Combating Sexual Assault – The Hindu

Sexual assault is a crime not only against women, but also against the entire society, humanity itself. | Photo credit: Getty Images

“WWe want justice, we want freedom.”

I suddenly felt a lump in my throat as I saw a seven-year-old girl carefully sketching these words with colored pencils on a poster in Calcutta on the eve of Independence Day.

Pain and outrage were in the air and slowly seeped into my chest, and my feet carried me to one of the protest sites.

Thousands had taken to the streets and the cloudy sky reverberated with slogans such as “Meyera raat er dhokhol koro” (women seize the night) and verses by Tagore. Flickering candles and burning torches clearly showed the anger and grief on their faces. A brutal rape and murder occurred in the city that proudly wears the crown of being the safest subway in the country.

And unfortunately that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Not a single day goes by in the country without a case of rape being reported. As I stare at the angry candles and screaming banners, questions and thoughts begin to run through my mind. Is this a fight against a few evildoers or a fight against heinous evil itself? While we are protesting with banners and torches in hand, somewhere in another part of the country a girl or woman is being harassed, physically abused or raped. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, on average a rape occurs every six minutes. That means about 100 rapes per day.

Undoubtedly, the government and police play a huge role in the safety of citizens and at some point the culprits will be caught and punished. But will punishing some perpetrators actually prevent these incidents? Can we save a tree by pruning only the infected root?

History shows that while harsh punishments deter people, they are not the only solution. What is the optimal solution then?

In my opinion, it is high time to approach this problem holistically and delve deeper into the causes. India is still a male-dominated society. While girls are taught a whole host of rules about what to wear and when to go out, do we teach boys this in a similar way? What is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior? About consent? Do we instill in them the virtue of respecting women from the start? Unfortunately, in most families there is no such education for little boys.

What adds fuel to the fire is the fact that the guilty usually escape punishment. According to the NCRB, 71% of rapes go unreported. Women are unwilling to report rape because the path to justice is difficult.

Sexual assault is a crime not only against women, but also against the entire society, humanity itself. And today, there is undoubtedly an urgent need to give equal importance to its prevention.

Change should start from home, from the education system. It is necessary to provide children with appropriate gender and sexuality education. Raising boys with gender awareness and sex education will lead to a reduction in a large number of rape cases. There is also a need to raise awareness about mental health issues to know that mental health issues need to be treated in the same way as any physiological illness. We also need to change some deeply rooted societal beliefs and behaviors and women should be encouraged to report and fight against sexual violence rather than falling victim to the stigma and blaming associated with rape.

I was completely lost in thought when a tall young man strolled past me with a flickering candle in his hand, breaking me from my reverie. I see the little girl now proudly holding up the poster, and suddenly I see before my eyes each heart lit by small, bright candles, a blinding, expanding light that swallows the scary, eerie darkness.

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