India was once famous
for its rich diversity, different culture, and beautiful historical places.
However, the country's name is maligned for something much more disturbing --
women and child rape.
Rape is the fourth
most common crime against women in India. According to government crime data, a
rape is reported every 15 minutes in India.
Data from the National
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released in 2018, the data on violence against
women showing shocking figures since 2018.
According to the NCRB
data, 87 rape cases were reported per day in India. If we look at figures,
Uttar Pradesh had most of the violence against women in 2019.
In India 4, 05,861 cases
of crimes against women were reported in 2019, and Uttar Pradesh topped the
list 59,853 such incidents. At the same time, Assam was the highest in crime rate
against women at 117.8 per lakh population in NCRB's report 2019.
The crime against women
has risen by 7.3% since 2018.
A high number of these
cases under the Indian Penal Code IPC were registered under cruelty by husband
or his relatives (30.9%), followed by Assault on women with intent to outrage
her modesty (21.8%), kidnapping and abduction of women (17.9%).
Not only women, but
there is also a high spike in cases of crime against children. From 2018,
crimes against children went up by 4.5% in 2019. With a total of 1.48 lakh,
issues of crime against children were registered in 2019. And about 46.6% were
cases of kidnapping, and 35.3% cases were related to sexual offenses.
The NCRBs collected data
from 36 states and Union Territories and 53 metropolitan cities. Uttar Pradesh
also had the highest number of crimes against girls under the POCSO Act, with
7,444 cases, followed by Maharashtra 6,402 and Madhya Pradesh 6,053.
According to
Thomson Reuters Foundation Survey - India is the world's
most dangerous country for women and minor girls. Due to the high risk of
sexual violence and being forced into slave labor.
India has shown
utter disgraced and disrespect for women. Child rape, marital rape, Sexual
Assault, and harassment female infanticide has gone unabated. The world's
fastest-growing economy and leader in space and technology is shamed for
violence committed against women and minors.
Afghanistan and
Syria ranked second and third in the survey, followed by Somalia and Saudi
Arabia.
How has the Indian
government badly failed to curb such a brutal crime?
Today India has become a
country of rape; despite several strict laws Indian government has failed to
protect women in the country.
In 2013, the
criminal law amendment act was passed, which criminalized sexual offenses like
acid attacks, voyeurism, and stalking, and provided 20-years sentences for rape
and the death penalty in extreme rape cases.
The central government
set a particular "Nirbhaya Fund" to help women attack and improve
women's public safety. But none of these moves led to a decrease in the number
of rape.
Most of the cases take
close to a decade to finish has not helped. Studies have also carefully
recorded that the investigation and trial of such cases are traumatic for the
victims.
This leads to a high
level of discomfort and harassment for women, discouraging them from filing any
violence report. Still, there have been many cases where brave women have come
forward, and they raised voice against such crime and injustice.
A primary reason why
rape cases so poorly investigated and prosecuted in India is the power
structures confirming deeply patriarchal societies.
Pendency of Cases
The NCRB report
shows that the backlog of cases, including cases of child rape, is enormous.
For all crimes against women, the pendency of patients is as high as 89.6%.
In 2017, there were as
many as 1.17 lakh rape cases from previous years pending trial.
Even the conviction rate
is way too low (only 5,822 accused were convicted in 28,750 cases sent for
trial in that year that makes around 20%).
This failure to reform
the justice system and ensure conviction leads to an increase in the impunity
with which crimes against women are committed.
Bureaucratic Hurdles
The negligent behavior
by the concerned official authorities while investigating a time-bound manner
destroys the criminal justice system's very purpose.
The government tries to
turn the attention to the extent of punishment, instead of focusing on the
urgent steps required for the prevention of such crimes. For example, the
Muzaffarpur Shelter Home sexual abuse, rape, and torture of at least 35 girls
reported early last year (2018), is still under investigation with no justice
of any kind in sight for the girls. It later came to light how the perpetrators
misused government funding.
Most of the time, laws
and legislation for women's safety are either not in compliance with the
international standards or are not appropriately implemented.
The National
Family Health Survey-4 revealed that every third married woman had experienced
physical and sexual violence, but only 1.5% had sought help from the police.
In many cases, it has
been noted that the culprit is the familiar individual. This is the reason why
victims become more vulnerable and helpless from raising any voice against them.
The reluctant and
less-sensitive attitude of the police officials while registering the cases,
makes the victim feel more victimized, leading to under-reporting cases.
Psychological
reasons behind the rape and sexual abuse
According to a
psychologist, the kind of sexual violence and brutality and the dangerous
behavior are seen; every second person is a psychopath.
If an offender abuse one child, there are high chances of him continuing to
abuse other children. Some of the identified reasons for sexual
offenses are--
--Sex education is
still a taboo in India
-- Minors are less
aware of wrongly touching.
--Suppressing and
restrict kids make them more curious, and they eventually indulge in watching
porn.
--Easy and affordable
access for pornography.
--Lack of
government's policies to regulate pornography.
-- There is
violence on the streets and within the family.
A way forward
Preventive
measures such as education and awareness (important in a profoundly patriarchal
society) help ensure women's safety.
Equally important is
recognizing that sexual violence acts are deeply traumatic for survivors and
that it takes great courage and faith in the system to report them.
The police, dominated by
men, must do more to clear all obstacles in the path of survivors.
Infrastructure: In
India, after the Nirbhaya case, the committee under Justice J.S.
Verma had made a series of recommendations for preventing crimes
that placed the responsibility on the Central and State governments to ensure
the presence of social and physical infrastructure to prevent crimes against
women.
The suggestions included
school and college syllabi changes to educate social values of equality and
respect for women's autonomy, ensuring safe public transport, city and street
lighting, CCTV cameras, unsafe mapping areas, and providing increased police patrolling
areas.
There is a need for
comprehensive and systematic research and analysis on crime against women at
Central, State, district, and block levels. Accurate data collection is
essential to inform policy initiatives. India needs an ecosystem of care and
empathy that focuses on the prevention of sexual Assault, the protection of
victims, and the certainty of action against culprits.
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