The Epidemic of Gender-Based Crimes in India

Warning: This article contains information that some readers may find distressing.

The patriarchal Indian society allows men to be superior to women and the sole reason for this is the importance men are given in society. The way out of this vicious cycle is something we aspire to achieve, but how will it be possible? From a very young age, the girl child is taught to be subservient to her male counterparts. Students aren’t taught about sexuality, consent, and mutual respect, and at home, parents refrain from these “inappropriate topics” in front of the so-called teenagers. Yogita Bhayana, a rape victim activist and the founder of the “People Against Rape in India” network, told Anadolu Agency there is a huge need for gender sensitization and quality education to help keep a check on crimes against women.

Rape stems from the most obnoxious form of the patriarchal mindset. According to the Cambridge dictionary’s definition: “rape is to force someone to have sex when they are unwilling, using violence or threatening behaviour”. This systemic social problem has not been addressed properly, and we are too afraid to even discuss the issues. The word ‘raped’ is used in our day-to-day languages like it means nothing. We often say it jokingly in sentences like “oh we totally raped that team” or “so much work has raped me”, trivializing the actual victims of rape. We are so numb to this word, that unless and until we see graphics, we aren’t convinced about the severity of the situation. As per the National Crime Records Bureau’s 2018 data, rape in India is recorded every 15 minutes.

India is a country that does not even recognize marital rape. Non-consensual sex by the husband is seen as his right in our society. As per psychologists, children normally learn via observation, and young boys are no exceptions. They are familiar with the subjugation of women members within the family and these are the practices that they carry forward. Every time a woman shares her story, a classic response she hears is “she must’ve done something to piss him off”. However, recent reports suggest that one in three men in India have admitted to raping their wives. Though, marital rape is still legal in India because official spokespersons don’t want absolute anarchy in families and laws against marital rape would destabilize the institution of marriage. The consequence of rape is the same for unmarried and married women, yet our law says that only unmarried women would receive justice. Therefore, less than 1% of marital rapes are reported to the police. How is this fair? Why is there an exception in the punishment? 73 years after Independence, I believe married women deserve to be freed from state-sanctioned marital rape, especially when they don’t even have a say in their marriage or are married off at an early age.

But the problem isn’t just marital rape, the numbers of minor rape and murder cases are also augmenting in the country. Recently the gruesome act was done in Uttar Pradesh, wherein a 13-year-old girl was raped and brutally murdered. 2 neighbours in the nearby village have been arrested. The fact that a girl or a woman isn’t safe anywhere is what bothers me. In an overwhelming number of rape cases, the victims know the perpetrators. Every fourth rape victim in India is a child. A child who is scarred forever, whose future is wrecked if she manages to not be killed. In February 2020, a man was arrested for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl on the premises of the US embassy in New Delhi. As per the world media, New Delhi is also known as the “rape capital of the world”... how does that make you feel?

Why aren’t women’s empowerment and safety considered an essential problem that must be close to elimination now?

The Nirbhaya Fund for the Safety of Women which was announced by the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in 2013 in order to support NGOs working for women, has only utilized 20% of the funds between 2015 and 2018. India is the worst-ranked country when it comes to the safety of women, yet, we aren’t getting anywhere closer to a better ranking. The government has slashed Rs. 244.48 crores to Rs. 18 crores for rape crisis centers. Instead of a rape crisis center in every district (like it was earlier planned), it has decided to have 1 center in every state and union territory. Rapes by men in uniform are excluded from punishment. Is this suggestive of an indifferent attitude of authorities towards women’s safety and needs? Despite several national government campaigns such as “Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao” (Educate the Daughter, Save the Daughter): the crime rate per 100,000 women increased by 58.8% in 2018 in comparison with 57.9% in 2017.

The judiciary doesn’t do enough justice to these women, so what can we do? After each and every odious incident of rape and murder, there is an immediate outrage with spontaneous protests. But that momentum subsides in course of time till another such incident takes place. The 2012 Delhi Gang Rape case sparked global outrage and gave courage to a lot of women to stand up and file reports. This is the reason why we see a rise in the statistical analysis of crime against women, earlier, these crimes just weren’t reported. So in that sense, I think it’s a good thing that more and more people would get justice. But, the delays in the judicial response to the accused sends a wrong message. The shambolic criminal justice system remains vulnerable to political and religious pressures. It took eight years to get justice for Nirbhaya. An eight-month-old infant was raped two years ago, and the family still awaits justice. Only one in four cases of rape in India ends in a conviction.

Do you think we will be able to see a day where women in our country live without fear?