Binish Thomas (Special Correspondent)
When India talks about gender justice, the conversation is understandably dominated by the safety, rights and welfare of women.
But there is another question that the country has increasingly avoided asking: who listens when men become victims?.
Behind the statistics on India’s suicides, family disputes, marital breakdowns and criminal cases is another largely invisible population – men who may be struggling with domestic conflict, allegations, separation, financial pressure or mental-health problems, but have few institutions specifically designed to hear their grievances.
It may therefore be time for India to seriously consider a National Commission for Men.
The argument is not that men face the same problems as women.
Nor is it an argument for weakening laws designed to protect women from domestic violence, dowry harassment, sexual assault or other crimes.
It is an argument for something much simpler: gender justice cannot mean that one gender has institutional protection while the other has nowhere comparable to turn.
The Suicide Numbers Cannot Be Ignored
India’s suicide statistics provide perhaps the starkest reason to examine the issue.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s 2023 data, 1,71,418 suicides were reported in India, with men accounting for 72.8 per cent of the victims and women 27.2 per cent.
Family problems were the leading reported cause, followed by illness, while marriage-related issues accounted for another 5.3 per cent.
The numbers become particularly striking in Kerala. A Kerala government analysis covering 1996–2021 found that 73.7 per cent of reported suicides in the state were men. Family problems were one of the leading causes of male suicides.
More recent reporting based on State Crime Records Bureau figures showed that Kerala recorded 10,972 suicides in 2023, of which 8,811 were men. Family issues were identified as the major reason.
These numbers do not prove that marital disputes are responsible for every male suicide. They do, however, demonstrate that men’s vulnerability is a serious public issue.
And yet, where is the institution specifically tasked with examining it?
When Marriage Turns into a Legal Battle
Marriage can become complicated when relationships break down.
Domestic violence laws, dowry laws and other criminal provisions exist because genuine abuse must have consequences.
There is no argument against that principle. But the justice system must also distinguish between genuine criminality and the misuse of criminal law.
The question is not simply how many cases are filed against men, but what happens to the men caught inside them.
In its 2017 judgment in Rajesh Sharma v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court recorded NCRB data showing that 1,97,762 people were arrested under Section 498A in 2012, including 47,951 women. Yet the conviction rate was only around 14.4 per cent.
The Court also expressed concern about cases in which multiple family members were implicated through vague or exaggerated allegations.
The Government itself has acknowledged that some cases registered under Section 498A were subsequently found to be false or based on a mistake of fact or law.
According to data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 10,193 cases in 2011, 10,235 in 2012 and 10,864 in 2013 were classified in this category after police investigation.
In 2014 and 2015, a further 8,144 and 7,458 cases respectively were classified as Final Reports False.
These figures do not mean that every man acquitted in a matrimonial case was innocent, nor that every complaint made by a woman is false. An acquittal can occur for several reasons, including failure to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
But the numbers raise a legitimate question: where is the institutional mechanism that studies the impact of such cases on men and their families?
A man who is falsely accused can face arrest, social stigma, financial losses, damage to his career and prolonged litigation even before a court reaches a conclusion.
And sometimes the consequences extend beyond the accused.
The Children Left Behind :
There is another dimension that cannot be ignored: children.
When marriages collapse amid prolonged conflict, criminal proceedings and bitter custody disputes, children can become collateral victims. The question should not simply be who wins the legal battle between husband and wife.
It should also be: What happens to the child?:
If a child loses meaningful access to one parent, suffers prolonged emotional trauma or grows up amid years of litigation, the consequences can last well beyond the original dispute.
Any future men’s commission should therefore not be designed simply as a body for men seeking revenge against women.
Its mandate should include family welfare, child protection, counselling, mediation and early intervention. The objective should be to prevent family disputes from becoming permanent battles.
The Problem of Relationships in the Digital Age
The nature of relationships has also changed dramatically.
Social media, dating applications and messaging platforms have made it easier for people to meet, communicate and form relationships.
They have also created new avenues for harassment, blackmail, impersonation, cyberstalking and exploitation.
The audio underlying this article specifically raises concerns about college WhatsApp and social-media groups, where contact details can circulate and subsequently be misused.
This is not merely a men’s issue. Women face these dangers too.But that is precisely why the response needs to be gender-neutral and technologically relevant.
The government needs stronger mechanisms to deal with the misuse of private information, circulation of personal numbers, online harassment and digital blackmail.
What About Live-In Relationships?
Live-in relationships have also become increasingly visible in India.
The Supreme Court has recognized the autonomy of consenting adults to live together, while also making clear that not every live-in relationship automatically acquires the same legal status as marriage.
Freedom of choice is important. But freedom must also come with responsibility. When relationships involving cohabitation collapse, questions can arise around financial obligations, children, property, allegations of abuse and promises of marriage.
The answer cannot be to criminalize consensual adult relationships. Instead, India needs clearer legal frameworks that protect both parties and, above all, protect children who may be caught in the consequences of an unstable relationship.
A Commission Is Not a License to Attack Women’s Rights:
The proposal for a Men’s Commission should not become another battlefield in the gender war.
India needs laws that protect women. India also needs mechanisms that protect men. These principles are not contradictory.
The National Commission for Women was created to review constitutional and legal safeguards for women, examine complaints and advise the government on policy matters.
A comparable institution focused on men’s welfare could examine issues that are currently fragmented across police departments, courts, mental-health services and other agencies.
Such a body could study male suicide, domestic abuse against men, family disputes, child custody, mental health, workplace vulnerabilities, cyber harassment and alleged misuse of laws.
Most importantly, it could collect data. Because one of the biggest problems facing men today is not necessarily the absence of suffering. It is the absence of systematic measurement of that suffering.
India Needs Gender Justice, Not Gender Politics
The creation of a Men’s Commission should not mean that men and women are placed on opposite sides of a political battlefield.
It should mean that every citizen has somewhere to turn when the system fails them.
A man who is genuinely abusive must face the law.
A woman who is genuinely abusive must face the law.
A false allegation should not destroy an innocent person’s life.
A genuine allegation should not be dismissed because the accused is a man.
And a child caught between two parents should never become the forgotten casualty of their conflict.
India has spent decades building institutions around women’s rights because the need was undeniable. The growing evidence surrounding male suicide, family-related distress and matrimonial disputes suggests that another conversation is now necessary.
Perhaps the time has come for India to ask not whether men need protection from women, but whether every Indian – irrespective of gender – deserves an institution willing to hear them.
A National Commission for Men could be that institution. Not as an opponent to the women’s commission. Not as a tool to dilute women’s rights.
But as another pillar of a justice system that ultimately belongs to everyone.
