In rape culture girls are advised how to dress in order to avoid “inviting trouble” and being “slutshamed,” normalizing male predatory behaviour. To remedy this, Indians must shift the focus away from women and toward the real issue: mentality of the people residing in India. In the meantime, the Government of India must quickly establish a separate law enforcement body to combat crime against women. According to government statistics, roughly four women are raped in this country every hour. These statistics only state the number of reported rapes many rapes go unreported, buried beneath shame, bewilderment, and terror, so the true number is likely much higher.
Although it is the mindset of the rapists which is to be blamed women have been at the center of the conversation. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao advised transport workers to keep women out of night-shift jobs, emphasizing that women bear the brunt of the responsibility for their own safety. This is a flawed strategy as men should be held responsible for an issue that is entirely their fault and has nothing to do with women. A culture of misogyny, aggression, and normalized sexual assault of women is the problem. To even begin to change this, we need a comprehensive discourse about men, which must begin in schools, public forums, and the highest levels of government. Boys must be taught that insulting women is unacceptable, as is secretly feeling up females, making obscene remarks, and leering at them. This cannot be left solely in the hands of the parents.
It should be included in the school curriculum beginning in primary school, where attitudes are formed. Men who make sexualized jokes in the workplace, even at the water cooler, must be punished. We should avoid laughing at sexually provocative banter because it leads to desensitization, which starts out innocently but eventually normalizes sexual aggression. Most importantly, public officials and role models must refrain from condemning women for their clothing choices or work hours, as this does nothing to make India a safer place for women. Instead, it encourages masculine vulturine behaviour and deprives women of their potential by forcing them to cut work or leisure activities short.
The “Nirbhaya” case in Delhi marked a watershed moment in India’s feminist movement. Since this occurrence, India’s government has taken significant steps to improve laws and policies concerning violence against women. This case also led to the emergence of Nirbhaya guidelines for safeguarding women and making stringent laws for the rapists. Nonetheless, there remains a disconnect between policy and practice. Women will continue to be vulnerable unless this divide is bridged and a transformation in the criminal justice system is made.
The most immediate remedy is to create a specific law enforcement unit dedicated to sexual crimes. India’s police force, which is overworked, desensitized, and constantly pulled in multiple ways, can no longer be relied upon to commit the time and attention required to address this complex social issue. The government should develop a special unit that recruits and trains cops who are specifically trained to deal with sexual offences, as well as make doctors, forensic experts, rape survivors, and psychologists easily accessible.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
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