By Gertrude Lamare
The question of rape has been planted at the core of social debates in the past month, particularly in reaction to the incidents that occurred in Delhi and Williamnagar in December. The horror generated by narratives and reports of these cases has tremendously taken over public consciousness, resulting in mass protests all over the country, including Shillong. Disturbingly so, several more rape cases had been reported in the past month, in Haryana, Bihar and even Jowai. Sexual violence is hence not a phenomenon that is geographically or culturally specified. It is not something which happens to women in short skirts, who wander the streets at night. It is not a threat which exclusively targets women outside the house. Sexual violence may occur within the supposed secured space of the domestic and may be committed by any family member or friend. This particularly applies to cases of marital rape which often fails to qualify as a crime. Another myth which needs to be broken is the notion that sexual violence and rape have women as natural victims. Though statistically speaking, women are the more frequent targets, there are recorded cases which involve the violation of men. Thus, it is dangerous to define sexual violence and rape in simplistic terms, as shown above. One colossal problem is located in the legal definition of rape itself. It fails to recognize forms of vaginal penetration which do not entail a penis, as rape. Hence, many victims have not received proper justice by virtue of having been penetrated by other objects (stones, metallic objects, etc.) and not a penis.
One could offer multiple explanations for the epidemic of rape, citing psychological, socio-economic or personal factors as key players. However, I would argue that the issue of rape is more significantly linked to a rigidly gendered culture. It is the patriarchal ideology (which survives even in a matrilineal society like the Khasi’s) that identifies an essential divide between the female and male that is a catalyst of violence. Society invests in this idea of difference, which aligns women with concerns like domesticity, motherhood, manners, beauty and emotions, to name a few. Men on the other hand are associated with the public sphere and relations it offers, physical strength, professionalism, reason and rationality. We often claim to have transcended such distinctions and prejudices, being creatures of a modern society. But discrimination against women persists, as depicted in the extreme form in the increase of Violence against Women and in a milder (but nonetheless disturbing) form in several of our cultural and social practices. For instance, many Khasi families bar their daughters from marrying non-Khasi men (let alone a woman). This kind of a response is tied to the latent fear that the children may not inherit the mother’s surname and hence would not serve the purpose of enlarging the clan. In such a case, the daughter is deprived of the right over her body and her sexuality is in turn seized by the family. To the discomfort of many people, this can be read as another form of violence which denies a woman her basic biological right.
Gender discrimination, which is an instrumental factor in rape, is cultivated first and foremost, in the space of the domestic. Having educated and working women in the house does not completely guarantee the absence of discrimination. One crucial indicator is an analysis of the difference between women’s and men’s access to resources and freedom in a family. Coupled with this is the question of whether activities performed by family members, inside and outside the house are gendered. As some people take pride in having well-educated daughters, they also prohibit the same to stay out after dark. This type of a contradiction is inherent to many families in Indian society, who accept the drive towards openness on the one hand and struggle with conventional rigidity on the other; a tension between social changes and conventions.
Patriarchal culture which has operated on the existence of male/female division is also responsible for the enhancement of the male ego; another possible psychological cause of female oppression. When society identifies men with the public and political space, it sanctions men’s rights to ‘the more important matters of social living.’ Even Khasi society, which excludes women from the Dorbar, is guilty of this. Since it is commonly perceived that affairs of governance and politics are superior to those of the private space or the home, it is easy for men to legitimize their power in all existing spheres of human society; undoubtedly over the woman’s body as well. One should remember that division of labour does not result in an equal distribution of power between men and women. Although a woman is traditionally said to be responsible of the domestic, a man’s authority is never confined to the public. It hovers even in the household, where everything belongs to him, objects as well as people.
The rise in cases of Violence against Women has sadly resulted in a reactionary attitude in the public. Instead of strengthening the battle against gender equality, most people have turned conservative and used restrictions as weapons against potential rapists. These kinds of defence mechanisms are only curtailing women’s freedom even more. They only work towards the deepening of the women-men divide; wounding the opportunity for the educational, economic, social and political development of women. Ultimately, this whole issue becomes merely a war between the protector and rapist, both of whom seek to claim power over the woman’s body. Thus, what is required at the moment is primarily a change in the perception and treatment of women, in society at large and the field of law and politics in particular.