I write this column with trepidation because what I am about to discuss will most likely not find favour with many. It may also be construed that as a privileged man, I will never be able to understand the subject at its core: rape and sexual violence. This is indeed true. I have no experience of ever being groped, molested or sexually attacked. All my comprehension comes from listening to survivors and reading about it. Yet, I venture into this conversation because I am concerned about the way in which we react whenever such incidents come to the forefront. It is a fact that we are all disturbed, shattered, and feel helpless by what happened at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta. This incident has accentuated the already existent fear among the vulnerable. In a state of distress, it is very difficult to think of solutions to this recurring violence. This is why considerable thought and considered action are required.
A few days ago, the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, said she will amend the law in the state and demand death by hanging for rapists. Keeping aside the political tug-of-war between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the fact remains that not a single political party will object to such an amendment. Anyone who suggests that this might not be a solution to the problem will be condemned as a rape sympathiser. The retributional optics of Mamata Banerjee’s statement cannot be diminished. It feeds into the anger that is being felt across the country and may even, for the moment, seem like progress. But will a death sentence, instead of life in prison, change anything on the ground?
In the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case, changes were made to the laws that deal with sexual crimes. Yet, the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau suggest that in 2021, 31,677 cases of rape were registered with a daily average of 87. Nearly 49 cases of crimes against women were registered every hour. One can only imagine how many are not reported and go unregistered. Clearly, changes in laws have not reduced the number of sexual crimes against vulnerable communities. Wanting to hang someone is much more about addressing outrage, the need for revenge, or a show of some action rather than a willingness to engage with the problem with utmost honesty and a real desire for change. There is enough data from across the globe that informs us that the death penalty is not a deterrent and does not reduce the number of those crimes for which it has been sanctioned.
The insensitivity of the police force towards sexual violence and the lethargic and arbitrary nature of our legal system are definitely contributing factors to why such violence continues. But both these arms of the State only reflect our social fabric. How many times have we watched videos of people in positions of power, including politicians, making misogynistic and crass statements? The same people today are horrified by what happened in Calcutta. While everyone will vote in affirmation for the ‘death penalty’, the issue of ‘marital rape’ does not have the same consensus. Demanding the death penalty is convenient because men can continue to behave in the manner they always have.
If rapes must become a rarity, our homes need to change. Even today, boys are given preferential treatment and placed on a higher pedestal. This is kept alive in subtle ways — in the language used, appreciation bestowed, and the attention and respect given automatically to a boy. A girl has to stand up and demand the same. Then we strip her of that agency and proudly proclaim that we ‘brought up our girl like a boy’. Patriarchy governs love and, consequently, even our love is unequal. This is repeated within the precincts of schools, the first place of any real social interaction for a child. When that environment reinforces what is already being imbibed at home, a girl defines herself, all her relationships, and her social position on this basis. The workplace is just an extension. The objectification of women is a constant across the board. Mainstream cinema and the advertising world notoriously perpetuate body-shaming and anti-feminist tropes.
A parallel stream of discrimination is carried forward through religious and traditional practices. Men largely prescribe and govern socio-religious behaviour within which the purity of women is sacrosanct. No religion can claim a higher ground in this regard. Praying to a female deity does not in any manner change the reality of women. She is still expected to remain subservient. Men and women validate these habits either in the name of culture or claim them to be feminism of a religious order. It is disingenuous to use the words of women saints of the past to claim a feminist lineage. If we listen carefully to what they have said, we will realise that their struggles in principle are no different from today’s women. Questioning any of these mores is immediately labelled as anti-religion, making it difficult to address them.
Another game of deflection is to tag all challenges to status quo as Western, urban or elitist. To claim that faith only exists when rituals of purification, exclusion and stigma are held on to is not only false but it also denigrates faith itself. But that is exactly what we continue to practise. The struggles of the LGBTQ community are manifold worse and even more brutal. If I were to bring caste into this discussion, the state of all vulnerable genders and people with diverse sexual orientation would be unspeakable. I have to unfortunately wonder if there would have been as much of a national reaction if the victim in Calcutta had been from the LGBTQ community. In fact, the victim would have then been blamed, called names, and dehumanised within a few days.
It is these complex and difficult realities that we need to address. A complete overhaul of our society, a revolution, is the need of the hour. We must be willing to discard all habits, irrespective of whether they are old or modern, if they affect the dignity and respect of any individual. This requires immense courage and may be difficult for many. It is here that our elected representatives, the judiciary, and the law enforcement agencies should be stepping in. But they are unable to do so because many among them are cut out from the same cloth as those who want no serious change. This means the people we choose as our representatives, the way we educate our lawyers and how we train our civil servants and law enforcement personnel must undergo drastic change. Instead of erasing histories that are uncomfortable, we should learn from them and move forward.
The law and social support systems will not be able to make any dent in our regressive nature because that is the elephant in the room. Unfortunately, for this social transformation to take place, men of all hues must own up to their own acts of emotional and psychological violence, toxicity, disregard, omission and apathy that contribute to every act of physical violence irrespective of where it happens or who committed it. We have societally contributed to the making of every rapist.
T.M. Krishna is a leading Indian musician and a prominent public intellectual