Well a lot had been said about the infamously famous Nirbhaya case and I know a lot will be said about the recent rape of a photojournalist. Oops sorry I should not use the word rape because our law no more recognises, it is sexual assault now. Anyways, one of the implications of this incident on me has been that I have started to reconsider the idea of taking up this profession. Not because I have freaked out but because it makes me wonder why am I entering into this profession. One of the reasons why I took to this profession was the agitation i felt inside me after the Dec 16 case but I think with this incident things have started to pacify inside me because I no more trust my faith on the power of being a journalist.
Last night I was wondering what has changed in the society? The values or the ethics or is it really something as trivial (read provocative) as a short skirt or increased consumption of noddles and mobile phones. The thought brought me to another thought that the five year old must not have had enough noodles or worn provocative skirts or addicted herself to her cell phone! Then what is it? I believe a five year old can't invite two boys to brutally rape her and leave the objects of their victory (which in the eyes of some of our countrymen should have been given by the kid to invite the 'innocent' accused) inside her body. Was it not a sheer exposure of power and male chauvinism.
But what has led to it. I think one of the main reasons is the way we project this crime.
Calling it a gender issue makes it only a women's issue. In our society, especially in Asia, gender is thought to be synonymous with 'women' like race is thought to be synonymous to blacks in the United States. So when we say it is a gender violence, the male community tend to sidetrack themselves thinking that it is a women's issue and not pertaining to them when in reality sexual violence is not only against women but also against men. And so far violence against women is concerned, it is not their issue but more of men's issue. It is there psychological issue which needs attention and not a woman's issue. Another problem is calling the 'raped' a victim. This demotivates and discourages. A woman who has been raped lives throughout her life as a victim. She is a survivor, a fighter, a brave heart but certainly not a victim. Unfortunately, we never call the rapist a rapist but we call the survivor a victim.
We talk about gender sensitisation. Again the male community doesn't pay attention to the issue because of the word gender. Moreover, we do not need sensitisation. Your and my sensitivity won't help, what we need is 'leadership'. Leadership to change the attitude and ideology, leadership to stop making the victim the subject of our conversation and start talking about the culprit, leadership to think and act, leadership to see women as women and not mere objects of lust.
