Tag:

sexual assault

So, what can men do?

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Kokila Bhattacharya

I started writing this is in disbelief, and exhausting rage, which quickly extinguished into helplessness, and permeated as grief and eventually settled down as our default state of being — despair. But despair doesn’t warrant change, so I’m writing to you, in hope. Hope that doesn’t exist in this burning world, but is created, over and over again. And even though I am yet to witness this personally — I want to believe that you, our integrity to change and respond with accountability and our blueprint for the future can sit here together.

If you’re a cis het man and feeling a bit helpless, anguished, angry and even defensive — you’re at the right place.

(TW: persistent mention of sexual violence) (scroll to the end for “the point”)

On Anger and selective rage

OURS :

This is not about you. Inside our anger lies a deep sense of betrayal of our boundaries and autonomy from the moment of our birth. It often turns into grief because, despite the continuous injustices we face, no one truly listens. You may trigger or provoke this anger, but it’s not about you personally — it’s about what you have come to represent. Our anger is sacred and generational, growing with each episode of injustice, rooted in our collective experiences and solidarity. We are accustomed to our experiences being invalidated and our anger dismissed as an overreaction. Let my anger, our collective rage, be about that.

YOURS :

If you feel discomfort or defensiveness, it’s an invitation to begin understanding the intensity of what many experience on a daily basis. There is a larger systemic problem that hurts you as well. This write up is obviously propelled by the (outrage at) heinous violence at RG Kar. However, at the risk of meddling in whataboutery, I’d like to examine our collective reactionary bouts. After all, its 22 years since Gujarat, 12 since December 16, 4 since Hathras and not even a second since the last act of violence by a man.

When you feel anger about the violence at RG Kar, what exactly are you reacting to? Besides death, what parts of this kind of violence makes it ‘heinous’ ?
Are you outraged because the victim shares certain identities with you? How might that shape your response?
Would your empathy and sense of justice be the same if the survivor were male, a trans person, or a sex worker? A bahujan homemaker, a muslim farmer; would your anger be just as intense?
How did you respond to the news of the dalit minor whose life was taken by sexual violence in the same week? Did it evoke the same level of outrage?
Are there any underlying biases or societal influences shaping the strength or direction of your anger?

On the nature of Rape

Rape is a tool — a political one. By defining politics as the exercise of power, rape becomes an instrument of power. It’s rarely driven by sexual desire but often by hatred, which can be cultivated and manipulated. This makes rape a political tool, used in warfare and to settle scores. Like any violent act, understanding the politics of rape requires understanding the politics of violence across caste, communal, economic, and gendered contexts. It is to dehumanize— a blazing statement to anyone taking space, “How dare you?”

It is not merely the lack of consent. If sex is about pleasure, rape is designed to inflict pain.

In a country where nothing and nobody moves until the politician does, why only have this exception about not politicising rape? Asks Rama Lakshmi

I find it pertinent to note that unlike above, the “politicization” of rape is, different, the latter being the conniving exploitation of an issue for political gains, (like we witnessed post Kathua) and choosing some over others as electoral agendas. As stories from Dalitbahujan women, muslim women and wmen from Manipur will tell you, the system has not just failed us but enabled perpetrators over and over. And women’s lives and their bodies have been the unacknowledged casualties of war for too long.

A few examples:

Rape as a tool of war is not new in Manipur.
The Womb as a Weapon in Palestine.
Soldiers and police use rape as a weapon: to punish, intimidate, coerce, humiliate and degrade in Kashmir
Extremists have a pronounced ideological warfare against values such as gender equality, which makes women more vulnerable.Sexual violence has been used as ameans of ethnic cleansing in Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, East Timor, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Jordan, Syria, Ukraine, and Colombia.

Patriarchy x Caste

Both are rooted in a shared desire to assert dominance and control, with sexual violence often being used as a deliberate tool to reinforce caste-based oppression. Just as caste determines social status and access to resources, it also dictates who holds power over others, perpetuating a system where violence, including rape, is wielded to maintain and enforce these hierarchical boundaries. Savarna men, at the top of this hierarchy, benefit the most and often operate with impunity.

It’s illuminating that NCRB’s data reveals there was a 45% increase in reported rapes of Dalit women between 2015 and 2020. The increasing incidences of gender-based violence (GBV) against lowered-caste women prove that we fundamentally undermine their social, economic, political, and cultural rights.

Patriarchy x Nationalism ( ≠ patriotism)

When a hyper-masculine country believes it is greater than anything else, nationalism becomes a force that valorizes strength, creates enemies, and shields perpetrators of violence. This belief system, intertwined with the invocation of religion and cultural purity, turns rape into a tool for silencing dissent and asserting control. Much like caste and gender, which are rigidly defined by birth and upheld as a form of superiority, nationalism is often treated as an inherited virtue rather than something earned or truly virtuous. This narrow, inherited blindfold of “nationhood” is celebrated as a mark of superiority, obscuring the humanity of those outside its definition and perpetuating an environment where degradation and misogyny are normalized. Just as ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ became a symbolic and pious deification, this narrative is also where Jyoti’s story was appropriated into “India’s daughter”, reinforcing nationalistic and patriarchal ideals rather than addressing the underlying issues of gender violence.

Capitalism x Patriarchy

It is no surprise that gendered violence and ecological destruction go hand in hand. Capitalism prioritizes competition, dominance, and the commodification of resources, fosters a culture where power imbalances are normalized and exploitation is justified. This mindset reduces people and their bodies to commodities, fueling a sense of entitlement that contributes to rape culture, where women’s bodies are seen as objects to control rather than autonomous beings deserving of respect. By dehumanizing individuals and prioritizing profit over empathy, capitalism nurtures the conditions in which rape culture thrives, mirroring the exploitation of natural resources with the exploitation of vulnerable populations.

Examples like exploitation and bonded labour in Tamil Nadu’s textile mills and rampant harassment at companies like TCS are just a few byproducts of this production frenzied. Marginalized communities face the greatest risks.

What is Rape Culture?

It is the stinking environment we live and breathe — a culture where sexual violence is normalized and even glamorized. Misogyny isn’t just present but actively perpetuated, feeding into a system of rampant objectification and systemic degradation. This culture is both deliberate and structural.

The hyper-masculine nature of movements like Hindu supremacism mirrors global alt-right trends, where violence disproportionately targets women, especially those from marginalized communities. This toxic masculinity, often intertwined with nationalism, normalizes sexual violence as a tool of power and control. Rape culture thrives in environments where patriarchy and autocracy coexist, making it crucial to understand how these dynamics shape and perpetuate systemic violence against women.

While violence itself isn’t inherently gendered, the vast majority of it is committed by men, and patriarchy benefits from this reality. As a man, be cautious of right-wing narratives, particularly those with religious or mythological undertones. These narratives often confine women to roles where their honor or dignity is at stake, thus allowing men to assert their valor by “protecting” it. This dynamic only reinforces patriarchy and demonizes certain castes. We’re now at a point where a victim’s trauma is turned into a source of illicit pleasure for the public, an even distorted schadenfreude. This phenomenon is part of a troubling trend where violence is sensationalized and even eroticized, underscoring how deeply ingrained and exploitative these cultural dynamics can be. Ultimately, a ‘culture’ shapes behavior.

We don’t need your protection. We need you to be decent human beings.

Rape is Consensual: Inside Haryana’s Rape Culture | Documentary by The Quint | India’s rape culture: the survivors’ stories

On Masculinity

I’m nobody to define what it’s like to be a man. Even on days when I envy your perceived freedom, I wouldn’t trade my compassion for conflict. We’re all at odds with the patriarchy but men* embody it in ways I cannot entirely fathom. Often, it’s difficult to see when aggression has crossed into toxicity, because alpha male tropes are so normalized, especially in far-right narratives. As a country hinging towards the pious hyper-masculinism, we must question at what point religion became the creator of violence.

If gender is learned what can one ask oneself as a man to unlearn toxic masculinity

What does it mean to be a man for me?
What parts of this answer were actually perpetuated by the society growing up?
What parts do I want to inculcate, which parts do I wish to unlearn, for myself?
Post the #metoo movement — What has changed for me? Inside me?

Encouraging Healthy Expressions Of Masculinity To Prevent Rape Culture In India

On the idea of Justice

Judicially, there are four ‘theories of punishment’ ;
the deterrent theory which seeks to prevent future crimes by making severe examples of offenders and has had little impact on crime rates, the preventive theory which aims to stop reoffending by imprisoning criminals, but can lead to hardened behavior rather than rehabilitation, the retributive theory focusing on punishing offenders in proportion to their crime (like the death penalty in the Nirbhaya case). the theory of compensation which seeks to financially and morally compensate victims, but can oversimplify the complexities of crime and victim impact and the reformative theory rehabilitates offenders to reintegrate them into society, though it requires significant resources and may not work for all individuals.

Can the justice system, itself an extension of the patriarchal framework even offer solutions beyond this cycle of violence? In a country where rapists aren’t just let free but celebrated, garlanded in pomposity, survivors are dismissed, disbelieved, and left mentally undone, and legal processes remain inaccessible, what does justice truly mean? It is no wonder that 90% of rapes go unreported because the system is meant to re-traumatize. Here retributive justice feels like mere vengeance, running around in the perpetual cycle where violence begets violence.

Mob violence and lynchings mirror this issue under the garb of taking the law into their own hands. Often viewed as a democratic response, is frenzied, unconstitutional, and non-reparative. Its immediacy and spectacle offer a false sense of gratification, frequently reinforcing biases rather than addressing underlying systemic issues. Is this ‘poetic’ justice, or just another form of oppression?

Now, as these systems fail, for survivors of sexual violence, and anyone having witnessed violation of their bodily autonomy, what is justice?

Can justice be about healing, even from the confines of traditional expectations of what this crime is supposed to do to me? Can we decenter rape from its stigmatized and sensationalized position as the ultimate violation against women. To effectively respond, we have to re-imagine justice. It needs to transgress beyond the punitive into restorative. It needs to become survivor led and centered, incorporating lived experiences into the process. It needs to recognize that each survivor’s experience and needs are unique and solutions cannot be straitjacketed. A sense of justice that involves the perpetrator’s accountability and the survivor’s recovery; a justice that isalso embodied, possibly even somatic.

A friend reminded me as I was recovering from a trigger meltdown, “If trauma shames and isolates, then recovery must take place in community”.

One Future Collective has many fantastic resources exploring justice, especially for supporting GBV survivors.

The perfect victim

We’ve all experienced that even in the most supposedly progressive places, women are supposed to become worthy of justice. Solidarity becomes conditional, subject to various `facets of our identities, whereabouts, promiscuity, because ‘respectable’ Indian women do not get raped. So it is of no surprise that atleast 40,000 of us aren’t respectable.

“میںسچکہوںگیمگرپھربھیہارجاؤںگی،وہجھوٹبولےگااورلاجوابکردےگا۔”

(मैंसचकहूँगीमगरफिरभीहारजाऊँगी, वोझूटबोलेगाऔरला–जवाबकरदेगा)—Parveen Shakir

Tropes like ‘Bharat Mata,’ ‘Nirbhaya,’ and ‘Abhaya’, calling us sisters and mothers only reinforce this narrative, catering to those who consume victimhood for sympathy. The ideal victim is portrayed as chaste (either a ‘virgin’ or married), attacked by a stranger, resisting her attacker, and suffering severe injury or death.

Moreover, rape laws are far from gender-neutral. They are not friendly but rather patriarchal, reflecting a system where men’s experiences of coercion are either minimized or dismissed even as pleasure, and where they face threats without adequate protection.

India’s New Criminal Law Offers Little Protection Against Sexual Assault To Men & Trans Men | Kartikeya Bahadur & Sumati Thusoo

To truly move forward and address injustice, acknowledge that rape victims/ survivors are imperfect. They’re human.

The Demonised Rapist

The perils of stereotype do not limit itself to our idea of a rapist just because these are brutal crimes. In fact, by avanlanching the distance between ‘society’ (achha aadmi) and sexual assaulters, we ignore that these perpetrators are not anomalies but products of systemic design. If an assaulter were truly an isolated anomaly, there wouldn’t be over 3,000 searches for the victim’s name on porn sites, like vultures picking at ruins.

Deterrence or reform is unlikely unless we understand where this violence takes root. Such binary views vilify perpetrators and undermine the possibility of achieving justice or taking responsibility.

These may help to understand : Muskan Garg | Rape Mindset — Psychology Behind Sexual Violence // Kamala Thiagarajan | In Interviews With 122 Rapists, Student Pursues Not-So-Simple Question: Why?

(More on) Capital Punishment :

Knee jerk reactions like these do not offer solace to the survivor, but absolves us all of collective responsibility and accountability towards both cure and prevention. In its discomfort to face the perpetrator as the mere byproduct of a system, it wants to shove it away as garbage — loin des yeux, loin du cœur (out of sight, out of mind) — and pretend the underlying problem is solved. We will soon find out, as many feminists know, that the stench catches up sooner or later. If we are to really look at a person not devoid of his humanity, we must peer into the society that created him and acknowledge that a person is inseparable from his surroundings.

To point out the irony,
if rape is about power & control,
and the death penalty (supposedly) punishes you for
the ultimate heinous crime,
is it not a perverse reward to a rapist?
If not, this perspective certainly reinforces the idea that a woman’s worth is tied to her victimization, defined by their suffering rather than their agency, contributions, or rights, which is a tall patriarchal assumption.

To well meaning men around me, including my father, who staunchly believe a rapist should be hanged, I want to ask if they would advocate equivocally given the perpetrator is their brother, cousin, best friend, OR is all our demonizing limited to other (/othering of) men? And are we all ready to receive the punitive damages for creating and nurturing this ever growing macho aggression? Instead of focusing on revenge, we could invest in prevention, support, and systemic change to truly confront the violence at its core.

Let patriarchy be the only casualty.

Sahana Manjesh rightly elucidates here, ‘Why The Death Penalty Is Not A Solution To India’s Rape Problem’

West Bengal’s new ‘Aparajita Woman and Child Bill 2024

A Checklist

In my early teens, a listicle on how not to get raped stayed pinned to my cupboard. It took years for me to see just how regressive it was, but by then the work was done. It drilled into me a relentless hyper-vigilance, a suffocating belief that my safety was solely my responsibility, that if I was attacked or raped, it would be my fault. As women, we carry this list in various forms, etched into our very bones — always on alert, never safe, never calm. Betrayed nevertheless.

Here’s a list for you, of questions you can ask yourself instead.

As a human being

Personally :

Have I fully owned and acknowledged my past actions or abusive behaviors, and am I committed to genuine repair?
In what ways can I address and repair the harm I’ve caused, both to myself and others?
How do I handle my own experiences of being abused, and am I actively working towards healing and not perpetuating the cycle?
Am I engaging in actions that contribute to a culture of silence or complicity, and how can I actively oppose these patterns?
How do substances like alcohol affect my behavior, and what steps am I taking to ensure I remain accountable?
When you witness harassment, do you take action to support the victim or confront the perpetrator, or do you remain passive?

It’s harrowing to reckon with having been abusive in the past, but the only thing worse is never acknowledging it. Even though a bit redundant, here is the Attitudes Towards Women Scale test.

If you are struggling with trauma, Mithra Trust has a freshly baked beautiful resource : A guide to Understanding Trauma

Interpersonally :

As a Partner——I want to unashamedly start by stating that around 30% of violence against women in India is perpetrated by intimate partners. I have personally witnessed it more than once. What does the deplorable legality of marital rape in India reveal how we view ‘partnerships’?

Relationships or kinships are often the first place where childhood wounds get excoriated, both triggered and caused. Pleasure, love, and affection are the body’s ways of understanding safety. By failing to provide our partners with a sense of safety, we are saying that to be violated is a norm rather than an aberration. Cascading betrayals. You and your partner could ask yourselves :

Do I understand non verbal cues of a no? Do I take no as a complete answer?
Do I understand boundaries and what they look like when drawn?
Do I understand the power dynamics in our relationship and how they might influence consent?
What steps am I taking to address and heal my own toxic behaviors and patterns?

Why we don’t get consent by Paromita Vohra

( More : How Men Can Help Women Recover from Sexual Violence )

As a Parent

If your child lashes out at you for not protecting them enough, please see it as a sign of possible past harm. They are not necessarily blaming you, they saw you as their protectors. I hope you can take this opportunity, even in retrospect, to let them know you believe them and stand up for them (especially if there’s an abuser in the family)

Most of us did not have that privilege.

Further, as a father, you may ask yourself

How am I teaching my children about consent, respect, and healthy boundaries to prevent sexual abuse?
How am I, as a model, actively challenging and changing any harmful attitudes or behaviors I might have inherited or witnessed?

Here are helpful resources from Protsahan India Foundation : How to talk to your kids about child sexual abuse and rape .

As Friends / Active listeners / First Personal Responders —

When I’ve shared my experiences of abuse with male friends, their responses — ranging from wanting to react violently, showing disgust, prying for more details, blaming me, or offering superficial apologies — have been unhelpful. I know this is just my experience, but I’ve regretted confiding in them.

How can I listen supportively without reacting with disgust or blame?
How can I create a safe and empathetic space for survivors to share their experiences?
How can I challenge and change harmful attitudes about sexual violence in my circles?
Have I already taken the step to unfriend or distance myself from those who are rapists or abusers, given that they have not changed?

If you are a feminist, you will be a perpetual killjoy.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself if you belong in these spaces

Tech Sector

In what ways are you ensuring that your data collection and research practices are equitable and reflective of diverse experiences, especially those of marginalized women?
Is your intervention aka product focused on making women’s lives safer through gadgets, or is it addressing the root causes and holding perpetrators accountable by shifting the responsibility from women to those who commit violence?

When our bodies are war zones, pepper sprays aren’t designed to scare away the patriarchy and a safety ‘hack’ is the last thing we need.

The Arts

Art is political — stop pretending it’s not. Women are being molested at mosh pits, by classical gurus, and even by supposedly progressive writers, designers, comedians. Our beliefs must transcend the content we create and become the lives we lead.

Sameera Iyengar says, “It is the role of the arts to ask the hard questions, to understand the world through emotion and experience, to propose other ways of being”. She asks How do we collectively create a world of theatre where women feel safe and respected?

Does your work challenge harmful stereotypes and promote respect?
Are your actions and public stances aligned with the values you promote in your art?
What initiatives are you supporting or leading to create safer environments in Indian art spaces where women and marginalized artists can thrive without fear?

Films as maker and viewer

What steps are you taking to create a safe and respectful environment on your sets, and how do you ensure that your films do not glamorize or trivialize violence against women?
In what ways do you support and seek out films that offer respectful and nuanced representations of women’s experiences in India?
How do you respond to problematic content in popular films — do you challenge it, discuss it, or dismiss it as mere entertainment?

A movement is brewing within the Malayalam & Tamil film industry thanks to the courageous women rising against the rotten system of Kerala. I am looking forward to your amplification of it.

Health Sector

The body stores trauma at a primal level. Aruna Shanbaug, who was failed by the system time and again gave us the gift of escaping this body’s entrapment. Despite her vegetative state, it is documented that Aruna would react violently if she heard a strange male voice.

Gabor Maté, renowned physician, argues alongside Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, an expert on trauma, that “the body keeps the score,” and this storage can manifest as physical symptoms, chronic stress, and various health issues.

Are you advocating for trauma-informed care that acknowledges the long-term effects of abuse, or is your focus limited to immediate medical needs?
Do your practices and policies address the chronic pain and PTSD that many survivors endure?

Socio-Developmental Sector

Are you integrating gender equality into every aspect of your projects, or is feminism treated as a peripheral concern?
Are your initiatives designed to drive systemic change rather than offering token gestures?
How is your organization ensuring that its Internal Committee (IC) is compliant with the POSH Act, with a diverse and well-trained team capable of handling cases with sensitivity and urgency?
Additionally, what specific measures have you put in place following recent amendments to the POSH Act to make sure survivors feel safe and supported when coming forward, especially in cases involving senior or influential members?

Education

Are you teaching boys about consent and respect from an early age?
Are your educational programs comprehensive and inclusive, or do they fall short of addressing the complexities of gender dynamics?
Is your school curriculum periodically audited to ensure that they eliminate the scope of perpetuating prejudice, stereotyping and patriarchy?

Politics

What concrete steps are you taking to introduce or support legislation that provides comprehensive support for survivors of sexual violence, especially those from marginalized communities, while also ensuring that politicians accused of such crimes are held accountable?
How are you actively advocating for the reform of training and procedures within law enforcement and the judicial system to ensure that cases of sexual violence involving politicians are handled swiftly, impartially, and with a deep understanding of intersectional issues?
What initiatives are you leading to promote transparency, accountability, and survivor-centered approaches within the political sphere, particularly in collaboration with civil society organizations, to ensure that all survivors receive the support they need and that accused individuals are held responsible?

Avani Bansal and Kanksshi Agarwal urge us to introspect Charity Begins at Home: Political Parties Must Lead the Way to Make Working Spaces Safe for Women

Workplace

How are you implementing evidence-based strategies to create a safer and more inclusive workplace while actively challenging harmful informal conversations among peers that perpetuate a toxic culture?
How are you using research on gender dynamics and power imbalances to disrupt behaviors that silence women’s voices, and how are you standing with women who speak out against harassment in your organization?
What steps are you taking, both professionally and personally, to ensure that anti-harassment policies are rigorously enforced and supported by a culture of accountability and respect for all voices?

Sports

When confronted with the pervasive culture of power in sports federations, how are you actively challenging those who use their influence to protect abusers?
What actions have you taken to ensure that women athletes in your care feel safe and supported, even when speaking out against powerful figures?

Social Media

Our indulgence at the salacious details of the victim’s injuries caused brings us to question where rape culture ends and distorted consumption begins.

How does your advocacy against sexual violence on social media align with your behavior in private conversations and relationships?
When you encounter content that trivializes or sensationalizes sexual violence, how do you actively challenge it, both online and in your personal interactions?
How do you navigate engaging with the work of individuals accused of abuse, and what actions do you take to address cyber sexual bullying or misogyny, ensuring you’re not leaving the labor to others?

Media

“An extension of this is the fact that in this culture, to be socially obtrusive, an incident of rape needs to provide some rasa to the ‘consumer’—bībhatsa, bhayānaka or karuna, to be consumed and derived the respective values from. These emotions are not just organic reactions but are rather deliberately cultivated to create a consumable narrative that caters to a voyeuristic audience.” write Sagrika Rajora and Aditya Krishna.

How often do you critically evaluate the impact of the stories you choose to cover, ensuring they do not perpetuate harmful stereotypes or sensationalize sexual violence for shock value?
Are you demanding better representation and respectful portrayals of women, rather than allowing harmful stereotypes to persist?
In what ways are you actively challenging and transforming existing narratives within media to promote respectful and sensitive representation of survivors of sexual violence?
Are you supporting feminist grassroot media outlets that fosters positive and respectful narratives?

Law

Are you actively ensuring that your legal practice is sensitive to the needs of survivors and inclusive of LGBTQIA+ individuals?
How are you confronting and changing the systemic misogyny and indifference present in legal procedures?
What immediate actions are you taking to advocate for gender-neutral rape laws? How are you applying insights on dismantling rape culture to drive meaningful change in legal protections and support equitable reforms?

Creation of Alternate Systems

Every act of violence is an opportunity for us to recreate the systems we operate in. When we are fraught from fighting systems, dismantling hierarchies and and the dust of the ruins envelope us (an everyday gathering), what do we make?

What kind of culture do we want to embody, instead? What can our children learn here of freedom and what would it take for us to live through ecologies that are casteless, egalitarian, equitable, inclusive, compassionate? How can we enable each other to become ourselves in our wholeness? Can we relearn the craft of repair and healing, mending and fostering healthy, sustainable relationships with ourselves, each other and the system?

As Nora Samaran writes,

“violence is nurturance turned backwards.”

In its place, she proposes “nurturance culture” as the opposite of rape culture, suggesting that models of care and accountability — different from “call-outs” rooted in the politics of guilt — can move toward dismantling systems of dominance and oppression.

For everyone catharsis means a different ideal. To forge a future rooted in justice, we must begin to actively dismantle hierarchies that perpetuate caste, class, and gender oppression now. This means creating systems that prioritize the dignity and liberation of the most marginalized, ensuring our structures support genuine social justice. We must decentralize power, with relationships and governance built on cooperation, mutual aid, and accountability.

May our focus be on fostering environments where respect, compassion, and connection are central. By repairing broken ties to ourselves, each other, and the Earth, we can build communities that truly value and support everyone. In doing so, we lay the groundwork for a future where justice and care are the driving forces in our collective lives.

I don’t know if I believe in the future carrying catharsis or healing for us. But I hope you do.

First Published Here: https://medium.com/@KokilaB/so-what-can-men-do-ffe8917c9154

08/12/2024 0 comments 36 views

Broken, Battered, Taunted, Killed And Misjudged

by Elsa Joel 08/12/2024

written by Elsa Joel

Dr Elsa Lycias Joel

(Names have been changed to protect identities)

‘Boys will be boys. They make mistakes’. What does this statement convey? That nobody should be held accountable for their sudden fetishes or perversions towards women? Come on, display some of that social consciousness that is bandied about so much in official and international speeches about how Indian women are revered as goddesses.

India may be booming but not for all women. Two of the country’s most serious challenges are how to address women’s safety and how to deliver speedy justice. 12 years ago, the whole world stood stunned. The victim was celebrated as Nirbhaya. How ridiculous to remember and address hapless victims with such titles! In reality, she would’ve gone through matchless pain and fear before she died a brutal death. By addressing victims with titles, who are we trying to comfort? People have come to realize the reality long ago. It was those perverts who were fearless to commit a crime of that intensity with a heinous intent. Around the time of the 2012 gang rape and murder, India recorded 24,923 rape cases, which is about 68.28 cases per day as per the National Crime Records Bureau. So, should India be proud or ashamed of the thousands of ‘Nirbhayas’? While it took years to punish the convicts, one walked out free and fearless with a new identity, a grant of 10,000 Rs and a sewing machine, only because he was a juvenile. Only after the rapist, the most brutal of all, got to walk free, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act was passed in 2015. Then, I knew violence against women would never end. There is a clear pattern to the way the minds of rapists have evolved in our country given the speed and manner in which amendments evolve and justice is delivered. Timely justice may not be a panacea for all injustice that plague us but it could be a precursor to other reforms. Nothing but the severity of the punishment will act as a deterrent.

The current rape crisis speaks of something even more worrisome – a society that is out of touch with its women. By all accounts, the Indian women never had it so good. Due to the generosity of a patriarchal society, they are all flush with problems, much more they can handle. Citizens’ protests that take various forms and shapes are indeed comforting. However, the fruits of women’s safety or liberation cannot be allowed to be negated by a societal system that is striking at the very root of the country’s well-being. Sensible recommendations that have been made by committees and well-meaning individuals will not deter crimes unless they are acted upon in due earnestness. Probably, salvaging the process of justice from tangles of state intimidation or political pressure is a herculean task by itself. At this juncture, I remember the Best Bakery case in which, for the first time, the apex court shifted the trial out of a state.

The fear of being violated is so strong, Indian women can taste it. It is shameful that few public servants have the audacity to declare that public spaces are not meant to be the right places for the right kind of women at the wrong time. When did a seminar hall in a medical college turn unsafe for a trainee doctor? Was she inappropriately clothed? What a handful of political elite say is not different from what a convicted criminal says. Enough is enough. As long as naming and shaming the victim continues in addition to gracing them with unbefitting titles, violence against women in all forms will continue with a plight of pandemic proportions. We have had enough such horror stories of rape, torture and murder that should make the legislature and executive give serious thought rather than analyse the uniqueness of each violation. What clumsy legislation have we got? Should it take 40 years for the Parliament to pass The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 to amend the IPC to allow death penalty only in rape cases where the accompanying brutality leads to death or leaves the victim in a persistent vegetative state? Shrina R Shanbaug, an Indian nurse lay in a vegetative state for almost 42 years after she was sodomised and strangulated with metal chains in 1973. Are rape laws far from adequate or do they lack will power? Sohanlal Valmiki, the main sodomist must be caught and hanged, if he is alive, instead of celebrating Aruna for giving India a passive euthanasia law. In 1972, a 16-year-old girl Sheila was raped inside a police station by two policemen who were set free by the court just because the victim wasn’t injured. After 9 years, the anti-rape law was amended. I have every reason to assume that those two men in uniform would have had a free run until the law was amended.

The Supreme Court’s verdict was based on the following three arguments:

Sheila did not vocally express her non-consent during the ordeal.
There was a lack of bruising on her body.
She was ‘habituated to sexual intercourse’ based on the two-finger-test

We have umpteen days and nights to reclaim. Decades away from Sheila and Shrina tragedy, the pertinent question we ought to ask ourselves is how far have we come?

Preeti Singh, Vamika, Manika Debnath, Pranjali Singh, Kasifa and many more are not the only ones to have gone through such severe sexual assaults. ‘Nirbhaya Juvenile’ who assaulted 8-year-old was acquitted. How ridiculous! Rapists must be tarred with the same brush, no matter how old the victims are. What is mystifying is the fact that gang-raping of someone below 18 years of age is considered a heinous offence punishable by death whereas gang rape, torment and murder of an adult is not. Public outcry and protests can caution lawmakers against semantic hair-splitting on defining the nature of violence, warning that ‘certain criteria’ will remain a stumbling block in drafting a perfect statute with no loopholes. Complacency should never cost us more promising lives. As for the law enforcement and investigative agencies, it is not too early to tell the real story of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9^th.

Opinion Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of The Womb.

08/12/2024 0 comments 25 views

“It Is Patriarchal And Sexist To Suggest That A Woman Can Not Be Believed When She States That She Was Raped, Merely For The Reason That She Is Sexually Active”: Hon’ble Supreme Court

by Editor 08/12/2024

written by Editor

By Srishti Sarraf

On 31^st October 2022, in its recent judgement titled The State of Jharkhand versus Shailendra Kumar Rai @ Pandav Raidated (Criminal Appeal No 1441 of 2022), a division bench of the hon’ble Supreme Court comprising of hon’ble Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli has equivocally pointed out that “whether a woman is “habituated to sexual intercourse” or “habitual to sexual intercourse” is irrelevant for the purposes of determining whether the ingredients of Section 375 of the IPC are present in a particular case.” The Hon’ble Bench further objected to the insensitive and unscientific practice of conducting a “two-finger test” and declared that “any person who conducts the “two-finger test” or per vaginum examination while examining a person alleged to have been subjected to a sexual assault shall be guilty of misconduct.” The Hon’ble justices went on to observe that “this so-called test has no scientific basis and neither proves nor disproves allegations of rape. It instead re-victimizes and re-traumatizes women who may have been sexually assaulted, and is an affront to their dignity…….. The so-called test is based on the incorrect assumption that a sexually active woman cannot be raped. Nothing could be further from the truth – a woman’s sexual history is wholly immaterial while adjudicating whether the accused raped her. Further, the probative value of a woman’s testimony does not depend upon her sexual history.”

Notably, this view came as a parting remark in the case wherein the deceased, a rape victim, in her ‘fardbeyan’ alleged that on the afternoon of the fateful day the accused “pushed her to the ground and committed rape upon her while threatening to kill her if she sounded an alarm. She called out for help, at which point the respondent allegedly poured kerosene on her and set her on fire with a matchstick. Her cries for help led her grandfather, mother, and a resident of the village to come to her room. The respondent is alleged to have fled the scene upon seeing them.” She was immediately rushed to the hospital where she was admitted and underwent treatment for the injuries sustained by her. Unfortunately, she lost the battle against life after about a month and as per the post-mortem report death was caused by septicaemia, which was a result of the deep burn injuries sustained by her. Meanwhile, the case was lodged against the accused based on her ‘fardbeyan’ and upon the completion of the investigation, a charge sheet under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 was submitted for offences under Sections 307, 341, 376 and 448 of the IPC. Notably, a supplementary charge sheet was also submitted regarding Section 302 of the IPC post the death of the victim.

In the course of the investigation, a Medical Board was constituted to examine the victim when she was undergoing treatment for her injuries. The Medical Board believed that “the deceased was about 16 years of age, and the possibility of intercourse could not be ruled out although no definite opinion could be given in this regard.” However, in the report, it was stated that “a vaginal examination revealed that two fingers were admitted easily.” On this point, the Medical Officer in her cross-examination further stated that “the deceased may have engaged in intercourse prior to the date of the alleged crime, and that the admission of two fingers in her vagina meant that she was habituated to sexual intercourse.”

It was against this background that the Hon’ble Division Bench demurred the patriarchal and sexist suggestion that a woman cannot be believed when she states that she was raped, merely for the reason that she is a sexually active and laid emphasis on the radical change which was brought by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 which inter alia also amended the Evidence Act to insert Section 53A highlighting that “in terms of Section 53A of the Evidence Act, evidence of a victim’s character or her previous sexual experience with any person shall not be relevant to the issue of consent or the quality of consent, in prosecutions of sexual offences.”

To substantiate the arguments against the archaic and outdated “two-finger test” the judgement delivered by the Hon’ble Apex Court in the year 2013 titled Lillu v. State of Haryana, (2013) 14 SCC 643 was quoted wherein the “two-finger test” was held to be violative of the right to privacy, integrity, and dignity of the rape survivors. In that particular case, the victim was a student of 6th standard who was found the age 13 years 9 months and 2 days old on the date of the incident thus the court outrightly held that the question as to whether she had been habitual to sexual activities or not, is immaterial to determine the issue of consent and further for “two-finger test” observed that:

“13. … rape survivors are entitled to legal recourse that does not re-traumatise them or violate their physical or mental integrity and dignity. They are also entitled to medical procedures conducted in a manner that respects their right to consent. Medical procedures should not be carried out in a manner that constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and health should be of paramount consideration while dealing with gender-based violence. The State is under an obligation to make such services available to survivors of sexual violence. Proper measures should be taken to ensure their safety and there should be no arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy.

14. Thus, in view of the above, undoubtedly, the two-finger test and its interpretation violate the right of rape survivors to privacy, physical and mental integrity and dignity.”

Attention was even drawn to the guidelines directed towards the health providers in cases of sexual violence so issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which proscribe the application of the “two-finger test” and states as follows:

“Per-Vaginum examination commonly referred to by laypersons as ‘two-finger test’, must not be conducted for establishing rape/sexual violence and the size of the vaginal introitus has no bearing on a case of sexual violence. Per vaginum examination can be done only in adult women when medically indicated.

The status of a hymen is irrelevant because the hymen can be torn due to several reasons such as cycling, riding or masturbation among other things. An intact hymen does not rule out sexual violence, and a torn hymen does not prove previous sexual intercourse. Hymen should therefore be treated like any other part of the genitals while documenting examination findings in cases of sexual violence. Only those that are relevant to the episode of assault (findings such as fresh tears, bleeding, edema etc.) are to be documented.”

Finally, regretting the continued practice of the “two-finger test” the Hon’ble Justices have used the case in hand to set a strong and progressive precedence directing the Union Government as well as the State Governments to do as follows:

“a. Ensure that the guidelines formulated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are circulated to all government and private hospitals;

b. Conduct workshops for health providers to communicate the appropriate procedure to be adopted while examining survivors of sexual assault and rape; and

c. Review the curriculum in medical schools to ensure that the “two-finger test” or per vaginum examination is not prescribed as one of the procedures to be adopted while examining survivors of sexual assault and rape.”

Besides, it was held that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and its officers were responsible for ensuring the implementation of the directions issued.

08/12/2024 0 comments 26 views

Indian Judiciary on Rape Cases

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Pooja Bhattacharjee

Rape has been defined under Section 375 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code, 1860), which states that rape is said to have been committed when a man has sexual intercourse with a woman against her will, without her consent, by coercion, misrepresentation, or fraud or at a time when she has been intoxicated or duped or is of unsound mental health and in any case if she is under 18 years of age. Rape is a form of gender-motivated violence in India. In the case of Sakshi v. UOI, the Supreme Court shed light on the definition of rape and held that only penial and vaginal penetration will be considered as rape within the purview of Section 375 of the IPC, thus narrowing down the scope of sexual intercourse as defined in the IPC. However, in 2012, a bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and Gyan Sudha Misra held that even if there is no penetration, it does not necessarily mean that there is no rape, while upholding the conviction of a man for raping a 11-year-old girl, despite there being no evidence of penetration. (The Hindu)

The Verma Committee had recommended that non penetrative acts against women, like stalking and groping, which are also a violation of woman’s bodily integrity and sexual autonomy, should be termed as sexual assault and be punished as rape. The legislature, however, did not accept the recommendation and retained the offence of ‘outraging the modesty of a woman,’ which is the provision under which all non-penetrative sexual acts continue to be prosecuted under Section 354 of the IPC. (THE WIRE)

To prove that consent was absent, the law’s aim should be to reduce ambiguity and alter definitions to mitigate the historic imbalance of credibility afforded to males but not to females. The most important factor to be determined in a rape is whether the woman consented to the sexual act. The law presumes that the accused is innocent. The burden is on the prosecution- victim to prove beyond reasonable doubt that consent was absent. Under Section 375, ‘willingness to participate in the specific sexual act’ can be conveyed ‘through words, gestures or any form of verbal or non-verbal communication.’ The focus is more often on if these ‘gestures’ occurred and not on what they meant.

Two recent cases shows that the Indian judiciary needs to be more sensitive in dealing with rape cases and not fall back on erstwhile sexist and misogynistic views that have emerged in numerous judgments.

In the Guahati Rape Case, the Gauhati High Court granted bail to Utsav Kadam, a 21-year-old accused of rape on the ground that the he is a talented student and is the state’s ‘future asset.’ The police had arrested the accused, a student of IIT Guwahati on April 3, for allegedly sexually assaulting a female student of the institute on March 28. The bench of Justice Ajit Borthakur in an order passed on 13 August granting bail to Utsav Kadam, observed, “as the investigation in the case is completed and both the victim and the accused are the state’s future assets being talented students pursuing technical courses at the I.I.T., Guwahati, who are young in the age group of 19 to 21 years only and further, they are being hailed from two different states, a continuation of detention of the accused in the interest of trial of the case, if charges are framed, may not be necessary”. The order was passed despite the fact that the court noted that there is a clear prima facie case against Kadam.

Last year, it was reported that a Civil Court in the Araria district of Bihar had sent a gang rape survivor to jail on grounds of disrupting court proceedings. Her only crime was having an emotional outburst and a nervous breakdown that emanated from the Court’s request to repeat her trauma over and over again. What seems to be a natural reaction for any rape survivor was misconstrued as ‘contempt of court’. The judiciary’s response to rape cases, specifically, rape survivors seem to fluctuate between insensitive and thoughtless to sexist and misogynistic. (ThePrint 2020)

In India, the class, and caste of the victim are used as means to discredit the victim. The colonizers used caste or class to gauge the reliability of the version of events stated by survivors and this is being continued to date. The rape adjudication cases in India involving a breach of promise to marry are also revealing. In Kunal Mandaliya v. State of Maharashtra.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar observed that an educated woman could not have been deceived, and thus was not raped on the pretext of marriage. The judgement read:

The prosecutrix at the time of filing the complaint was 30 years old and was nearly 25 to 26 years old when the first incident of sexual intercourse took place. Thus, she was aware of the consequences of keeping sexual relations with a man and she was also aware that there may be differences between two persons and they may find each other compatible. The girl was highly educated and also 25 years old. Therefore, the consent cannot be said to have been obtained by fraud.

The court’s comment on consent shows how in the absence of an affirmative standard, a negative standard invalidates the experience of the woman and improperly shifts the responsibility of the assault away from the perpetrator and onto the victim.

Marital rape refers to sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without their consent. Recently, the Chhattisgarh High Court held that sexual intercourse by husband does not amount to rape, even if it’s by force. (Today 2021)

The law, as inhumane as it is, however, is being defended by some eminent jurists who are in favour of leaving the provision untouched in order to protect the ‘Indian family values.’ It is important to acknowledge, however, that those assigned the female sex at birth are not the only survivors of rape in India, often, nonconformity with gender boundaries not only functions as a basis for sex crimes, including rape but also makes it harder for survivors to seek help. Section 375 of the IPC only conceptualizes the perpetrator as male and the victim as female. Its exclusivity in nature leaves out a large section of society who are being violated and are left with no discourse of getting justice.

The status quo burdens victims and exonerates perpetrators of responsibility in sexual interactions. Indian statutes, legal decisions, and commentaries condemning rape primarily focus on it as a crime that lowers a woman’s dignity and scars her reputation, rather than a crime violative of a woman’s selfhood, individuality, or autonomy.

The accounting of traditional notions of what an ‘Indian woman’ is and their defined ‘behaviors’ are, should be discarded. Even though change is visible, an overturning of the current structures will be brought about through a normative reconstruction of our laws and our social rationality only when people realize why the current laws are problematic and ancient and understand why new amendments to these laws are necessary.

It is necessary to take legal recourse if you’ve been abused of sexual harassment or have witnessed someone getting abused. Consecutively, you can register your complaint at the National Commission for Women as investigations by the police will be expedited and monitored.

08/12/2024 0 comments 28 views

No Entry for Men – Umoja Uaso: Kenya’s Women-Only Village

by Srinivas Rayappa 08/12/2024

written by Srinivas Rayappa

Srinivas Rayappa

The Samburu are a Nilotic people of north-central Kenya. Samburu are semi-nomadic pastoralists who herd mainly cattle but also keep sheep, goats and camels. Rooted deeply in patriarchy, the Samburu people are semi-nomadic, largely polygamist and closely related to the Maasai tribe. Women in the tribe have been living under a harsh patriarchal system for as long as they can remember. For generations, female genital mutilation is one of the most important rituals among the Samburu tribe. Once circumcised the girl can be given away in arranged marriage to a man who is old enough to be her grandfather. The Samburu tribe has a tradition of repressing women and treating women as second class citizens. Women are not allowed to own land or other types of property, such as livestock and are considered property of their husbands.

In accordance to their culture, the father chooses an older “warrior” male with which the daughter will enter into a temporary marriage. Pregnancy is forbidden, but contraceptives are unavailable. If the child becomes pregnant, she is forced into an abortion, conducted by other women in the village. Since the girl is married at an early age, she cannot be a competent parent. While giving birth they face a lot of challenges: they rupture, they bleed, because they are young and don’t have access to healthcare facilities.

Even performing their duties and chores, is very hard for them. They are often left to take care of animals.

Some of the harrowing experiences endured by the women in the tribe include the story of a 11 year old girl who was traded for cows by her father. Her husband was 57 years old. Another young lady has five children, all with different fathers. Girls are married off to men, the age of their grandfathers. Women have little or no say in matters pertaining to the Samburu community. At village meetings men sit in an inner circle to discuss important village issues, while the women sit on the outside, only occasionally allowed to express an opinion.

If the repression and harrassment meted out to women in the Sambaru community by local men were not enough, during the 1980’s there was an “epidemic of rape” on Sambaru women by British troops on exercise in central Kenya. Since, 500-600 women from the Samburu tribe in Kenya have fought for decades to prove that they were raped by British soldiers who, under an arrangement with the Kenyan government, train regularly in the nearby countryside. Those impregnated by their rapists and who gave birth to children that are of a lighter colour than native children have been shunned, abandoned by husbands and families and forced to leave their villages. On August 14th 2003, a hundred Masai women trekked to the British High Commission in Nairobi, to lodge a complaint that they had been raped by British soldiers. Another 800 women, mostly from the Masai tribe or their Samburu cousins, have made similar claims. The matter is being investigated by Britain’s Ministry of Defence at snail’s pace. More incidents of sexual assault are coming to light with the most recent being 30 women from the Samburu tribe alleging that they were raped by Gurkhas based at Archers Post in 1997.

Distraught at being subjugated to domestic violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation and rape from men, both within and outside the community, a group of 15 brave women under the able leadership of Rebecca Lolosoli, took matters into their own hands and setout to start their own village, devoid of men. Thus, in 1990, was born Umoja Uaso (“unity” in Swahili, the Uaso Nyiro is a nearby river), an all female matriarch village located near the town of Archers Post in Samburu County, 380 km (240 mi) from the capital, Nairobi. Umoja Uaso is one of the world’s first “All-Women” communities where men are not allowed to reside nor are they allowed to dictate their views or opinions on matters pertaining to the community.

What started as a sanctuary for 15 women, who survived sexual assault and rape by British soldiers, has today grown to give shelter, livelihood and a future to any and all women trying to escape harrassment, repression and rape.

Rebecca Lolosoli, who started this movement recollects, “As a woman you have no right. If the husband wants to kill you, he has the right to kill you anytime because women are like a property. Men wanted to destroy our village but we resisted. We are not going to move an inch even if it means they kills us. Let them kill us all and make history of killing all the women in the village.”

Rebecca is the matriarch of Umoja women’s village and an advocate for women’s rights. Growing up as a member of the Samburu tribe she was married off at the age of 18. Deeply moved by the suffering of women all around her, she began speaking up about helping women who were victims of rape by British soldiers. Angered by her vocalism, the men in her neighborhood beat her up till she was hospitalized. To make things worse, her husband did not protest when she was being beaten and hence she left him. Along with her other victims of violence, she established the women-only village of Umoja Uaso. Umoja which was once a safe heaven for women has now become a globally known example of a successful matriarchy.

Even to this day, the men in the Samburu tribe consider Rebecca as a threat because they firmly believe that she is ruining the age old culture and tradition. She has faced repeated threats and attacks from local men since she set up the “women-only” village, but she remains undeterred.

What began as a refuge for survivors of sexual violence and torture, Umoja has grown to provide a safe habitat and nutures 47 women and 200 children. One would imagine that these communities would only have older women, but there are plenty of young women as well, who left their homes because they did not wish to be subjugated to torture from their husbands.

Although the inhabitants live extremely frugally, these enterprising women earn a regular income that provides food, clothing and shelter for all. Village leaders run a campsite, a kilometre away by the river, where groups of safari tourists stay. Many of these tourists, and others passing through nearby nature reserves, also visit Umoja. The women charge a modest entrance fee and hope that, once in the village, the visitors will buy jewellery made by the women in the craft centre.

Intimidated by their self-sustenance model, the insecure men from neighboring villages began beating the women and snatching away their hard earned money. The men felt threatened with the gaining independence of women. Since, Umoja has now been barricaded by thorns and women stand guard all night to protect their community. Over the years, women have grown in strength and are enjoying their freedom. There are no bells and whistles to their lifestyle but the women and children earn a regular income to take care of their basic needs.

The women of the village have been taught how to construct their own houses where they can live peacefully. With the hand crafted jewellery that they make and sell by the roadside, they have attained financial independence. With their savings, they have now started a school for the children in the village because they now understand the importance of education. Rebecca firmls believes that the children should not be handicapped because of lack of knowledge and that they should see light in their life by having good education and have an understanding of what’s going on in this world. As if setting an example, Rebecca’s daughter now studies in Germany. The self-sufficiency and freedom has inculcated a ray of hope among the distraught women which has inspired them to give a better future for their children.

On occasions, men are allowed to meet the women of the community. However, who comes in and who goes out is dictated by Rebecca. The rules of the village are crafted solely by the women. The young girls are allowed to meet their boyfriends but outside the village. When they get pregnant, their children can live in the village but the male must leave the village once they are eighteen years of age. All decisions are collectively made by the women of the community under the “tree of speech”, a place where they gather for discussions on issues plaguing their community.

The internet has put Umoja firmly on the global map and now people travel far and wide to come and see how the land of “no-men” thrives in the region of Samburu. Rebecca has been able to interact with powerful women across the globe and is now friends with the former First Lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton. Thanks to Rebecca’s every growing international clout, the elaborate beaded jewellery produced by the women of Umoja has found a worldwide marketplace. Also, Umoja Uaso has turned into a tourist destination visited by people across the globe.

Inspired by the success of Umoja Uaso, several all-feamle societies have cropped up across Kenya. While some villages forbid men completely, others allow men to be part of the community but it is the women who have an overriding say in all matters pertaining to their community.

Gender inequality is the blemish of the 21st century, a remnant of the past that the tide of time should have long washed away. It’s easier for girls in urban places to fight for equal rights but for a tribal women like Rebecca Lolosoli to raise her voice in a patriarchal society and highlight that misogyny is not normal, is indeed a rare achievement and ofcourse commendable.

08/12/2024 0 comments 31 views

Dereliction Of The ‘Other Gender’: Deprivation Of Minor Male Sexual Assault Victims By The ‘Skin-Touch’ Doctrine

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Sayan Dasgupta

COVID-19 has been a fertile spawning field of sexual violence. Where some Courts have been deontological and acknowledging of this phenomenon, certain judgments act as a means of disenfranchisement of sexual violence victims. Bombay High Court in a recent judgment, in Satish v. State of Maharashtra has rendered an absurd interpretation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 [POCSO]. The accused was charged with Section 8 of POCSO read with Section 354 of Indian Penal Code along with Sections 342 and 363, for sexually assaulting a minor girl. The Bench acquitted the accused of sexual assault under POCSO while upholding conviction under the sexual assault charges under IPC on the rationale that there was lack of sexual intention on the part of accused to sexually assault the minor since there “was no direct physical contact, i.e., skin to skin” touch.

This verdict caused a huge uproar in the civil society and the legal fraternity alike causing the Supreme Court to stay the acquittal of the accused on the charge of Section 8 of POCSO. The judgment has rendered that mere groping would not amount to sexual assault under Section 7 of POCSO. Such an abhorrent interpretation prima facie trivializes not only sexual assault of female minors, but disproportionately excludes male minors from seeking justice.

The minor male victims of sexual abuse constitute a large majority in India. The Bench elucidated that mere groping over the clothes of the minor would not amount to sexual assault under Section 7 and 8 of POCSO. POCSO is inherently a gender-neutral legislation providing reprieve to minors of all genders. Section 7 provides that “whoever, with sexual intent touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child or makes the child touch the vagina, penis, anus or breast of such person or any other person, or does any other act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration is said to commit sexual assault.” The words “penis, anus” annotate protection to the male victims from sexual assault. However, the case establishing the ‘skin-touch’ doctrine has significantly narrowed the scope of application of the provision.

Adoption of this exclusionary doctrine would impact both female and male victims adversely, however, where the female victim could resort to relevant provisions of IPC, the male victim is left remediless. The provisions of sexual crimes under IPC are highly gendered protecting only the woman or the girl child disenfranchising the male victims of sexual violence. Furthermore, the doctrine places the onus of proof on the prosecution per contra to POCSO. Section 29 of POCSO reverses the burden of proof and presumes the offence has been committed or abetted by the accused. If the view purported by the Bombay High Court is considered, and if the prosecution fails to satisfy the onus, the female victim can have a recourse to relevant provisions of IPC, whereas on the contrary, the male victim cannot.

The ‘skin-touch’ doctrine categorically contradicts the Model Guidelines issued by Ministry of Women and Child Development under Section 39 of POCSO which provides that “almost every known form of sexual abuse against children as punishable”. Furthermore, the Delhi High Court in Rakesh v. State without even delving into the detail of disrobing of the victim dismissed the appeal holding that mere groping of the private parts of the victim with sexual intent amounts to sexual assault under Section 7 of POCSO. Conflicting this accurate interpretation, the heavy onus placed on the victim results in narrow application. Whereupon the female victims have an alternative remedy, the abusers of the male victim are left scot-free on committing the atrocity leaving a permanent scar on the well-being of the child survivor. Ergo, mere groping would amount to sexual assault of the female victim under Section 354 of IPC but would not be sexual assault of male victim, either under POCSO or IPC. The provisions governing sexual crimes in IPC are gynocentric and neither the legislative or the judiciary have displayed any intention to take affirmative step on making the sexual offences gender neutral, despite there being categorical recommendation by the 172^nd Law Commission Report and the Justice Verma Committee Report to make rape and other sexual offences gender neutral.

This inspires little to no confidence on the state functionaries with regard to gender justice. The ‘skin-touch’ doctrine creates a very real and alienating affect of male survivors wherein, groping over clothes would not amount to sexual assault. The lack of gender-neutral sexual offence laws and such interpretation is a clear dereliction of the male survivors.

08/12/2024 0 comments 27 views

Ok Then. Remember To Shriek Wildly After Sexual Assault

by Guest Author 08/12/2024

written by Guest Author

By Anil Thakraney (Senior Journalist)

Journalist Tarun Tejpal has been acquitted by the District and Sessions Court of Goa. He was charged with sexual assault on a junior colleague inside the elevator of a hotel in Goa in the year 2013. With no direct evidence available, this turned into a case of he-said-she-said (as sexual assault cases tend to be since they usually happen inside closed spaces). The honourable judge in her wisdom decided that the survivor’s testimony was not convincing enough, and so the accused must be awarded benefit of doubt.

The judge has pointed to faulty police investigation as one of the reasons for acquittal but I will leave that part as well as other observations of the judgment for legal experts to study and opine on. What caught my attention, rather what sent me reeling, to be precise, is the following remark in the judgment:

“It is extremely revealing that the prosecutrix’s (victim) account neither demonstrates any kind of normative behaviour on her own part – that a prosecutrix of sexual assault on consecutive two nights might plausibly show nor does it show any such behaviour on the part of the accused.”

The questions that immediately come to mind are: Is there a set behavioural pattern that all rape survivors must follow post the assault? Is there, er, a playbook, an SOP? If so, what does it list down? Are all victims expected to quickly go hysterical, to reveal full details to family and friends, to renounce the world and become suicidal? Bollywood movies from the days of Prem Chopra and Shakti Kapoor may have depicted such stereotypical behaviour, but surely these D-grade movies can’t become the reference point in the real world.

Truth is, there is no cookie-cutter model at work here, rape victims cannot be expected to exhibit an identical behavioural pattern after the incident. Just as we don’t behave the same way after we experience a traumatic event in our lives, be it a road accident, death of a loved one, job loss, financial fraud and so on. Some of us would go ballistic, others would clam up, still others would try and act bravely, there will be those who would slip into depression, the fact is there is no standard behavioural code embedded in our DNA, moreover acquired life experiences make us react differently to the same situation. Ditto with rape victims, a clinical psychologist I spoke to listed down many possible reactions that include fear, anxiety, shock, self-blame, anger, shame/embarrassment and most importantly, denial, that ‘this can’t have happened to me’ or ‘he couldn’t have done this to me, he is such a great guy’ (studies suggest that over 90% cases of rape involve perpetrators who are known to the survivor). There is no ‘normative’ behaviour, in short.

Even if you agree with the verdict, with due respect to the judge, a wrong message has been sent out to women at large: In a sexual assault situation, particularly when there is no witness, however traumatised you are, remember to ‘behave’ like a ‘typical’ rape victim. Or you may find it difficult to get justice.

08/12/2024 0 comments 22 views

Load More Posts

sexual assault

So, what can men do?

Broken, Battered, Taunted, Killed And Misjudged

“It Is Patriarchal And Sexist To Suggest That A Woman Can Not Be Believed When She States That She Was Raped, Merely For The Reason That She Is Sexually Active”: Hon’ble Supreme Court

Indian Judiciary on Rape Cases

No Entry for Men – Umoja Uaso: Kenya’s Women-Only Village

Dereliction Of The ‘Other Gender’: Deprivation Of Minor Male Sexual Assault Victims By The ‘Skin-Touch’ Doctrine

Ok Then. Remember To Shriek Wildly After Sexual Assault

Editor's Pick

Featured

Popular Categories

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?