Anti-Valentine Week: A Reflection on Love and Violence

The week of embracing love and affection is here. There is no better time to show love than on Valentine’s week but do you know about ‘anti-Valentine’s’ week? To all those broken hearts out there, celebrate this week that comes right after Valentine's Day. Interestingly, in India, this counterculture has gained lots of popularity and now ‘Anti-Valentine’ week is fairly well-known.

Starting from February 15 to February 22, the anti-Valentine week is all about subtle teasing and vengeance. The first day is celebrated as Slap Day followed by Kick Day, Perfume Day, Flirt Day, Confession Day, Missing Day and at last, Breakup Day.

While negative emotions are still a part of the human mind not many people know how to translate them in a better way and that is how the idea of anti-Valentine week emerges. As poets believed, love is not for beginners and takes every bit of self to love another human being.

Love comes in different forms but violence can never be one of the faces. While many people participate in anti-Valentine week in a fun way, there’s a flip side to it as well. India sets a high record for violence between couples. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released on December 3, 2023, crime against women has increased from 64.5 per cent in 2021 to 66 percent in 2022.

The relationship between husband and wife has lost its divine essence as NCRB recorded a horrific spike in violence against women by their husbands or their families in recent trends. A concerning rise of 30% has been observed in the specific crime category of ‘cruelty against a woman by a husband or his relative.’ This surge has also impacted the share of such crimes in the overall statistics, increasing by 5% from 33% in 2017 to 38% in 2021.

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, frequently in the spotlight for crime statistics, show disturbing trends. Uttar Pradesh ranks third in assaults on women with intent to outrage modesty and fourth in cruelty against women by husbands or their relatives.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan holds the fourth position in assault with the intent to outrage modesty and takes the third spot in the list of cruelty by husbands and their relatives.

The Fifth Round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) sheds light on a disheartening aspect of public perception. A significant portion of the Indian population justifies a husband beating his wife for reasons like going out without informing, showing disrespect to in-laws, or suspecting the husband’s loyalty. Shockingly, 45% of women and 44% of men aged between 15 and 49 years believe it is acceptable for a husband to resort to violence based on any of the seven reasons listed in the NFHS survey.