Bengaluru Molestation Row: It is time for the society to fight the real demons
- In Current Affairs
- 04:50 PM, Jan 13, 2017
- Srishti Rajiv Sharma
As the New Year came in, people set to make up their resolutions for this year, someone pledged to lose weight, someone resolved to fall in love while someone promised to be more charitable.
But women in Bengaluru spent their new year, regretting their birth as women, cursing their fate and holing up in their homes, scared and terrified. Because unfortunately men cannot, it seems, understand the logic of consent.
You know how to use a smartphone, you might know how to hack a software, or you might even be running companies and be in governments but you still can't understand that No means No? Now some primitive homo sapiens, (because that is what you can call these undeveloped and un-evolved people) believe that with women, it's a simple matter of their clothes. “A girl wears "Western" clothes because she is looking for a hook up, even a forced one. A girl in a jeans cannot say no to sex! She has to oblige the next horny guy!” is what they think.
After the bone-chilling incident of molestation in Bengaluru, the Karnataka Home Minister blamed “western style of dressing by girls and imitation of western culture” for such incidents. Although, many people were outraged at such a statement, this opinion of the minister is one of millions. Because men who can’t control their testosterone driven libidos, blame the lure of an “immodestly” clad girl.
In simple words, they are conveying a warning, “You better be covered, or I might just be transformed in a monster!”
Now to these barbaric ruffians, let's try to convey a simple fact: there is hardly any difference in the number of women being raped who wear short clothes and those who wear sarees and burkhas.
So what was wrong with the woman in the burkha?
And what about those six month old girls? Even writing about it seems a barbaric thought, and it actually happens!
A survey that was conducted in MP in 2013 states that 48% of the victims were wearing salwar kurta, 41% were clad in sari and 10% of toddlers wore frocks and pajamas at the time of the incident. So there, put a veil on your filthy mind, because however much a girl covers her body, your “hornometer’ will detect that she has a vagina. This is not attraction, it’s a disease. Its a sickness.
What is this? And when will this battle be won? When shall justice prevail?
For a world that is living on the pretentious crumbs of development and technology and globalisation, it's horrifying to see that it decides the fate of its women on the basis of their clothes and "character"
Well since I'm a female writer myself, let me address these barbarians directly: what I wear or do or say, is none of your business.
By commenting on my clothes, you are either trying to prove that men have no self control, or you are declaring that rape is a “punishment” for not following the norms of this still sexist society. And let me touch a wider topic, how easy is it for us to categorise women as homely or slutty? A man in a company of several women is “cool” or “stud”, but a woman in the company of men is a character-less woman, worthy of no respect. Who has decided these parameters for dignity? Who gives you the right to decide if I deserve to have my consent in what happens to me or not?
Now let’s talk about the victims of sexual harassment:
November 19, 2014-An 11-year-old girl of Siddharthanagar in the district was reportedly raped by her father time and again. After the man was arrested on the same charge and the grandfather, her only caretaker, stood against her subsequently, the girl faced displacement and is currently living under the care of the district branch of Maiti Nepal. The girl’s mother had already died.
Similar is the fate of another 15-year-old girl, who is taking shelter in the Maiti Nepal after reportedly being raped by her maternal uncle, her sole caretaker. The girl’s both father and mother died earlier. “I am left in the lurch as I have nowhere to go,” the girl said, rolling down her tears.
A lack of support from their parents and threats from the perpetrators are said to be factors behind rape victims being displaced.
According to RAINN, in U.S.A even as a woman is raped every 98 seconds, Rape is the most under-reported crime; 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police. Only 12% of child sexual abuse is reported to the authorities.
What is difficult to understand is that why is sexual assault or molestation not a serious concern for people? Why is it not as horrifying as murder? Because it sure is, in reality, or as the victims might tell us, even worse. It’s not just a physical abuse, which more often than not, completely maims the victim beyond recovery, it’s an abuse on a person’s liberty, integrity and morale.
And to my fellow women: let's not succumb to these chauvinist and sexist forces, let's be strong. Rape in no country, race or religion is non-existent. So, trust no one, and take the reins of your safety in your hands. Don’t feel safe only when you are in the company of a male relative, husband, and boyfriend. Equip yourself with self-defense tricks, or certain precautions like phone tracking apps, so that you feel safe even when you are alone. For one thing is for sure, we can’t, it seems, with the war of words we have, change the mindset of people. (I’m realizing the futility of this article).
We are on our own, and that is a fact
And to everyone who shall read this, to the last shreds of humanity in all of us:
If we can bomb terrorists across the seven seas, can't we at least take action on men who live next door, on the same city, or even sleep in our bed?
The Fact of the matter is, that this world cannot fight any demons, if it cannot be just to its women.
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