Rape
seems to be the latest crime that has shaken up the nation and it seems to be
happening with a scary frequency. Akin to the December 2012 incident where
everyone wanted the Police Commissioner to resign; candle marches; street
protests, TV panel discussion, the recent incident and many more in future will
be forgotten in a few days’ time and life carries on as usual.
The
Supreme Court had some times back observed that India is "becoming a
hub" for large scale child prostitution rackets. An article about the
Rescue Foundation in New Internationalist magazine states that "according
to Save the Children India, clients now prefer 10- to 12-year-old girls". Ministry
of Women and Child Development estimated that there are around 2.8 million sex
workers in India, with 35.47 per cent of them entering the trade before the age
of 18 years. Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red light districts in
Indian cities, and that many of the girls may only be 9 or 10 years old. The
human desire for young girls is rapidly increasing in India. It should not
shock us unless we feign ignorance of the facts.
The
reason may be that we are addressing the symptom and not the cause; the
proximate and not the ultimate. In any case if laws were adequate to stop crime
then society would have been crime free, unfortunately human behaviour as its
own dynamics.
Rape
is bad but it’s the sadism associated with it which is scary and needs
immediate attention as its indicative of larger malice in the society. It’s
happened in both the cases Dec 2012 and Apr 2013 with offenders leaving foreign
bodies inside the victim and leaving them for dead post extreme violence. The
sadism is a sign of sick mind and known reasons for this sickness are:
Disturbed
Childhood
Strict
or aloof father.
Being
a victim of child/adult abuse
Deprived
in life
Poor
value system in the family. Absence of spirituality/ religion and or positive
thought inducing environment
Absence
of respect for girl/female in the family/village/community-
beating/harassment/ill treatment/psy torture/tantrums/ menial jobs.
Right
of way for the male child vis a vis the girl child
Displaced
aggression is a common reason. To take this further, many unemployed frustrated
youth might rape a woman belonging to an affluent class because of jealousy or
revenge, not just lust.
People of a higher class/caste may do it to a
person whom they consider inferior, often due to land disputes.
Gang rapes are more common in India
(particularly in rural India), and are often motivated by revenge.
Pornography,
movies, TV, provocative dresses and migration of rural, uneducated, unskilled,
deprived young males from rural India where women are treated with disdain have
contributed.
Families
from rural areas moving to cities for better opportunities and living in slum
like housing contribute their bit whilst these people are moving from
deprivation to inclusion.
Desire
of deprived to access the toys adding to the macho status
Indian women are at greater risk
In India there is an added factor loaded against
women. As they have a lower status in society than men it makes them more
vulnerable to sexual crimes as men view them not only as sex objects but also
as non-entities.
The problem is compounded by the fact that in India
raped women are often rejected by their families.
In courts their reputation are attacked if it is
revealed that they were raped or molested. This makes them reluctant to
complain against their assailant, which in turn encourages rape.
Rapist profile
Analysis
of police data in western countries has revealed startling facts which again
co-relate almost exactly with the Indian situation.
The
majority of rapists arrested are young males between 16-24 years of age. As a
group, they mostly come from the lower end of the socio-economic ladder.
Typically they are unskilled workers with low intelligence, little education
and low income. Research in the US has also revealed that most rapes are
planned events. About 80% of rapists commit the act in the neighbourhood in
which they reside and many rapes take place in an urban, nocturnal setting.
Reporting Investigation Conviction
Sexual
violence and rape in particular, is considered the most under-reported violent
crime across the world even amongst the aware and educated societies. In Italy,
a 2006 National Statistical Institute survey on violence against women found
that 91, 6% of women who experienced rape did not report it to the police.
Since
the vast majority of rapes are committed by persons known to the victim, the
initiation and process of a rape investigation depends much on the victim's
willingness and ability to report and describe a rape. In the United Kingdom,
the conviction rate is about 5.6% in and Ireland had the lowest rate of
conviction for rape (1%).
Remedial Measures
The problem is extremely serious and much deeper than what
is officially reported. The measure has to be both proximate and ultimate.
Proximate are being addressed kind courtesy the civil society, youth, media and
a number of other pressures.
The issues which need to be addressed are long term
otherwise the rapid urbanisation will aggravate the issue.
Family
We
as a nation have always had a very strong parental influence on the next
generations. The stories which were narrated by the grand ma before going to
bed combing anecdote with a lesson and the victory of good over the evil was
strong psychological influence. The coming of paid nanny and creche culture is
denting this tradition. Needs to be brought back in whatever way within the constraints
of evolving society.
Society
The treatment of females is greatly varying in our society.
The patriarchal system, dowry, preference for a boy have all added to the girl
child, it’s more pronounced in North India. The reason may be that North India
was subjected to massive foreign invasions by Muslim invaders from North and
West. In the good old days the winner carried away the females as the prize of
war. Saving the honour of the girl became the biggest challenge
therefore need to avoid a girl child and the cascading implication of child
marriage. Amongst the tribes and South
of Vindhyachal the respect for females is much better. This is inheritance and
deep mind set. The answer lies in empowerment— enforce the girl getting her
share of property (the law exists but the emotional blackmail deprives the girl
of property) and edu cum financial
empowerment. Only then the mind-set will change.
Religious Teachers
Our religious teachers have a dominant say in their
respective spheres of influence. A message going through them will have
wonderful impact. However some Muslim leaders will need to combine at religious-
reformers- intellectual level to upgrade their women’s place in their way of
thinking. In the name of secularism unfortunately our mass leaders have failed
to exploit the most dominant force capable of silent transformation.
Inclusiveness
The deprivation problem is extremely acute in some of the rural
areas of Central India. Extreme poverty, non-availability of basic needs, education
in fact its battle for survival on daily basis. Its sheer exploitation by
everyone starting from the village head to the contractor and everyone who
controls any resource. There is a need
for addressing this issue
Education
Value based education, debates, discussion and self-empowering
education needs to be imparted. Self-respect, esteem and facilitating financial
empowerment would do wonders to the mind-set.
Identification of Potential Criminals
The potential criminal starts to show early signs from
childhood days and they keep getting aggravated as the child grows. It is
possible to identify such characters who exhibit traits of bullying; introvert;
isolationist; brooder; cruelty towards animals; excessively critical/negative
about life; blaming society for one’s misdeeds; drugs/alcohol /smoking or other
bad habits early in life.
Such children, boys, youth need treatment and they can be
identified by parents; teachers; friends and peers. Close watch by the society
and psychiatric treatment/professional counselling at the right time would make
significant difference.
Grooming
Every male desires a film heroine as his wife not
withstanding his personal traits. Similarly every girl desires a rich, smart, and
polished and hero like boyfriend/husband. Both desire access to good things of
life mainly materialist. Starting from a motorcycle to very thing else that is
seen in a decent house as shown in TV serial. Wishes to live the life as
depicted by the film/TV. Boy/girl brought up in a rural area and moving to
urban area faces the challenge of quickly getting absorbed in the new society
and could easily become the victim from the fear of refusal.
Role of Aware Citizenry
The society – and police need to cooperate to tackle this
menace. Potential criminal needs to be identified and confidentially
communicated to the local Police Station. Thereafter surveillance and treatment
as recommended by the psychiatrists / counsellors be implemented. It is not
possible for the police to be everywhere but the people are. A shopkeeper, society
guard; peers, co-workers and friends
circle can easily identify such people who are sick and need treatment. They need
empathy and not isolation which will bring the sadism-animal in them at the
very worst.
An arrangement where police develops the capability to
tackle this sickness on a tip off from the civil society is perhaps the long
term workable option.
Laws; Speedy
Investigations and Disposal
Speedy investigation and speedy and exemplary punishment
would go some way in minimising the problem.
Police needs to co-opt the society in case it wishes to
effectively prevent occurrence, otherwise it will keep have to keep facing the
ire of the people.
The family of the criminal should also be taken to task for
not reporting the man for his criminal bent of mind to the police. Locality
where the criminal stayed should also be held responsible for its failure to
report the matter.
Make A Difference
Lets make a difference by pooling our efforts and stop blaming others
No comments:
Post a Comment