The reason why I chose this topic is that I think I speak for every female in this country when I say have all feared sexual assault or being raped at some point in our life and it’s sad that this is such a normalized statement to make.
So what is rape culture?
A society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.
According to the latest government figures, Indian police registered 33,658 cases of rape in 2017. India, thus, has been dubbed “the most dangerous country for women” by many human rights activists. But why is India so prone to gender-based crimes?
This picture is 4 of the 6 convicts of the 2012 Nirbhaya Rape Case. The reason why I choose this case to talk about is that this is the most well-known case in India but this is just one of the millions of rapes that happen on a daily basis in our country. Every 16 minutes a girl is raped in India and marital rape is still isn’t considered Rape. It took 8 years for these rapists and murderers to be sentenced to death and hung. 8 full years to give justice to Nirbhaya.
I remember I was 8 when this happened and I remember questioning my parents about a protest I saw and the news. They explained it to me, but even as a mere 8-year-old, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t surprised because growing up as a girl in India, I had been taught from a very young age about rape, self-defense, and a “bad touch”.
“We have a patriarchal society in India, which gives more importance to men. Women are usually considered second-class citizens,” Dr. Shruti Kapoor, a feminist activist and founder of the Sayfty Trust organization, emphasized. Experts point out that violence against girls and women usually takes place in their immediate surroundings. According to the National Crime Records Bureau data from 2017, 93% of all rapes in India are perpetrated by people known to the victim. These could be family members, friends, neighbors, employers, and even online friends.
Apart from making strict laws considering sexual abuse, rape, and marital rape. We need to work on changing the mindsets of the citizens of our country.
