Great increase in atrocities against women: Tutu

: Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu today said there has been a great increase in atrocities against women all over the world and that such reports 'disturbed' him.
"Despite progress on many fronts, atrocities against women continue all over the world," he lamented.
Speaking at a function at Customs House here, Tutu,who is on a visit to Kerala, said he was much 'disturbed' on hearing news from various quarters on atrocities against women. A society that does not value its women folk is doomed to fail, he said and exhorted everyone to be on guard against this disturbing development.

Making a mention of the December 17 last gangrape in Delhi, he said he had read about the incident. There was a similar incident in South Africa too, he said.
There have been instances of dictatorship in Africa where many amassed wealth from corrupt practises. But a woman head of the nation took a salary cut, he said. "Women bring in more amount of compassion in the job and more women should be involved in the higher level of administration," he said.
Lauding India's role in the fight against apartheid,he said India had moved the first UN resolution and was the first country to identify apartheid as a crime against humanity.

Tutu was presented a memento by the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, Kerala Zone, S Subramanian and Commissioner of Customs Dr K N Raghavan.

The Archbishop, who arrived here on board cruise ship 'Explorer' as part of 'Semester at Sea' team, also visited Cochin Port headquarters at nearby Wellington Island. Tutu was received by its Chairman, Paul Antony.
Antony said Tutu's visit assumed significance for India since Mahatma Gandhi started his career in South Africa and it had greatly shaped the philosophy of his later life.
Tutu said he and Nelson Mandela had started the anti-apartheid campaign at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, by unveiling the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

On the concept of "Semester at Sea", aimed at providing students from over 27 nations an exposure to living of people across the globe,Tutu said it would do a sea of good if money spent on wars and purchasing arms was rather spent on improving lives of the poor and downtrodden,including things like providing clean drinking water and housing.