RAPE - A GIRL'S FEELINGS

Every time I read about sexual assault in the newspaper, I can hear my heart pounding in my ears. Pure terror burns behind my eyelids. I’m practically an inch away from tears of fear just writing this. I put myself in that victim's shoes and try to imagine the horror.

There’s a reason they’re called predators. In my opinion, rapists are worse than cold-blooded killers. Rapists come in all shapes and sizes. There is no common factor between them except one- the look in their eyes- a blank, inhuman, hungry stare, completely devoid of empathy. That unnatural gaze, even imagining which makes me feel like somebody is running a cold finger down my spine.

The very concept of rape is practically a horror movie come true, even more so when you see the statistics. Here’s an article providing those of rape cases, molestation cases, and more in Delhi (2022)- Click Here. And the fact is, what you just read is a very narrow slice of the metaphorical pie of rape- the article does not mention the male or queer victims of sexual assault, or the statistics of India as a whole; this is just the tip of the iceberg. We all have read about Nirbhaya and about umpteen number of rapes that have happened after that.

A huge problem of rape is that majority of its victims go unheard every day. And so many of them will be afraid to even report it. Imagine going through the trauma these victims have gone through, and suffering from as much damage as them (physically and psychologically). Then, when you finally muster the courage to try to talk about what happened, you just get shut down, because nobody is willing to believe you.

Another factor affecting why some rape victims don’t even talk about what they underwent is that, in India, there is a strong taboo around sex-related topics. This, unfortunately, includes sexual assault. Children are brought up with the belief that sex in general is something one should be very hush-hush about, and this leads to their future inability to talk about sexual assault, should it ever happen to them.

The fear of being raped isn’t just seen in interviews or podcasts- you can actually see it in the littlest of things. I’ll give you an example by asking you this -
How many times have you seen a lovely piece of clothing and wanted to wear it somewhere, before remembering that it might attract the wrong kind of attention?
How many times have you felt that apprehension that you are being watched when you or your children use some form of public transport?
How many times have you been scared of walking in an empty or dimly lit place, even if it was just for a minute?
Let me answer for you - countless.

What’s even worse is that it can happen at any time. Imagine a lifetime’s worth of hardwork and dignity wiped off in a moment’s notice, all because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. To be raped is to have a stamp burned in your skin; you’ll carry that mark for the rest of your life. That is, if you aren’t killed, with your body mutilated beyond the point of recognition.

The thing about rape is that it is not limited to a certain age, gender, race, religion, size, clothing, or area. And that means it’s a plague nobody’s immune to. Currently, there are nations in which marital rape isn’t considered a crime. Believe it or not, in some countries, marriage is actually seen as an appropriate resolution of the rape and so the rapist goes practically unpunished.

This leads me to my conclusion- rapes happen every day, all over the world. A lot of victims go unheard for a myriad of reasons.
This needs to change.
One very important thing plaguing India in particular, is how men see women. The way men treat women in their homes has an effect on children. It is fairly common to see men beating their wives, abusing them, harassing for dowry and so on. It is also common to see sons getting privileges whereas daughters dont (No doubt this is changing, though). Alcoholism is also rampant in many communities, where it's the women who earn whereas men spend time drinking. Women are treated like commodities. The children see this and many of them imbibe a distorted version of what women are. So one change that we can definitely do is, every single parent, especially parents of boys can educate them to respect women. This itself can bring about a major change in the number of rapes. The respect that society gives to a woman.

A lot can be done even by spreading awareness about rape. Mass media platforms could play an integral role in bringing about this change. And it should definitely be a part of sexual education in schools.

So let’s do that. Let’s reduce and hopefully end this vicious cycle. Let’s make our world safe again.