SPECIAL REPORT Are women safe in India? Well this is a question frequently being asked today with the increasing number of rape and molestation cases across the country. While the cases of crimes against women are increasing, the mentality of Indian people is being judged by the world by their absurd statements.
So, why is it that a rape victim in India remains a victim and never become a rape survivor? Is it the mentality of people or lack of strict laws or the men or lack of education? Too many factors to look into, but the examples we are about to quote just suggest that it is the mentality of people in India that is stopping women to grow as an individual and live confidently.
Dr Asha Mirge, who is a member of Maharshtra Women's commission and is also associated with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) made controversial remarks about girls and referred to Nirbhaya gang rape case and rape case of trainee photo journalist in Shakti mills compound of Mumbai.
Dr Asha said 'Girls should be careful about what they wear. They should mind the time of their moving out. Girls' body language should not be such that it invites attention of a potential rapist lurking around.' Also, Dr Asha who was included in the state women's commission last month later apologized for her remarks.
Mirge, however, at a separate press conference, apologized for her remarks and said that they were her own personal views and had nothing to do with the women's commission. She stated that she was more of a social worker who lacks the diplomacy and finesse of a politician.
Believe it or not, thinking or the mindset plays a very important role in how you look at several issues.
In an urge to know what the future of our nation, the youth, thinks about the rape and molestation cases, INN Live spoke to a couple of people and this is what we found.
Neha Bhatnagar, who is a student, said, “I think rapes should not happen. I think it is the pervert men who terribly lack self-control which is why such things happen. If you take two extreme examples as far as age of the victim is concerned - Nirbhaya case and the five-year-old Gudiya. A five-year-old can definitely not provoke a man to be sexually ‘charged up’. Therefore, a rape happens because women wear short skirts or provoke men is utter rubbish.”
Pankaj Tyagi, who is advertising professional, said, “See, if a woman walks in revealing clothes on the street, men will look at her. I am not saying that women should not wear what they want but women should be good in judging that when are they wearing what clothes. I think men are definitely wrong in raping but women should also have a sense to wear clothes and sense the environment in which they are.”
Recently, the popular TV show ‘Roadies’ started their new season on MTV. In the first episode of Delhi auditions, most of the people said that it’s the girl who is responsible as far as rape is concerned. Unfortunately, one of the people to say such an absurd thing was a girl herself.
What our politicians say on this issue?
It is futile to deny that in the deeply patriarchal structure of the Indian society, more than just a tolerable percentage of men believe women, especially the victims, have a role to play in courting sexual assault. Indian leaders have defined number of reasons that lead to rape and shockingly indecency or immorality from men’s side who commit such heinous crime was not even mentioned.
The most recent being the statement by Women Commission member Dr Asha Mirge where she claimed that Nirbhaya had ‘invited’ rape. "Did Nirbhaya really have go to watch a movie at 11 in the night with her friend? Take the Shakti Mills gang-rape case. Why did the victim go to such an isolated spot at 6pm?" Mirje asked at a gathering of the NCP women's wing in Nagpur.
The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat ignored all the facts and the figures and claimed that the rapes "happen in India, not Bharat."
The cabinet minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, shares totally different views regarding the crime and woman which is by no means less absurd than the other remarks. "Ek hi shabd hai - Maryada. Maryada ka ulanghan hota hai, toh Sita-haran ho jata hai. Laxman-rekha har vyakti ki khichi gayi hai. Us Laxman-rekha ko koi bhi par karega, toh Rawan samne baitha hai, woh Sita-haran karke le jayega," he said.
Giving his own analysis of how the increasing crime of rape can be handled in India, Haryana's former Chief Minister gave a shortcut solution, Om Prakash Chautala said, "Marry off girls early to prevent rape". He actually was reflecting the same mindset that many of the Khap leaders have shown earlier.
There are many such examples where politicians and other leaders have quoted absurd statements about the crime of rape in India.
Small Effort Also Made a Big Effect
If you remember there was a video 'It's your fault' that went viral was uploaded in September by All India Bak***d (AIB), a group of four stand-up comics - Rohan Joshi, Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba and Ashish Shakya.
The video featured Kalki Koechlin and Juhi Pande. The video went gone viral and had even attracted the attention of international media and many foreign bloggers. The satirical video was targeted at the stereotypical social mindset that blames the victim for molestation and sexual assault, and sees Kalki and Juhi repeatedly telling women viewers how every such attack is 'their fault'. To see the video, click here.
With the increasing crimes against women, filmmaker Farhan Akhtar had launched an initiative called MARD- Man against Rape and Discrimination. The social media campaign went one step ahead this time, by reaching out in public at the IPL fields. Many stars, sports personalities and celebs came out in support of the campaign by wearing a fake moustache, which is the symbol for the campaign and raised their voice against such horrific crimes against women.
A rape victim who refused to hide her face!
Her life changed in February 2012, when a man she befriended at a nightclub raped her along with some friends on the pretext of dropping her home. Jordan, a Kolkata based 38-year-old single mother of two girls, was so tired of hiding from the prying eyes of people who wanted to know about the identity of the victim of 'Park Street rape' that she finally revealed her face to the public. "My name is Suzette Jordan and I don't want to be known any longer as the victim of Calcutta's Park Street rape," Jordan told.
According to Jordan, she is tired of hiding her real self and is not ashamed of talking about what happened to her in public. "I am tired of hiding my real identity. I am tired of this society's rules and regulations. I am tired of being made to feel ashamed. I am tired of feeling scared because I have been raped. Enough is enough!", she told.
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