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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