RAPE: Are We Fighting The Right Battle?

"Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; the female sex." M.K. Gandhi

The night of 16^th December 2012 shocked the entire nation… people suddenly realized that it was not human beings, but humanity that the Mayans predicted was about to end. There were protests, both real and virtual, all over the country. The problem with the protests was that there was no clear agenda. Some wanted justice for the 23 year old girl, some were protesting against the rape crimes and rising violence against women, while others were there because they were afraid of their and their family member’s future in the so called ‘rape capital of the world’. The ones with clear agenda were the opposition. The police was definitely tempted by few miscreants, who wanted the police to attack the innocents and make one more case against the government that was already weakened by corruption. The weakness of non-violent protest is that one small act of violence gives the police enough reason to attack and breakdown the entire protest. Amongst the pandemonium one thing was clear, people were concerned…and there were good reasons to be.

There is a staggering eight fold rise of rape cases in India in the last four decades…a woman is raped every 20 minutes [1]. Delhi topped the chart of rape cases in India with Mumbai close second. Though the crime is rising, the conviction rate is dropping and stands at just 26% [2]. Does that make India and its society the worst in the world, or Delhi the rape capital of the world as many claim? No. Delhi is definitely not the worst in the world, and if one considers the number of rape cases per unit population, it isn’t the worse in India. States like West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Mizoram, which is generally considered safe, might stand worse than Haryana. The problem is country-wide, not just Delhi… and the problems are more complex than we think.

United States is a multicultural country having an open society. However, considering the number of rape cases, it is worse than India. Every 2 minutes a woman is sexually assaulted in US, 44% victims are minor, 54% cases are not reported, 97% rapist never spent a day in jail, 2/3 of assaults are committed by people known to the victims [3]. These statistics are not for us to rejoice, remember, more rape cases are reported in US than in India. but our perception of safety is based on the reported cases only. Why then we feel more unsafe in India? Because of the negative publicity by the world media. While it helps pressurize the society in punishing the guilty, it also restricts women freedom further. Family members become much more protective about women telling then what sort of safe dresses to wear, and restricting the time they spend outside. It curbs women freedom, never a good thing.

“Human rape appears not as an aberration but as an alternative gene-promotion strategy that is most likely to be adopted by the 'losers' in the competitive, harem-building struggle. If the means of access to legitimate, consenting sex is not available, then a male may be faced with the choice between force or genetic extinction.” [4]

The above statement brings out two critical points:

Human rape is not an aberration. Rape is common amongst other animals too. It isn’t an excuse, but the point is that rapists are not people with mental disorder, but normal people who live within us. This makes it so difficult to find them. For every 1000 cases of boys staring at, or having 'bad' thoughts about a woman, there will be 100 cases of molestation. For every 100 molestation, there will be 10 rapes, and for every 10 rapes there will be one that will be brutal resulting in death. The key is to stop the minor cases that are easier to find, the rest will take care of itself. One way of doing that is making strict laws.

Section 375 IPC defines rape as penetration sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape. Term will not be less than 7 years but it may be for life or for a term which may extend to 10 years. The person shall also be liable to fine. This law is not strict enough. Whenever a rape case is proven, not easy in many cases, there should be a death penalty. Castration might seem more justified for the criminals, but a death penalty will be more effective to stop would-be criminals. Punishment should be same for husbands who have forceful sex with their wife against their will. Even eve-teasing should have jail term of minimum 5 years. Then again, which law will ensure that women are protected within the four walls of their own house? More girls are raped by their relatives, including uncle, father-in-law and father than by strangers. Will the police be able to stop that? Strict punishment will definitely reduce the number of cases, but it is not the solution to the problem because rape is not the problem but the side-effect of something deeper.

The second point is that rape is a strategy adopted by losers when consenting sex is not available. The skewed sex ratio in India and especially in Delhi makes this point very important. The lesser the number of fairer sex the more unsafe it becomes for them. Again, the skewed sex ratio is not the problem but the side-effect of something deeper.

As protests are happening all around India I find people blaming each-other. People outside Delhi blaming people of Delhi, people of Delhi blaming government, government blaming opposition, opposition blaming police, police blaming people of Delhi. Never have we stopped and looked at ourselves. We have lost the respect for each other which is evident in the way we behave. We don’t respect the poor, we don’t respect other’s privacy, we don’t respect other right of way when we drive, we don’t respect the fact that our friend might get better marks than us, or get promotion instead of us. We don’t care if there is an injured person lying on the side of the road, we don’t care if a naked poor man is shivering in cold. In a society like this how can we expect respect for woman? The problem lies with the mindset. Manu Smriti proclaimed "Women, Sudra, dog and crow embody untruth, sin and darkness", while according to Aristotle "We should look upon the female state as it were a deformity, though one that occurs in the ordinary course of nature". This primitive mindset is yet to change in our society. According to Martin Luther "The word and works of God is quite clear, that women were made either to be wives or prostitutes".  Official statement of Southern Baptist Convention declared on 1998 that "A wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband, even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ". Indians politicians are no different as they blame women and their dress for rapes. They want women to stay indoor doing household work, taking care of their husbands and thus not get raped. Unfortunately most rape happens in victims house by people known to them irrespective of the dress she wears. So the logic does not hold. This primitive mindset needs to change. but in a country where vote bank politics depends on primitive thoughts like castes and religion, it is a difficult problem to tackle. Sex education does not increase a parties vote bank. so instead of politicians we have to be the change.

What makes rape so brutal is not just the act itself, but the way society treats the women who have been raped. We, as a society, ensure that life becomes hell for the woman and her family. We either avoid them and make them outcaste, or shower our sympathies at them. We keep reminding them what she has gone through and make sure that life isn't normal for her again. Who will punish the society that rapes the woman emotionally every day after the act has been committed? In India more than half of women believe that it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife. Who will change this mindset? As long as the bride’s family will give dowry, as long as the woman becomes property of male family after marriage and stop supporting their parents, as long as women are not given equal opportunity in workplace, women will not be independent. As long as women are not independent, they will be burden on their family; they will be killed before birth. The real battle should not be against government or police, but against the society that promotes gender inequality. It might be a fight against our own family, our own parents...a fight against whom we love... are we ready for it? As long as we don’t fight the devil within us we will not make our country safer place for women.

Added on 29th December 2012:
The girl is dead. Now she can rest in peace because had she been alive our society would have killed her every day. Her death also makes it legal to hang the criminals for murder. But once (with a big if) they are hanged, will that be the end of it? Will we go back to our 'normal' life and her death be lost in statistics? Probably yes, that's how we are.

 [1] http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-07/india/30368929_1_major-crimes-cognizable-crimes-crime-statistics

[2] http://rupeenews.com/2012/12/delhi-rape-capital-india-3rd-in-rapes-woman-raped-every-20-minutes-in-india/

[3] http://www.rainn.org/statistics?gclid=CObbzpyisrQCFdG5zAodvmMAOA

[4] Wilson, Glenn. The Science of Sex: Glenn Wilson on Rape. The Great Sex Divide, pp. 128–131. http://www.heretical.com/wilson/rape.html