The recent judgement that sentenced film maker
Mahmood Farooqui to seven years imprisonment for the rape of a researcher from
Columbia University has been hailed by many as an instance of gender justice.
It is on rare occasions when the high and the mighty are brought to book for
the crimes they commit. In cases of sexual assault the picture is rendered
bleaker because the perpetrator walks free more often than not. When in the cases of Mahmood Farooqui, Tarun
Tejpal and R K Pachauri, to mention a few, the benefit of doubt was reserved
for the perpetrators rather than the victims, we are reminded that rape
survivors are still a long way from a dignified treatment and justice.
This is why it becomes important that rape survivors
should be given benefit of doubt. And in a country like India which is yet to
shake off its shackles of patriarchy, it becomes doubly important. The 2012
December Delhi gang rape shook the entire nation and brought people from every
section out in the streets demanding stricter laws to regulate sexual crimes.
Many of us hoped that the very nature of the crime and the protest that
followed would ensure that we won’t see any repetition of such horror. But
three years down the line, that hope is yet to come true. Crimes against women
have in fact increased.
The new law that was introduced post Nirbhaya
incident did not do much to change the callous attitude of police and state
institutions towards sexual crimes. In fact nations continue to fail rape
survivors on a regular bais. For popular discourse, there are no rape
‘survivors’ but only ‘victims’. And on a daily basis, such victims are turned
away, not believed and even accused of lying. Their complaints and concerns are
not even entertained in many cases. This is happening in the army and police,
on campus, in prisons, in religious institutions and even in victims’ own
families which has deeply embedded biases and stereotypes which makes it easier
to dismiss a victim’s experience rather than support it.
Women who have been put through the traumatic experience
of rape go through a nightmare even after the tragic incident. Going to the
police is a daunting affair. In many cases police doesn’t even file a complaint
at the first instant. It is much worse if the victim comes from a lower
class/caste. Even after a complaint has been filed, the dominant view is that
may be the victim “was asking for it” – may be she was too ‘easy’, may
be she was out too late, may be she was out with the wrong people and most
popularly, may be she was wearing the wrong kind of clothes which was way too
provocative. One is left wondering how provocative and titillating can be the
frock of a two/ three/ five year old kid.
Victims are forced to relieve the trauma too many
times. Be it at the police station or in front of the judge, the onus is
psychologically often on the victim to prove the crime. Victims have to
negotiate with a judiciary embedded in patriarchal values. When in the rape
case of Bhawri Devi, the judge said that an elderly person will ‘never’ indulge
in gang rape in front of his nephew as this is not possible in Indian culture,
we witness the absolute lack of credibility attached to the testimony of
victims. Even after all this ordeal, more often than not the accused walks free
or is given a minimal punishment. The callous non-serious attitude of the
administration makes it harder for the victim to get justice. When political
leaders use words like “legitimate rape”, “men will be men”, there is a
tendency to grade rape in terms of justification. When political leaders
question the character of rape victim and accuse her of lying just to malign
the government, we get a glimpse of what women who face sexual and criminal
abuse are up against.
Civil society at best feels pity for such victims
who have lost their virginity and hence purity after being raped. News channels
do their bit of damage by sensationalizing reporting on rape for the lust of a
few TRPs. The dehumanizing attack that a woman goes through doesn’t mean much
to a society where women’s sexuality is a thing to be controlled and regulated.
Many a time families don’t even go to court because of concern that no suitable
match will be found for the victim. Victims are also discouraged to pursue
legal action because the conviction rate continues to be abysmally low – around
26%. Laws have been made to counter sexual crimes. But the statistics is not
encouraging. Despite several protests after the Nirbhaya incident, the number
of rape cases has almost doubled from 585 in 2012 to 1441 in 2013. According to
National Crime Records Bureau, 93 women are raped everyday. This is depressing
when we consider that too many cases still go unreported.
Many have pointed out there are cases of fake rape
accusations. It may be ture. One cannot point out a law that has not been
misused even once. But can that be a reason enough of doubting every victim as
a potential manipulator?? In a country where leave alone sex, even romantic
relationships are difficult to talk about, a woman reporting a rape must be
taken seriously and not outrightly dismissed. When one starts doubting victims
by pointing out technicalities like the victim knew the ‘alleged’ perpetrator
well, they were even friends or in a relationship, or by pointing out gaps in
the testimony of the victims, one is conveniently overlooking the fact that
most rapists (almost 94% according to NCRB) are known to their victims. And
many neuroscientists have pointed out that reconstructing a traumatic incident
often takes a toll on the victim. It is next to impossible to recount such an
incident in a detached objective manner.
Sensitizing the system towards gender just issues is
the first step in delivering justice to rape survivors. While one cannot deny
the fact that rape accusation might be used to target people from weaker
sections of the society, that cannot be the sole basis of dismissing such
complaints. Along with stricter laws, an overhaul of social attitude and a
thorough sensitization is the need of the hour. What is required is that when we
read a report in newspaper about rape, we must start by believing rather than
questioning. When we hear a rape joke, we must start with condemning rather
than laughing. Only then we can move towards a more gender just society where
systems and institutions are not inherently biased against women.
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