Aug 2: The Karnataka government responded to the public outcry over a spate of recent rape incidents in the state by bringing sexual offences under Goonda act by amending the act. While the government needs to be congratulated for amending the Goonda Act, it must be noted that finding a quick fix solution like amending the act is not the only answer to a problem as complex as sexual abuse that has widespread and much deeper repercussions. 

What we witness today in Karnataka and all over the country is nothing but the rape culture with its tentacles spread far and wide all over the country. While many of us empathize with the victims very often what we see is the tendency to put the onus on the victim, the blame game, insensitive and rather shocking reaction to rape incidents by those at the helm of affairs and a steadied silence from a vast majority. 

The reaction of Chief Minister Siddramaiah with regard to the recent rape of a minor girl in the precincts of the schools is disgusting. Politicians like Mulayam and even Lalu Prasad Yadav have let their tongue loose and Mulayam’s infamous diatribe ‘boys are boys’ only shows how mean and insensitive our leaders can become on an issue as sensitive and brutal as sexual offences. It is a tragedy of this nation that politicians can stoop down to this abysmal low to pander to vote bank politics. It is also a greater disaster that we end up electing such politicians to rule us. 

Since the deadly beast of sexual abuse has taken deep roots in our country what we need is an inclusive approach and a system that can methodically dismantle this culture. That is why in the place of three wise monkeys who professed “See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil” we need a fourth one that says “we will not rape”. This is the need of the hour because unless we change our attitude towards a crime as horrid and cowardly as sexual abuse, gang rape, rape of minors, toddlers and other forms of sexual offence we cannot call ourselves civilized people. 

Rape being one of the worst crimes, the callousness with which we treat rape and rape victims has to be changed and for that our mindset has to be changed. But in reality in most cases the victim and her family will be burdened by the social stigma with which they have to live with till the end of their lives. The society does not allow her to lead a normal life which in other words means the life virtually comes to an end to the rape victim. This kind of treatment is like rubbing salt over the wound as the victim has to deal with the trauma arising out of the sexual abuse she is subjected to. The insensitivity with which the police and also an overactive media leaked the details of victim in the rape case of a 22 year old medical student in Frazer Town in Bangalore is a faux pas from which the both of them cannot be absolved. This victim took the courage to file a case against the television channels and also against the police, directly accusing them of revealing her identity. 

The society has always been biased towards women and when it comes to rapes very often we hear people putting the onus on women saying the way they dress is like ‘asking for it’. This is the most bizarre and ludicrous defense of the defenseless. From time immemorial men have found women to be provocateurs seducing men to immorality and found it convenient to impose the purdah system on them. It is like you have a problem but you do not want to solve it. Keeping this argument aside how can our country explain the number of rape incidents of minor girls ? How can a baby girl of six months or less than that or a girl who is yet to puberty can provoke men to become beasts? It is only perverted minds that can think and act in such circumstances and in a manner that we have been witnessing. I think we need to address this issue more than anything by addressing the root causes like lack of sex education, disrespect for women, suppressed needs and the widening gap between the haves and the have nots. Change the mindset and the battle is half won and I think we need to work in unison.