Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Rape: Can We stop punishing the victim please?

Even in this day and age, even after activists have screamed themselves hoarse, even after so many debates, discussions and deliberations nothing has changed for women victims of rape. The first reactions have all followed the same monotonous and predictable framework. The character of the woman, her dress, what she was doing at that place at that time (when she should have been at home warming diner for the kids)etc etc. If, by any chance, the blame cannot be pinned on the woman's questionable character, then, ways are deviced to restrict the appearance of the woman in public places. In the case of the Calcutta case a few days ago questions were rasised about waht the lady was doing in a pub at that time of night. In the case of the more recent Gurgaon case the lady was working, so now the administration is contemplating a ban on women working after 8. What makes the short sighted administration think that rapists will restrict themselves to preying on working women, and that too only after 8pm is beyond the comprehension of the sane!