Apologies for cross
posting.
Sharing CREA's views on the recent gang rape and
murder of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi , India ; sexual
violence; and the responses to it on the blog of Reproductive Health Matters
(RHM).
A guest blog from Pooja Badarinath, CREA
The recent brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl
in a moving bus in Delhi , India , resulted in
expressions of outrage and anger everywhere in the country. The weeks after the
rape saw an unprecedented focus on sexual assault—in formal and informal
conversations, protests, television debates, drawing rooms, social media, and
official statements. These protests were unique because they brought everyone
to the streets. It is heart warming that many of the conversations spurred by
this response are affirmative—they discuss women’s right to wear what they
want, to walk the streets after dark, and other such issues. And, they take on
political and spiritual leaders who blame women for rape in direct and indirect
ways.
The feminist movement has been struggling to
change the rhetoric from “protection” to “freedom” for a long time. This time,
many of these feminist demands, ideas, and positions are of people/groups that
do not identify as ‘feminists’. However, there are some demands that are
extremely problematic. For instance, the demands for enhanced punishment, death
penalty, and chemical castration—fuelled by the media—are decidedly unfeminist.
Thus, we need to extend the conversations beyond these ‘populist demands’ and
broaden the popular middle-class understanding of gender-based violence and its
consequences for all—Dalit women, women from religious minorities, sex-working
women, mentally and physically disabled women, women in police custody, women
living in ‘disturbed’ areas and conflict zones, women who are sexually abused
within the home, lesbian women, transpersons, and gender non-conforming people.
However, the current legal framework for rape is
fraught with patriarchal baggage—only when a man has “sexual intercourse” with
a woman, without her consent, is it considered as rape (this does not hold
within marriage of course, because the wife is seen as the ‘property’ of her
husband)[1] . The importance is given to “intercourse” and, hence, there is no
acknowledgment of the violence of invasion that always accompanies any case of
sexual assault, whether or not it is accompanied by bruises and broken bones.
Due to this emphasis on “intercourse”, rape is considered most severe when a
“woman loses her chastity/virtue”[2]. The most common perspective is that for a
woman, being raped is a “fate worse than death”. This notion has been the most difficult
to change over the years, not just in popular culture but also in the judiciary
and other institutions. As long as sex is seen as the vehicle to the most
ultimate form of purity or pollution, this perspective will not change.
Gender-based violence is a manifestation of
patriarchal power structures and inherent inequality in society. It is not
about, as some sections of the Indian media are reporting, “illiterate” young
men who migrate to big cities and “cannot handle educated young women asserting
themselves”. Such privileging of violence and ‘victimhood’ is a result of
patriarchal and unequal power structures. Even the reportage in the media
abroad has not been without its own bias[3] . Many articles published in
prominent dailies in countries such as the US and UK portray rape as a problem that happens only in
countries such as India , implying that the
so-called North has overcome this completely. The stereotyping of “Indian
culture” and of “Indian men” as having “…murderous, hyena-like male contempt”[4]
towards women is even more troublesome. The question has been turned into a
clash of “cultures”. Such reporting and attitude towards Southern cultures yet
again touch upon the North-South divide and the northern gaze, where issues
like patriarchy and gender inequality seem to be a problem of only the South.
We need to realise that the issues of gender justice is not cultural
phenomenon. We must remember that no matter where they live, women and men hold
different identities and positions of privilege and powerlessness.
Women’s groups in India have always tried to bring this perspective to
the work on violence against women through their advocacy, trainings,
publications, messages, campaigns, research, protests, discussions, and events.
CREA, for instance, works to address the issue of violence against all women
through its work, such as through its Institutes on sexuality, gender, and
rights; trainings aimed at creating an understanding of bodily autonomy,
choice, and freedom to enable women and girls to be more aware and in control
of their bodies and lives; grassroots-level feminist leadership building
programmes; and publications on various issues related to violence against
women. Violence is also discussed by documenting cases of violence on marginalised
women who fall through the cracks in the mainstream, homogenous, violence
against women rhetoric (for instance, lesbian, sex–working, and disabled
women). We work directly with adolescent and young girls using the medium of
sports. Sport, which has traditionally always been associated with boys and
men, also challenges stereotypes around gender, and allows the girls to come
out of their homes and exert more control over their lives. We also sent
recommendations, collectively with other activists and groups as part of the
Citizens’ Collective Against Sexual Assault, to one of the committees formed by
the Indian government to inform law reform on sexual assault. The submissions
were those that we have been making for a while now; we made them again because
this time, the authorities were listening.
It is inevitable that this case will fade from
public memory, if not now then later. While we hope that the mobilisation
around this case will change rape laws for the better, we are aware that a
legal response alone is deeply inadequate in tackling what is a systemic
devaluation of women. Women’s groups, along with seizing the opportunities that
this moment brings, will continue to confront violence against women, like they
always have. In addition, we need to revisit our strategies, and perhaps
consolidate some, and rethink others. We need to continue the conversations
around women’s freedom and build a culture where a woman has autonomy over her
body and sexuality.
[1] Rape in the Indian Penal Code has been defined
under section 375 and 376 and we have concentrated on a specific aspect of the
same. The law also describes what can be called aggravated cases of rape, such
as custodial rape, rape on a pregnant woman and gang rape.
[2] An example of the same can be understood
through the experience of Sohalia Abdulali
[3] An example of this is this piece by Liz Jones
in the Daily Mail, UK
[4] Opinion piece by Libby Purves in the Times, London ; Indian women need a cultural
earthquake, 31st
December 2012
CREA is a feminist human rights organisation
based in New Delhi , India . CREA works to
advance the rights of women and girls, and the sexual and reproductive freedoms
of all people.
CREA works in partnership with RHM journal to
publish the Hindi language edition of Reproductive Health Matters
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