Introduction
Violence against women has prevailed since the beginning, even after various laws and movements against it, it continues to exist and has therefore become the main concern for organisations supporting women empowerment. As we know violence against women can be physical, emotional or even psychological and one type of violence that affects all three is ‘rape’.[1] This post concerns itself with this form of violence and the various movements against it, not only in India but also in the other South Asian countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bhutan. The purpose is not to focus on the issue of rape but to look at the various movements in these countries that has resulted in change and the various methods applied to achieve that change. The post will strive to analyze the synergies and differences of these movements and will try to show the interlinkages between the movements themselves and how the countries can adapt from the other’s struggle. The reason the focus of this paper is rape is to show how relevant and damaging an age old violence is still relevant today. To start with we need to look at what is rape, its impact and the issues that need to be faced while dealing with this issue.
Rape as Violence
“I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too?”
- Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak [2]
Rape under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is defined as sexual violence, mainly penetration, by a man against a women without her consent or with her consent attained under coercion.[3] Merriam Webster dictionary defines rape as an “unlawful sexual activity, usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly under threat of injury, against a person’s will or a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness or consent is obtained via deception.”[4] This violence is physical and violent in nature but the result of the harm is greater.[5] It not only physically violates the body of the victim but also scars them emotionally and psychologically. Rape is mainly talked about in the context of violence against women but it should be noted that the victim can be men, transgenders and intersex people as well and the law only affords protection to men only if they are underage and fall under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.[6] This form of violence can be perpetrated by strangers or people we trust and know such as family members or husbands. In India ‘marital rape’ is not an offence under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 but is envisaged as sexual violence under Section 3(d)(ii) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.[7] The society as a whole tries to shame and blame the women for the violence she suffers, maybe because she was dressed differently or was travelling alone at night, because her body is more enticing and different than that of the men, because she drinks alcohol and talks to men or has had sexual intercourse with a lot of men or the most common ‘she was asking for it’. This form of ‘victim blaming’ results in the victim feeling like it was her fault that the crime happened, she questions her every move and what she could have done to avoid this which only ends up harming her psychologically and the fear of being shamed makes her think twice about reporting this atrocity against her.[8] The only one to blame for such a heinous crime is the perpetrator who decided to commit the crime and the society that protects him by saying ‘boys will be boys, she should have been careful.’[9] Feminists fight tirelessly against this process of rape and victim blaming, that undoubtedly leads to more problems than solutions. The problems relating to rape are not limited to the above there are many aspects that deserve to be discussed but for the purposes of this post, instead of going into the intricacies of the crime, I will discuss the issue as a whole based on the different strategies adopted by the countries though advocacy, information dissemination, protests and much more.
Movements in South Asia against Rape
South Asia is connected not only geographically but also through various other factors such as, economy, religion, tradition, culture and others.[10] The type of people and their outlook toward life is quite similar with regards to women and how they are the keepers of ‘honour’ of the family, an atrocity against women is an atrocity against them as a society and yet it is surprising that these countries record the highest number of atrocities against women be it physical, sexual or domestic.[11] The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women or CEDAW is an international convention signed and ratified by most of the South Asian countries,[12] thus placing an imposition on them to ensure that the women of their country are protected through legislative intent. This post will focus on India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka and on the synergies and diversions between them and their dealing with rape.
India
India in its fight against rape has seen large scale protests and even a change in legislation to harshen the punishment for the perpetrators by reducing the age, of being tried as an adult for the crime of rape, from eighteen to sixteen. The term of punishment has also been increased and can go up to imprisonment for life or even capital punishment.[13] All these changes were not brought about suddenly but were the product of hard work on the part of feminists and the nation that protested and stood up in solidarity against the gang-rape of Jyoti Singh in December 2012. This was all achieved through Court processes and a collective voice by the youth of India. However, this does not mean that we have been successful in eradicating the problem all together as proved by the gross injustice carried out in Hathras where a 19 year old Dalit girl was gang-raped and left for dead.[14] Through Court decisions and amendments in legislation along with implementation of specific acts to protect women, India has achieved equality in terms of law, but in practice, caste based and gender based violence still prevail, with the primary victims as females. Even after ratification of CEDAW we do not have a concrete law stopping rape in the marital house, thus forcing women to succumb to the will of their male counterpart.
Nepal
Nepal has seen a lot changes when it comes to rape, specifically in the sphere of marital rape. Feminists through advocacy initiative approached the Supreme Court of Nepal and were successful in getting marital rape outlawed. After which they had the struggle of treating rape and marital rape on the same standing in term of punishment for the assailants, which they were successful in achieving.[15] This proves that movements by feminists results in positive change and in protecting women from further violence. This does not mean that the problem is eradicated but that Nepal is one step ahead by curbing intimate partner violence atleast through legislation.[16]
Sri Lanka
The most prominent issue related to rape in Sri Lanka is the sexual violence against Tamil’s by Sri Lankan Security Forces in the period of 2009 to 2015.[17] This was a heinous crime in this country which still has not given justice to the victims, it has in fact not been discussed in the war tribunals at all as a part of crimes perpetrated.[18] Although it is a well-established principle that rape during war time is a form of genocide and the assailants must be punished but these victims have not received any relief apart from being able to share their struggle due to the report on the incident.[19] The problem above has been closely followed by the Human Rights Watch who have been trying to get justice for these women.[20] Sri Lanka after 2015 had seen a reduction in cases of rape but recently there have been rapes reported by foreigners visiting the country.[21] Centre for Women's Research (CENWOR) is an organisation working in the Country to make a change, by accepting donations on behalf of women and even providing information and support to survivors. They focus on research of the on-the-ground and lived realities of women in the Country.[22]
Pakistan
The constitution of Pakistan does envisage equality among the genders but their older penal law, Hudood, required that a woman must produce four male witnesses to prove that rape occurred otherwise she will be punished for committing adultery.[23] This was amended and there are further amendments taking place with regards to rape law by the virtue of the ordinance of 2020 that will amend the existing criminal law and introduce a new anti-rape act that will set up separate tribunals to deal with rape cases and will increase the modicum of punishment for the accused.[24] Pakistan has rigorous punishment in store for the men committing such a crime, such as chemical castration and capital punishment. The new act will also abolish the ‘two-finger test’ used on rape victims to establish evidence of rape. This amendment was announced after the brutal rape of a mother and daughter in Sindh’s Kashmore district.[25] It remains to be seen how this will play out in reality and also the response of feminists to this law and the punishments proposed.
Synergies and Differences
The above movements specific to each country show how they each apply different methods to achieve their goal of ending or trying to end rape. In India we use protests as our primary source to profess our disagreement and bring about the change required. In Sri Lanka, it takes the intervention of the Human Rights association to bring forth the issue to attain justice. In Nepal, the use of legal advocacy has proven to be a powerful tool in bringing legislation against marital rape and ensuring that it is termed and treated as rape. In Pakistan, it takes a heinous crime to occur for an action from the government to control the problem of rape and imply stricter laws so that it does not happen again, like India in 2012. All of these different strategies amplify and give rise to each other. Through protests, legal advocacy is stronger, intervention by international organisation shames the country into doing something for their aggrieved citizens. Formation of reports helps in information dissemination and helps build up clearer cases through fact finding, evidence and testimonies. Even legal advocacy initiatives learn from one another and can be adapted to suit another country for example Nepal’s judgement on marital rape has been cited by feminist lawyers in Indian Courts to strengthen their arguments[26] and prove that this practice of protecting the marital home and making it a private concern is not the right approach in protecting women’s rights, thus amplifying the voice of the Indian Women’s movement. We see organisations like Oxfam, Jagori, CEDAW, UN Women, Sakhi and others helping the victims and providing them with resources to relocate and at the same time encouraging them to come forward and achieve the justice that they deserve. International collaboration movements such as performing the Chilean Rape song, the One Billion Rising movement, the #MeToo movement have all had a global impact not only in the west but also in the east. These movements empower women and connect them to other women in the same plight as them and together through formation of collectives the fight for justice ensues. This process of learning and adapting results is wider and farther reaching results, through which states can put up a stronger fight against rape.
Conclusion
The purpose of this paper was to prove and give hope that there are results to years of endless struggle, persistence by feminists and others who strived to change the world for the better. We still have a long way to go in terms of eradication of gender based violence but the recent amendments to the Pakistan Criminal Law and even the enacting of people’s tribunal shows that the state is changing and is more open to protecting women’s rights. There are set backs, such as the Hathras case, that are yet to attain the justice they deserve due to intersecting factors such as caste, religion and even sexual orientation in some cases. It needs to be kept in mind that the fight is not only against the state and law but also against society as a whole, the people need to be educated and the media needs to be sensitised to these matters. Public houses such as newspaper companies who can control the flow of information and the narrative need to promote gender equality and make people aware of patriarchy and its negative output for the society as a whole. Conversations need to be had with men’s rights groups and socio-economic parity needs to be curbed. All religions should be practiced by anyone who wishes to do so. People’s right to choice should be respected and free consent should be made the first priority for the protection of women. The narrative of ‘boys will be boys’ should be forgotten and improvised to hold those who do wrong accountable for their actions, no matter what gender. This paper has tried to show the little victories that have been achieved in some of the South Asian countries.
[1] Gurvinder Kalra and Dinesh Bhugra, 'Sexual Violence Against Women: Understanding Cross-Cultural Intersections' (2013) 55 Indian Journal of Psychiatry https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777345/ accessed 3 December 2020. [2] Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak (Square Fish 2011). [3] The Indian Penal Code, 1860. [4] 'Rape' https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rape accessed 3 December 2020 [5] Gurvinder Kalra and Dinesh Bhugra, 'Sexual Violence Against Women: Understanding Cross-Cultural Intersections' (2013) 55 Indian Journal of Psychiatry https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777345/ accessed 3 December 2020. [6] Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. [7] Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. [8] Purnima Singh, 'How Does The Media Perpetuate Victim Blaming When Reporting GBV?' (Feminism In India, 2019) https://feminisminindia.com/2019/10/22/media-victim-blaming-gbvinmeda/ accessed 3 December 2020. [9] Gurvinder Kalra and Dinesh Bhugra, 'Sexual Violence Against Women: Understanding Cross-Cultural Intersections' (2013) 55 Indian Journal of Psychiatry https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777345/ accessed 3 December 2020. [10]Saumya Uma, 'South Asian Feminist Engagements With Law: Some Explorations In The Context Of Violence Against Women' (2019) 10 Jindal Global Law Review. [11] Gurvinder Kalra and Dinesh Bhugra, 'Sexual Violence Against Women: Understanding Cross-Cultural Intersections' (2013) 55 Indian Journal of Psychiatry https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777345/ accessed 3 December 2020. [12] 'OHCHR | Committee On The Elimination Of Discrimination Against Women' (Ohchr.org, 2020) https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/CEDAWIndex.aspx accessed 3 December 2020. [13] First Post Staff, '2012 Delhi Gangrape Case: A Look At Jyoti Singh's Killers Whose Fate Will Be Decided By Supreme Court Today' Firstpost (2017) https://www.firstpost.com/india/nirbhaya-gangrape-case-nirbhaya-supreme-court-verdict-nirbhaya-case-who-are-jyoti-singhs-killers-fate-of-mukesh-vinay-pawan-and-akshay-to-be-decided-by-sc-today-3425302.html accessed 3 December 2020. [14] Rakhi Bose, 'Say Her Name: Why Anti-Caste Activists Are Using Hathras Rape Victim's Name To Seek Justice' News 18 Buzz (2020) https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/say-her-name-why-anti-caste-activists-are-using-hathras-rape-victims-name-to-seek-justice-2921465.htmlaccessed 3 December 2020. [15] Saumya Uma, 'South Asian Feminist Engagements With Law: Some Explorations In The Context Of Violence Against Women' (2019) 10 Jindal Global Law Review. [16] 'Nepal' (Evaw-global-database.unwomen.org, 2020) https://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/en/countries/asia/nepal accessed 3 December 2020. [17] Professor Sarvan, 'Sri Lanka: A Still Unfinished War: Sri Lanka’s Survivors Of Torture And Sexual Violence, 2009 – 2015.' (South Asia Analysis Group 2015) http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/node/1834 accessed 3 December 2020. [18] Ibid. [19] Ibid. [20] Ibid. [21] Rock Ronald Rozario, 'South Asia’S Rape Scourge And Moral Degradation' UCA News (2020) https://www.ucanews.com/news/south-asias-rape-scourge-and-moral-degradation/86995# accessed 3 December 2020. [22] 'CENWOR - Centre For Women's Research - Sri Lanka' (CENWOR, 2020) http://cenwor.lk accessed 3 December 2020. [23] Oxfam International, 'Towards Ending Violence Against Women In South Asia' (Oxfam International 2004) https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/115043/bp66-towards-ending-violence-against-women-south-asia-050804-en.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y accessed 3 December 2020. [24] Scroll Staff, 'Pakistan Approves Chemical Castration For Rapists, Sets Up Special Courts For Rape Cases' scroll.in (2020) https://scroll.in/latest/979633/pakistan-approves-chemical-castration-for-rapists-sets-up-special-courts-for-rape-cases accessed 3 December 2020. [25] Ibid. [26] Saumya Uma, 'South Asian Feminist Engagements With Law: Some Explorations In The Context Of Violence Against Women' (2019) 10 Jindal Global Law Review.
Comentarios