Katrina Kaif: Society fails to recognise marital rape as a crime; women must speak up!

New Delhi: Speaking at the ‘WeUnite' conference, which marks United Nations Women's partnership with the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif talked about how gender equality is important in today's times.

IANS quoted Katrina as saying, "I know of educated women who remain silent in the face of violence because they are afraid to confront societal norms and have fingers pointed in their own direction, especially when the majority of our society fails to recognise marital rape as a crime."

"The world has largely been led by patriarchal societies and women have, through the years, largely remained quiet in the face of atrocities rather than speaking out against them," she added.

"On a daily basis, there is a shocking story in media, there is a violent crime committed against women. I can only imagine how many crimes against women go unrecorded," she said.

The gorgeous looking actress further added that the issue is prevalent not only in India but elsewhere as well. "No region of the world, no country, no culture is there in which women's freedom from violence has been secured. I would urge more women to speak up. It is not okay to feel inferior or weak because we are not the weaker sex by any stretch of the imagination," she said.

(With IANS inputs)