The recent Kolkata rape case has once again raised questions on women’s safety in India’s burgeoning metropolitan cities. Inevitably the questions being asked are why was she at that location at 2 in the night, why was she drinking, etc. Everyone, who wants to be a party to this debate, is convinced that they know what is best to ensure the safety of a woman. Never mind the fact that a lot of women in India are actually raped by men they know.
It’s common to assume that there are some given answers on how to prevent rape. According to most, the woman in question should have just stuck to some basic rules of ‘safety’ and nothing bad would have happened. It’s like the tale of Little Red Riding Hood all over again, Don’t talk to strangers else a big bad wolf’s going to get you. There’s also the ‘she’s lying’ angle because she wants money, women like her will ensure that women who ‘really’ got raped are not taken seriously, etc.
Most discussions in India around rape are centered around the victim; the rapist is never under fire. For instance in 2009 when a foreign student in Mumbai was allegedly gang-raped by five boys, the only question surrounding the alleged rapists was that they didn’t look like rapists. Middle class boys from good families don’t rape women, just like good girls don’t end up getting raped. The girl’s evidence in this case was not seen as good enough, because she had consumed alcohol.
Everyone, who wants to be a party to this debate, is convinced that they know what is best to ensure the safety of a woman. Reuters
This debate on how we can prevent rape can continue without yielding any meaningful solutions. But perhaps anti-rape campaigns from the West, which have made quite a impression on the Web, are worth mentioning here.
Most of these anti-rape campaigns have seen awareness posters being shared on Facebook and social media blogs like Tumblr. The difference is that these campaigns target men. The focus is on telling men that rape is not okay and that no woman deserved it. One of these is the thisisnotaninvitationtorapeme campaign which is based in UK, and run by the Rape Crisis Centre in Scotland.
The campaigns sees rape for what it is, a crime committed by men on women because they know they can get away with it thanks to the prevailing attitudes. The boundaries of what constitutes rape are never clear, which is why we end up questioning victims more than the rapists.
One of the posters on Facebook, titled Ten tips to end rape, tells men that it’s not okay to put drugs in a woman’s drink and then try and have sex with her. It’s still called rape. That having sex with someone who is passed out or unconscious is also rape. That it doesn’t matter what the woman was wearing, or how drunk she was, it’s NOT OKAY to rape someone.
Another image that’s been quite well shared on Facebook is a screenshot of Tumblr blogpost where a blogger is asked if he/she would let his/her daughter go out drinking if she was dressed like a slut? The response is quite cutting.
“If the next generation has sons who are as repulsed by rape as they should be, then we don’t need to worry about our daughter’s clothing. Hell if we just make our generation shift the blame from victim to perpetrator, and recognize rape as an act of violence rather than a natural hazard, then we won’t even notice clothing.”
The tone of the blogger gets quite belligerent as the author makes it clear that if someone touches his/her daughter without consent there’s going to be some killing on the cards. The response ends by stating, “You focus on raising a son that you can confidently send to a party… and I’ll focus on raising a daughter full stop.”
Campaigns of such nature take on all myths concerned with rape. From drinking to mini-skirts to walking late at night, it makes sure that the crime is seen for what it is, a crime, and not an occupational hazard of being a woman who didn’t stick to some ‘rules’. Perhaps we need a campaign like this in India, where we don’t see rape victims as loose or dumb women who had it coming but instead see the rapist for what he is — a rapist, period.
You can see the complete poster here Stop Rape Poster
