Public Opinion-Of Her But Against Her

                                                              

Public opinion has found a life of its own, steering the course of events with its nimble hands. Be it the outburst in Egypt, Turkey or Britain, more and more people are coming out – on the roads, in the cafés, gatherings or even online to express what they feel. This is a marked shift from the times of reluctance to express and disillusionment to the point of deliberate silence.

This global shift from Hong Kong to San Francisco makes the average observer wonder – is the timing of these events globally coincidental, or have the personal opinions reached a tipping point, a point where people have suddenly found their voice in the combined individualism of a crowd?

Egypt under Hosni Mubarak was a wonderful example to support this thesis. This period of Egypt was marked by a stability or rather a discipline which is a custom feature of iron-fisted states. A non-democratic and autocratic system of governance is the very foundation of a police state, which was apparently the case in Egypt. Society accepts the norms set by such a  government and adapts in the fear of the potential consequences, consequences which are made especially public to avoid the rise of an opinion, any opinion.

This may in fact be considered true for most Middle Eastern nation-states, barring exceptions like Lebanon and Kuwait. It is a known fact that in states like Egypt or Yemen or even Bahrain, police does not have to give a reason, forget a valid one, to reprimand or even withhold an individual. It is a commonality amongst the immigrated or the second grade citizens of these states to either completely avoid certain type of behavior or completely avoid certain type of places. Whether this step-brotherly treatment has given the residents a false sense of conformity or an acceptance of the uneasy discipline is probably a question for those who have not experienced it first hand, but certainly it stems from the  iron-hand of the ruler and not from the character of the state or its people or civil components. However, the negative effect of this uneasy stability can be seen in the hardening of stereotypical attitude and non-conciliatory behavior towards the weakest and most vulnerable of the society. A careful examination and it is quite clear that situation at the grassroots is rather murkier that thought or even anticipated. Crimes against women both by individuals and the elements of state have seen an exponential increase, be it rape, molestation or passing strictures that mock the body of a dead woman in the Arab states that became ‘free’.

The strictures to which women in many of these countries are subjected to have ensured that there is not much improvement; rather there has been a progressive degradation of their plight. Ironical is it not, but still true since these are the very women who were an integral part of the public opinion and public movements, be it at Tahrir or RAshtra Path or Istanbul, that forced the change. And now they face abysmal treatment at the hands of the same with whom they walked to clear the nation of its past choices and past oppressions. When it comes to their freedom or their fundamental rights, the situations has led to an absolute mockery of the very ideas of the ‘revolution’ that overthrew ‘dictators’.

Last year in December in Delhi, a 23-year-old girl was brutally raped and murdered. Public anger spilled onto the streets, forcing the government machinery of all the three pillars – executive, legislature and judiciary – to act swiftly. It is ironic that swift action still translated into the case dragging on for 9 months – and this was just the first stage of the judicial appellate system. A CNN presenter questioned the fast track aspect of the case, and the defensive reporter on the Indian side had to remark that in a country where rape cases keep hanging for decades, 9 months was ‘swift’. But, was that a step truly required?

In a stroke of genius, the government gave in to the public opinion, took some immediate measures that would be inconsequential in the future and temporary in effect. The incidence of crimes against women did not decrease.

The government has successfully been able to bypass the public opinion without any police reforms or improvement in the public safety or decrease in crime levels; public anger has come a cropper. A totally useless consequence was the inclusion of the death penalty as the rarest of rare punishment being awarded to rapists, thus neutering the rarest of rare aspect. This aspect, which is left for the judge to decide has not solved the problem at hand; it has rather bandaged the problem with skin coloured band-aid so that there is a semblance of normality even though reality remains where it was before, perhaps even slipping a rung or two.  

Societal expectations have not altered; rather it is increasingly compartmentalizing the role of women within its axes of tradition, honour and discrimination. While women work in multinational companies, there are enough cases of women receiving lower salaries than men. Traditions define how they are supposed to behave in public, going to the extent of silly arguments on decency, appropriate clothing and appropriate behavior being defined in confusing, often self-contradictory terminology. This often spills over into absurdity, such as orders on mannequin displays in shops.

Honour is another domain that has more to do with controlling feminine behavior, resulting in ghastly experiences such as ostracisation, communal violence and even cold-blooded murders, as if something tangible that was lost can be redeemed by senseless behavior.

Combined individualism has not resulted in the voice of the crowd being heard. It has rather led to the voice of the mob being heard. Piecemeal solutions as handouts to placate crowds are a consequence of this laizzez-faire attitude that has been adopted by the society of which administration is nothing but a sub-set. And the casualty as is always the case, the female gender.

In the end as Nicolas Chamfort put it: There are certain times when public opinion is the worst of all opinions.

 

Do You Think Death Penalty Will Stop Rape?

In the aftermath of the brutal rapes, there have been cries for a death penalty from political as well as civilian quarters. What is ironic is that this demand is being heard the most out of the political circles and its only aim is to deceive people. Do you really believe that rape is occurring because the law is not tough enough or the law is not acting as a deterrent?

If one scans through the data for the relationship between the rapist and the rape victim, the conclusion that comes out is a shocker. This could be her friend, her distant relative, her brother or in many cases even her father.

To give you some statistical evidence I refer to China. As is well known, the statistics that come out of China are subdued and altered for PR but nonetheless, have a look:

The “stranger” percentage stands out and hence one is forced to conclude that if a death penalty is put into place, the rapist would be deterred. And, you have already become biased.

As mathematically challenging as it might be, I request you to add up all the percentages in which the perpetrator was even slightly known to the victim. Let us try that:

General Acquaintance + Immediate Family + Love or Marriage + Friends, Classmates, Colleagues & Peers + Teacher-Student Relationship + Extended Family + Employment Relationship = 51.38%.

In a statement, the Commissioner of Police of Delhi, India said this year 178 rape accused were lovers or friends of victims while 115 were found to be neighbors, 15 employers or co-workers, 12 family members, 10 fathers and 2 step fathers, 9 husbands and ex-husbands, 9 brothers-in-law and 2 fathers-in-law, 8 landlords and 3 tenants.

Both these countries have death penalty for rape and China is known to execute thousands every year contrary to what the official statistics say. Yet, the heinousness of crimes against women have not gone down. China, where the execution is used more often has not been able to deter the rape. If one is to go by the media reports, the brutality of the rapes in increasing and so is the inactivity of the state officials. Therefore, the logic of the political class that a tougher law would act as a deterrent is not only ill founded but also divergent in nature.

I say divergent because the intention is not to stop the rapes or the crimes against women, the intention is to simply state a punishment that is grave in nature that it would tap into the emotions of the electorate. As soon as the public or the lesser enlightened hear the death row or castration, the game changes. The reaction is drawn out of the emotional frustration of the individual rather than from a true understanding of the sociological and psychological reasons that lead to rape.

Most importantly, have a look at the countries, which still have capital punishment: Afghanistan, Bahamas, Belarus, Botswana, China, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam, Yemen.

Most of these countries have erroneous reputation when it comes to statistics for crimes against women. Most of these countries also have another common aspect: they have a culture, which promotes a close-knit family structure. Still it is a common knowledge as I have already mentioned that more than half or three-fourth of the rapes go unreported. The flaw of the whole thinking of death penalty for rape comes out.

The fact is that most of these cultures, which are proud of their close-knit family values, are also big on the pride and the honor of the families. Now, for example take India and Pakistan. The religions are such that the big brother is like a father and the father is the ultimate authority in such patriarchal systems.

In such a co-dependent society if a girl is sexually molested or sexually abused or raped by the father or the brother or a distant relative, then most of the times the girl would not report the matter.

Additionally, if the girl is a minor of only five or 6-years of age then in all probability she will not grasp the grotesqueness of the act until only much later in her life. However, by that time she has been scarred permanently psychologically.

The second scenario that is the most common and almost always subdued in discussions is the fact that the family itself forces the girl child or the woman to not report the rape. In such a scenario, the girl whose own mother or father is asking her not to follow up this matter and “forget it”. The moral support, which she has relied on for all her life is snatched in an incident and many girls are discouraged. Imagine the plight of a village girl, who her father has exposed all her life to people “licensed fit”. One of them rapes her and the father says that she ought to forget it to protect family’s honor. The second solid reason is that “who will marry you if you publicly accept that you were raped?”.

The girl has no way of figuring a way forward to get her perpetrator punished for a reason as simple as lack of exposure and lack of emotional support. It is highlighted in the thinking of men world over who blame woman for inviting rape.

Now, take the case of Saudi Arabia (S.A). Just to recall Saudi Arabia also has rape penalty and follows Sharia. Unfortunately, here too the rape victim has to pay double to price. First, the violation of her choice or as some say her “purity” and second, the ostracizing that follows.

I recently spoke to a native of that country and the crux of the discussion was that the women in S.A are happy. They do not complain about not being able to drive and the number of rape cases is on the low end. Here starts the game of the statistics. The game of reported and the unreported cases.

For those how do not know, women in Saudi Arabia cannot drive. Therefore, a related male, a blood relation or a distant relative, escorts the women. Not surprisingly, it is these male escorts who are mostly involved in crimes against women. However, since the perpetrator and the victim are related such matters never see the light of the day for a reason as simple as “honor” of the family.

Most importantly, if the death penalty is made mandatory in homicidal or non-homicidal rape cases, the number of rapes shall not decrease. The system is based on the reporting of the case and who will report a case if the conviction would lead to the death of a father or brother or son. Death penalty would not deter rapists; it would do the right opposite, it would deter rape victims from reporting the crime.

The acceptance needs to be there in the citizenry that the problem does not lie in the law. The problem lies in the implementation of law. The solution lies in better policing, speedy convictions, improving forensic sciences and enlightening young minds about the rights of women.

The need of the hour is to understand what really leads to rape. As the citizenry, we need to initiate this alternative political movement. In India, the average politician is 60 years of age. These same Indian parliamentarians are not willing to accept that marital rapes exist. Their defense for not acknowledging marital rape is that spurious cases shall pop up since there is no way of deciding on a marital rape case.

This is the true nature of a patriarchal parliament in a patriarchal society. The simple fact highlighted is that a woman cannot say “NO”. The other simple fact is that the death penalty is “NO”t the solution to the rape problem of the world. It is a deterrent for the rape victim, not for the rapist.

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Rape Has No Nationality

Mr.Wang Zhonggui, head of land and resource bureau of one of the provinces in China, was particularly powerful in that region. A middle school invited Mr. Wang (28) to attend a legal-awareness program being held in the school. Also invited were the school’s principal, public security officials and Communist Party leaders. All these dignitaries were also invited to a post-lecture lunch. Teachers ate in the canteen, including “her”.

The principal forced her to toast the dignitaries with a shot of baijiu— a Chinese hard clear liquor. She was smashed after 14 or 15 shots. To reach her home she accepted a ride with Mr. Wang and the school’s vice-principal. She was taken to Mr. Wang’s suite. Once the school official left, she threw up and locked herself in the bathroom as Mr. Wang kept on pounding on the door. Mr. Wang forced his way into the bathroom from the window and dragged her to the bedroom.

 She woke up several hours later, almost naked, in an empty room. On the floor was a used condom, she said.

Eventually when she mustered up the courage to report the case, first she was told that since the “Act” was with a condom it is not a rape. Next the police told her:”To protect your reputation, you should forget about the whole thing”. Additionally, she was also told to say: “You should tell your boyfriend Wang just hugged you.”

Mr. Wang was detained for two weeks but released due to lack of evidence.

In the meantime, a Communist Party member told her boyfriend’s uncle to tell the boyfriend that he should not stay with her and that he can get other girls. The logic was that without any moral support the teacher would not have the courage to press criminal charges.

On July 5, she wrote: “I am appealing from the bottom of my heart: leaders, please punish this criminal; please make these public servants that I’ve mentioned above take responsibility for their actions; please seek justice on my behalf.” Only then, did she get the support of the community and the country and action was taken against the officials.

In India, a police officer offered Rs.2000 to the parents of a 5-year-old girl who had been gang raped to hush up the matter. In December, the police did not take any action when a truck driver reported of suspicious behaviour from the bus in which a 23-year-old girl was raped.

In Steubenville, Ohio, a 15-year-old girl was drugged in a party or as is commonly known “roofied”. Then the local football team took her from party to party, sexually assaulted her, urinated upon her and raped her. All the while, she was unconscious. These “juveniles” were simultaneously tweeting about this incident and in the immediate aftermath made a 12-minute video (viewer discretion suggested) referring to her as a dead girl. The shocker was that the locals were actually defending the 12-year old rape accused. The coach of the football team refused to bench the girl who were in that party and directly or indirectly played a role.

The local authorities also failed to act upon which the hacktivist organization Anonymous took it upon themselves and released all the tweets and the video online. Even after these events, the people of the town Steubenville were sympathizing with the football players. The players who were present and participated in a partial role were took-to-task. Instead, they continued to play football and the coach out rightly refused to bench them.

If this was not enough, then there were columns, which were clearly defending the rape accused and went on to say that since the girl had shown sexual interest in the person, it was fine for  the guy to have sex with her while she was unconscious.

In the light of the above two instances and the rape of the 23-year-old in India in December 2012, to say that a particular country is especially unsafe is to delve into an escapist attitude. Just have a look at the histogram below of the countries with the maximum reported cases from 2004 to 2010.

It is clear that rape is not a problem of nationality; it is a problem of mindsets. That is the core problem.

In China, the girl is blamed for rape, in India the girl is blamed, in U.S the girl is blamed.

Are these similarities too trivial to brush them aside by saying that the number of rapes is more because the economy is developing or that the literacy rate is low?

Can we brush these statements aside by saying that we have 24-hour power and water and health facilities and civic amenities? If that is the case then why is it that per 100,000 people the number of rape cases is maximum in Southern Africa and AUSTRALIA. Yes, you read it correct!

Australia has one of the maximum incidences of “reported” rapes per 100,000.

Does this mean that Australia as a society is going to the dark ages or does it mean that the mentality of people is more grave in Southern Africa than in Mexico or in India or for that matter in U.S and  in U.K.

But, wait a second, the north-western Europe is considered more developed than the BRIC countries. But, does the fact that the same countries have more rapes per 100,000 make these countries prone to more women’s rights violations. Does it?

NO, it does not. But, if we start judging every society by its GDP, then should we not judge it by the number of rape cases as well.

I read an article in which the Chinese state media went on a tirade against the Indian establishment for the rape case. Well when you live in a glasshouse…I do not defend India in the context of the crimes against women but China is no better if not worse. This propaganda to cover up one’s own fault is something we as the people of grassroots have to discourage.

No rapist is any different from the next. Only their intent is different. However, a rape is a rape. In addition, globally the attitude towards rape victims is identical: “to die of hunger is a small matter, but to lose your chastity is a huge matter”.

I assure you that you can recall at least one person who has such a mindset. What truly is the most unfortunate aspect of this all is that this attitude is also reflected in the mindsets of many a ministers, parliamentarians and senators. These officials are elected representatives of the majority—and their views represent the views of the majority as well.

It is a scary thought but if the common mindset is so skewed then it is no surprise that a woman is always blamed for crimes against her. The majority will try to justify the rape based on her attire or the skewed sex ratio or excessive exposure to porn or that she had made a pass at him and hence he was justified to rape her while she was unconscious. No one talks about bad parenting. No one talks about lack of sex education. No one talks about the aspect of pornography that makes it seem that all women just want to have sex and when she says NO, it is not a NO.

It is time to realize that the destiny of Earth is in the hands of its 7 billion citizens, not in the hands of a couple of thousand politician or bureaucrats. The call of the hour is to see through the halfhearted commitments, censorship, and suppression. India has shown a way to all of us.

Indian youth have recognized a problem and accepted that there is an erosion of belief in both the moral fabric of the society and the system when it comes to prevention of crimes against women. This is the time to show the power of democracy. To be able to protest is a right that many do not appreciate. Those who have never inhaled the air of free thought, free action and free life can only measure its value.

Preventing rapes is a matter of human dignity and not about dignifying those who violate humanitarian grounds.

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