Why women are raped?

Md Farijuddin Khan *

"It is a DRESS not a 'YES', reads one placard a woman was holding along with thousands of people who have gathered around India Gate and Vijay Chowk at the heart of capital, New Delhi, on 22nd & 23rd December, following the 16 December brutal gang-raped of a young woman in the heart of the capital, protesting and shouting their lungs out against the government and officials for their sheer negligence on women's safety in streets in general and formulating stringent laws against culprits and rape accused in particular, some of them demanding the rapists be hanged till death (which, I think, cannot be the solution).

The 23 year-old woman was reportedly gang-raped by six persons, all men, inside a bus on her way home. She was not only raped but beaten with iron rods and tortured for hours before she was thrown off the moving bus by the rapists in her unconscious naked state. Unfortunately, after a long-fight she succumbed to her internal injuries and died at a multi-speciality hospital in Singapore early Saturday morning after battling for life on ventilator for the past 13 days leaving a host of questions and puzzles surrounding the incident and her shocking death.

In a similar vein, there are reports of several instances of rape cases from Mumbai and Delhi last week including a rape of a 3-year old minor and this week a 42 year-old married woman in Delhi. Most importantly, recently, news of gang-rape in Meghalaya and in our own motherland- sexual-assault against an actress by a self-style NSCN-IM cadre in Chandel district which has already caused a cycle of violence and spread like wildfire that had overshadowed valley's peaceful environment. Today again, a national newspaper reports the alleged rape of an 18-old year young married woman in Wangjing, Thoubal district.

Against this background of episodic rape cases and sexual assaults against women, I would like to decode the causes and try to explain what went wrong with the mental-psychology of men (the perpetrators of such heinous and unforgivable crime). To enable myself to explain and make us understand why women are raped which has become a pertinent question posed by none other than individual(s) among the civil society members.

Let me try my best to decipher the dilemmas and answer the question satisfactorily and quite reasonably. For this we need to go deep inside the society and understand the layers of thought-processes and psycho-analyse the bountiful imaginative socio-cultural norms that creates lemmas (confusions) to those who have the guts to introspect scientifically. I won't bother much with my opinion.

Rape is not just rape. For a police investigative officer she might be a victim simply. But for us it is a crime that is not just physical violation of her right to a dignified life or physically and mentally torture but also it is a crime that is against the whole humanity. It is a crime that evolves out from the very nature of the society where the rapists were born.

A crime that can be dealt effectively and successfully when the "unnecessary" male-masculine and patriarchal chauvinism is being seriously challenged and put to an end by giving women their due rights through empowerment and awareness among masses that women be respected and their rights be welcomed with both hands. The rapists didn't just rape her because they were deprived of sex or, they were mesmerized by the unlimited beauty of her inside the bus so that they couldn't control over their phalluses!! Sex is just a mild factor if we put together the facts and factors as to why men rape women, even they didn't spare a 3-year old baby.

The reason is beyond sex. It is the masculinity factor that triggers their hormones and commits such crimes and sins. But why rape if they have options like beating up, publicly demonize/humiliate, threatening (husbands and brothers do these as sex is not a new to the former and is not allowed by the latter), thrashing, etc. Because rape is the only thing that men can score maximum points over their sexual rival and satiate their hungers too. It, all of us know, not only outcasts her but also, from every angle, she is being de-humanized in the most brutal form. So it is the most effective instrument to maintain the status-quo in the society or at least in the minds of the rapists.

The masculine-ego transmits like waves. This can be best explained (forget in villages and among uneducated masses) when a so-to-say educated man see an educated woman with her personality and attitude same as he thinks he carries, the masculine-wave transmits more strongly and it criss-cross with those of others of same gender as his. Those big-big eyes over her decrypt into what I called "personality-clash."

Men don't want to accept that she can also be independent, as hard working, ambitious, gentle and as responsible towards the family and society as him. This kind of clashes is transplanted in streets and highly masculine society in the form of eve-teasing, molestation, rape and worst gang-rape!! It happens almost in all the parts. For example, there had been frequent reports of women and children gang-raped by security personnel in Kashmir and we had our share too- the famous Manorama Case in 2004. In common parlance it is said that because of sex-deprivation among the forces, they indulged in such acts where they had the command (disturbed areas) even in uniform. This may be true to some extent but the real question is why they took or why would they take such risky decision particularly by the commander in charge.

Experts found that sex is not the motive behind those rapes, be it the case of Manorama. It was the combination Army's hatred towards insurgents in general and their urges to show exemplar against the locals not dare to take them lightly. If the locals don't recognize the power and violence of Army, their wives and females could meet the same fate as Manorama. This was the message!

So, this was not the case of Manorama's or the 23 year-old woman's dress or "even" not their feminine sexual gestures (as many would argue) but truly an unnecessary and discursively imaginative thought process that is criminally employed by the rapists and our failure to understand the root-causes properly guided by historical and practical-scientific thought-process rather than by emotions and some ritualistic dos and don'ts. What dress we are talking about the 3-year old kid who was raped or a four-year old kid in Senapati district who was allegedly raped by a construction worker there.

Thus, the answer to the question of as to why and how women are raped and why the victims of such crimes, be at home or at public places, be "necessarily" girls and women only lies within us and the nature of our polity and socio-economic set-up that treats women as a mere agent of cooking, cleaning, bearing children, taking care of them and male-members, etc. but hardly as individuals of equal stature or partners having the same rights and responsibilities as men and as sons in every household.

This socio-cultural narrative of portraying women as soft, submissive and tolerant beings against all ills and disadvantages creates a vacuum of understanding within the women-folk themselves, many of whom, have knowingly/unknowingly internalized the discriminations and their own statuses as 'second-class gender' as day-to-day phenomena perhaps because the poverty and day-to-day struggles for survival are too important to be ignored.

However, having said these, it is important to acknowledge that if the culture or rather the collective culture of rape or sexual harassment against women has to be stopped, we need to address the root-causes of such crimes in society whether it happens in Delhi or in Imphal or further remote- areas in Manipur or elsewhere. Aggressive men and perverted psychos have to be met with strong and stringent laws under the legal frameworks that not only punish the perpetrators but also becomes an example in the society.

By saying this, I am not suggesting for death penalty of the convict(s) but an exemplary maximum punishment under the law. This is just a tip of the iceberg. More importantly, the rate of convictions should be increased incrementally through required police reforming- the most awaited reform is to have two separate but co-ordinate wings of investigation and security- and instilling confidence in the people particularly women in policing so that people can really come up to the police and reports of incidents personally or through calls, messages, etc.

Along with these, as mentioned there is a need of overhauling in the mindset of people particularly among youths. Parents and guardians do need to teach their girl-child about the responsibilities and equal stature in the society. Parents and teachers equally need not to hesitate to discuss problems face by the kids and make them feel safe, lead life without tensions and confusions.

Society need to understand that it is not the dress that she wears is at fault but the mind-set of the perpetrators and the societal values that is to be blamed. Let us fight at our best possible way so that not a Livingstone or a man dares to touch or harass a sister. Let us struggle together for a well-knitted society where patriarchy has no role, where women are held high and respected. Let us pray that there wouldn't be such crimes in future and we deserve to be called civilized humans by future generations.

The brave-hearted lady gave up her life leaving us the unfinished struggle she had started that very unfaithful night (the injuries on her body indicates that she had fought till the end against the rapists). We mourn her death with deep condolences and may her soul be "Rest in Peace."