The Republic of Rape

Saturday, 19/01/2013

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/news/Gangrape-of-a-society-in-the-republic-of-rape_18-01-2013-17-01-56.html

CHANDIGARH: While the nation is witnessing enraged revolutions to light the fire of democracy, numerous little girls and innocent women are being raped every day.

Indian democracy, the world’s largest with most diversified demographics, is facing a slow death as the crisis of gender equality deepens, earning the country the dubious distinction of being the 'Republic of Rape' on the global map.

Shamefully, the only growth known to the country in recent times has been in some of the most heinous crimes against half of its population – its women.

Crime against women includes kidnapping, eve-teasing, sexual harassment, rape and molestation. It is said that every 7 minutes, a crime happens against women in India and in total 25,000 rapes take place per year.

While women in India generally face several disadvantages — poor health, poor literacy rates, low-grade income levels, falling sex ratio, female feticide, female infanticide to name just a handful — the last few years have witnessed some astonishing acts of violence against women and children.

Last year, 24,206 cases of rape were reported in India. Acts of violence registered against women in 2010 total around 2,13,585. These crimes have continuously increased during 2006-2010 with 1,64,765 cases in 2006; 1,85,312 cases in 2007; 1,95,856 cases in 2008; 2,03,804 cases in 2009; and 2,13,585 cases in 2010.

Swayam, a Kolkata-based NGO, asserts that between 2005 and 2009, when the overall crime rate rose by 16%, crimes against women rose by 31%. Conviction on rape charges is also known to be pathetically low.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of India released shocking statistics this year. According to NCRB, a rape is committed every 54 minutes in India, molestation every 26 minutes, eve-teasing every 51 minutes. A survey conducted by Thomson Reuters placed India on the 4th rank as world’s most dangerous countries for women along with Afghanistan, Congo and Somalia.

Andhra Pradesh, accounting for nearly 7.1% of the country’s population, has registered 12.8% of total crimes against women in the country by reporting 27,244 cases. West Bengal with 7.6% share of country’s population has accounted for nearly 12.2% of total crime against women by reporting 26,125 cases in 2010.

Undoubtedly, the mother of all cities in terms of crimes against women is the Indian national capital New Delhi that is now being rated as the rape capital of not only the country but of the world. Bangalore is ranked second in the tally. Mumbai witnesses over 200 rapes every year apart from 600 molestation cases. Mumbai’s sex crime graph rises 15% per year.

But these figures are highly defective, not just because most of the cases go unreported but also because legions of crimes against women, sadly, are not even considered criminal offences in our country ruled by patriarchal values. For instance, the rape of a wife by her husband, as long as the wife is over 15 years of age. If these figures were to be included in the statistics of crime against women, we, as a society, would not be able to look ourselves in the mirror.

Even worse is the fact that various crimes against women are categorized and then painted with same brush. Take for instance the latest vogue of saying “a rape is a rape”. The rest are put on a graded plane of violence. We as a society need to understand that there are degrees of horror in every rape, grades of wrongdoing in each molestation, levels of brutality and intent to harm in every sexual assault. It is high time we admit the difference because unless we move away from categorizing “a rape as a rape”, we cannot do justice to our women.

A casual scan of the front page of any national or regional newspaper or the flip of any new channel, small or big, assaults the reader with shocking incidents of violence against women and children. Indian society is unable to respect and protect its women and children and has started to lose its moral moorings and has run adrift.

Women are raped, irrespective of which city they live in, what economic and cultural background they come from, what is their age, or profession. Men rape, irrespective of which city they live in, what economic and cultural background they come from, what is their age and profession.

This problem cannot be solved by the government and administrative machinery alone. A national awakening involving the entire country and civil society is needed.

However, this frenzied national thirst for the blood of the rapist, calling for his castration or death merely shifts the focus away from real violence on a real person to an imaginary violence against an exaggerated idea of honour and dignity. It focuses on intangibles like respect, dignity, humiliation and shame rather than on tangible crimes like goaded assault, real injury, and brutal physical violation.

Right now, as we cry for justice, it may help if we change our mindset; fight deep-rooted sexism and misogyny.

Also, let us wake up and not allow the political class to continue to let us down, both with their reaction as well as their assessment of the problem; let us force the judiciary and administrative machinery to get pro-active in dealing with such cases on priority and with efficiency; and let us stop blaming others for every wrong. Let us stand up and take responsibility by acknowledging that the culprits are living among us – as our brothers, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, sons and friends.

Let us vow to educate them rather than banishing our women under the nauseating and non-sensical garb of ‘ethical Indian woman behaviour’ of dressing up in a certain way or not going out after a certain hour.