Soon after women were groped and molested en masse in Bengaluru on New Year’s Eve, some politicians were quick to put the blame on women for wearing ‘Western’ clothes.
The trouble is, our society obsesses over ‘how the survivor was dressed at the time’, rather than confronting the man’s heinous crime of sexual assault.
Then explain this: Reports of an 80-year-old woman, a woman wearing a hijab, a passenger on an Air India flight, a 10-year-old girl, a three-year-old girl raped/molested in the last few days. They weren’t dressed provocatively.
Man’s bestial behaviour
Dr Narayan Reddy, a renowned sexologist, explains that in most cases rapist don’t derive sexual pleasure from the act. He says, “Rapists are very insecure and they have inferiority complex. They don’t consider rape as an act of sex; it’s their ability to over-power the victim that gives them pleasure. Hence, what kind of clothes a woman wears doesn’t even matter to a rapist. What blame can you put on a three-year-old rape victim? Partly, the reason for men going out of line is also Indian movies that objectify women.”
Dr Diana Monteiro, a psychologist explains that there are many reasons why a man rapes. “Any pathological behaviour occurs for different reasons. It’s biological, where the perpetrator is sexually frustrated, or psychological, where they don’t respect women because of the way they are brought up. Respecting women should be ingrained in every kid at a very early age, only that can help this situation better,” she says.
Bad parenting
Actress Saloni Chopra feels that the flaw is not just in bad parenting, but also how ‘the great Indian culture’ is prejudiced. “Our culture is such that women are suppressed. A man can behave however he feels like with a woman and she is expected to be submissive and accept it. It isn’t just men being raised wrong, it is also women being raised wrong where they are not expected to stand up for their rights. Whether you’re wearing a dress, saree or a burkha, it doesn’t make a difference, because sexual assault is about exerting power and control over someone else. Worst of all is if a husband rapes his wife it isn’t even a criminal act,” she explains and adds, “Many think that these incidents are the side-effect of westernisation. However, it’s time we step up and do something concrete rather than just talk about and condemn these incidents.
Sunitha Krishnan, women’s rights activist
Punishment must be severe
Section 375 of Indian Penal Code clarifies that the punishment for rape is ‘imprisonment not less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. In aggravated situations, punishment will be rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine’.
However, it seems that that is not enough to scare people from committing such crime. Actor Nikhil Siddharth thinks it’s high time we made a stricter law for rapists. “It doesn’t matter how much we talk about it or how many candles we light for these victims, the law has to be stricter. The government needs to make sure that the punishment in such cases is so severe that people don’t even think about molesting women or playing with her dignity. That’s the only way to stop these incidents,” he says.
