so far |
Our social structure places women on a pedestal because of her roles as a mother/sister/wife. “The level of shame and hiding of alcoholism is much more among women alcoholics than men,” observes Rajeshwari. In her 15 years of experience as a therapist, she has seen families treating women alcoholics differently. “Alcohol affects women, even in small amounts. Women alcoholics face a lot of rejection and it takes a toll on their emotions. The guilt factor is also high. The chances of recovery for men and women alcoholics are the same but when there is no family support, women find it tough to come out,” she says. She recollects a mother of three children creating a ruckus because of her alcohol disorder. “The husband would also drink but to save his reputation he brought his wife to the rehab. After the treatment, she was fine and sober for two years. Sadly, she didn’t find enough support in her family and she eventually committed suicide,” she recalls.
The data for the number of drunken driving cases registered for men in 2014 is 15,000 whereas the total number for women is in two digits. Among which 2,569 people (including men and women) were sentenced to imprisonment of one day to two months. “The cases of women drunken drivers are few and generally found among the upper strata of society,” states Jitender, additional commissioner, traffic police. In the checks conducted in the city for drunken drivers, Jitender says women initially react differently. “Their reaction is not good; they do not co-operate but when they know that we mean business, they fall in line,” he states. Jitender says the department takes extra care when it comes to women drivers. “We are careful and see to it that there is no misbehaviour; also we leave them as early as possible,” he states.
On a concluding note, Rajeshwari says alcoholism among women is viewed differently in the society. “In a metro, one feels there is a lot of freedom and acceptance. But alcoholism is present across different social strata. Unless the mindset changes, the acceptance levels are low.”
