Rape

Rape is defined in most jurisdictions as sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, committed by a perpetrator against a victim without their consent. Lack of consent is key to the definition of rape. Consent is affirmative "informed approval, indicating a freely given agreement" to sexual activity. It is not necessarily expressed verbally, and may instead be overtly implied from actions, but the absence of objection does not constitute consent. Lack of consent may result from either forcible compulsion by the perpetrator or an inability to consent on the part of the victim (such as people who are asleep, intoxicated or otherwise mentally compromised). Sexual intercourse with a person below the age of consent, i.e., the age at which legal competence is established, is referred to as statutory rape.

There is a simple way to describe why rapes happen, and it is because “there is a rapist”. Although it is true, but this is oversimplification of the matter. How an innocent child grows up to become a rapist highlights different weak points in our society that we need to address. Furthermore, we need to know this better by looking into the psychology of the rapists and their justifications for it, if any. These justifications can highlight the points that we need to address in the society to reduce and prevent rapes.

Justifications of Rape (in the society or by the perpetrator):

There are various justifications of rape that are given in a society, which can be divided into different themes of mindset and behavior.

1.    Objectification of Women:

Women are objectified specifically in our society and generally all over the globe, and to the perpetrators sexual objectification reduces the victim to those aspects that the perpetrator finds attractive. It is something that is not talked about in the society and instead of educating people about this particular aspect, our attentions are diverted by victim blaming; whether it is the clothing, the time of going out, choosing to go alone or with a friend or a partner etc.

Let me try to explain how this works; a perpetrator has a certain desire, a certain admiration for woman’s body etc. If that person is not educated properly to have control over his desires, if he hasn’t been taught that the objectification of a person / woman is wrong, if the people and society around him haven’t schooled him that a woman is free to clothe herself as per her liking, she is free to go out anytime and with anyone – instead the society encourages such objectification. So, because of the opportunity and the encouragement a perpetrator got from the society, rapes happen.

2.    Reputation of the Woman:

A perpetrator knows that the reputation of a woman is very dear to the society and its concept is completely wrong. A woman who has been raped is not considered “pure”, and the society talks about her as if she has no reputation or she has lost her reputation. Whereas the perpetrator is not seen that way. The reputation of a society and that of a household is associated with a woman and what has happened to her instead of the actions of a man.

Therefore, the society, the family and even the woman herself try to suppress the incident on numerous occasions. Men know that most of the victims are not going to speak about it or if they do, they are not going to report it. Hence, reputation of women gives men an opportunity and hence a justification for rape.

3.    Victim Blaming:

Placing the blame of the rape on the victim is also quite common all around the world. While discussing rape, people sometimes just brush away the action of rape as it disgusts them and quickly move on to judge the victim. Choice of dressing, choice of outdoor activities, choice of social media activities, friendly behavior and flirting are often listed as the reasons and justifications for rape.

4.    Hostile Sexism:

Many perpetrators have hostility towards women. It is also another issue that our society needs to talk about and coach men on it. Women are often seen as third-class citizen and wife beating is common which is sometimes followed by spousal rape. Women are supposed to oblige men whatever they desire and when women try to stop them or say “no”, they have to deal with men’s hostility. In the families and joint families, hostility and blackmail also lead to rapes. We have seen cases in which stronger man in the family rapes women on accounts for disobedience or other related actions.

5.    Biological Essentialism:

Many male perpetrators think that are not responsible for their actions because of their biology which makes them want sex. The society also tends to ignore the actions of the males as compared to females. When an incident of rape happens, we hear such statements from the society that men are like that, it is the woman who needs to protect herself etc. Although biology has a hormonal role, but biology cannot be blamed for the actions of any man. It is a man’s duty to control his biological desires. Furthermore, every living being has biological desires, not just men. Here once again I will emphasize the importance of education in order to change such mindset.

6.    Sexual Scripts:

Not understanding women, not wanting to understand women, and creating your own meanings of a conversation. That is something we see in our males. Especially when they talk to each other about women’s conduct and behavior. For example, if a woman says “no” to a man, it does not really mean “no”, it may mean “she doesn’t know” or it may also mean “yes”. Especially when there is a certain condition attached to it, for example, if she is friendly, if she is dressed in a certain way, if she is going out alone etc.

7.    Male Glory:

Having “conquered” multiple women; this is how men glorify themselves. Physical gratification seems to be the only goal instead of intimacy and building a relationship. Therefore, when they are bored or they get rejection, they use force for pleasure and glory.

8.    Religious Disobedience:

Another justification that we see in our society is “religious disobedience” or not following the religion in different aspects of life. Women are blamed for not dressing conservatively, or by going out alone etc. Whereas, the system is blamed for lack of convictions and for not following certain religious punishments like “public hangings”.

The Questions:

1.    What is the biggest cause of Rape?

Unfortunately, there isn’t one answer to that question. However, the most important thing in my opinion is “lack of proper education” and secondly “the objectification of women”. I used the word “proper” with education because people have a lot of misconceptions about education. Here, we need to learn that a rapist is not born a rapist. He becomes a rapist because of different experiences he goes through in his life. Proper sex education, women’s rights education and social education should be provided to children so when they are going through different experiences in their life that can have a negative and hostile affect on them, they should be able to deal with them better by using what they learn.

The society needs to talk about women objectification and its association with rape. The society needs to reset its standards of female and male reputation that it should be based on their actions, not on their dressing or the time when they leave the house. The standards for both the genders should be the same when it comes to reputation and character. If it is not ok for a woman to be licentious or a dallier, it should not be considered ok for a man.

2.    How can rapes be prevented or reduced?

Once again there is no single answer to this question. As society we need to work on different areas to reduce and prevent rapes. Rapes can be reduced by changing the mindset of the people and their take on women’s reputation and character. Proper education is key in this regard. Secondly, there is need to increase the conviction rate of reported cases by improving the policing, detection, prosecution, and judiciary systems.

Furthermore, there is an utmost need to take this issue seriously and to improve the policing structure. The lack of reporting in such cases is a huge dilemma for the society and because of standards of female reputation, a lot of rape cases are suppressed by the society.

3.    Can Public hangings do any good?

There is no data to suggest that public hangings can be effective in this case. Our issue is not the punishment, but lack of reporting and conviction. Punishment can only be given once the perpetrator has been reported, caught, and convicted. So, the main issue is to increase the conviction rate, if we manage to do that then we can talk about more effective way.

So, the right question is: how to increase the conviction rate?

4.    Is dressing and behavior of Women associated to rape?

Everyone is entitled to have the freedom to dress as one chooses. It is a fundamental right. Discussing a fundamental right as a suspected cause of rape is wrong. It is important to cover this point in the proper education of people, so people can know about fundamental rights which society highlight as a cause of rape. Furthermore, this point also becomes invalid when we see that most of the rape cases are of women and children who are dressed quite conservatively.

As far as behavior of a woman is concerned, we need to look at the Point 6: Sexual Scripts (in the justification of rape). If someone is not clear about the message a woman is giving, it is better to ask for consent clearly. Moreover, the society needs to debunk these stereotypes that highlight the character of women in a negative way.

Bottom Line:

Rapes happen all over the world, and most of the reasons for rape are similar. However, the important thing is to address the “justifications” that are given by the society or the perpetrator. That is something we can achieve through proper education. The society needs to ask the right questions when such an incident happens. Victim blaming and other invalid justifications shouldn’t be given. The matter should be looked at logically and through the eye of the law. Governments and Law Enforcing Agencies shouldn’t do commentary of such incidents, instead they should make sure that the law is followed not only in the policing and judicial proceedings, but also in their statements related to the case.