By Michael Makri
This year women were raped and murdered almost every other day in Meghalaya. Some victims were students, others were daily wages and few others were minors ranging from ages twelve to five years of age. In the wake of all these tragic news, people are calling for justice through protests or silent marches or putting black flags to tell those in authority to penalize those involved in such heinous acts to humanity. But apparently, officials are busy discussing increment of salaries and pointing fingers with filthy words in the august house. With so many incidents reported in the state, it looks like this injustice and violence against women and children is a lesser crime than their desire for a bigger, fatter purse and a higher chair in the house. What’s in a rape? Right? Should this not concern the legislators and all of us?
Psychologists would agree with me that regardless of who you are or what position you hold, the outlook on rape should and would be mind-boggling, for, its deep and traumatic impact on the victims’ life is everlasting. Therefore, sexual assault is a heinous crime that deserves the most severe penalties the law allows. Yet in this major reconfiguring of our justice system, this crime is brushed aside and the perpetrators are exempted. Why not lawmakers in the state come up with stringent laws on rape and other crimes against women? Or if such a law exists, why is it not executed with more stringency? Why are other Bills passed more readily and with greater consensus than one concerning crimes against women? Why is it so difficult to reach a consensus on rape? How is it that this crime seems to be of less priority to lawmakers today, leave aside discussions on offences by those sitting in the hallowed chair?
Ordinary humans like me are at a loss because we have no power whatsoever. We have no authority and we have no right to take the law into our own hands. Hence, instead of undermining this crime, we need to give more attention to certain aspects of sexual assault that are still widely overlooked in our state.
Firstly, we need to improve the venues for reporting rape incidents. Researchers and institutions have long understood that rape is under-reported in our state. Many victims or rather 90% of the victims are reluctant to report the incident because they are threatened and shamed; they are made to feel less worthy and filthy, and worse, they get no support from the people they are supposed to trust, such as parents, relatives and those in authority – the lawmakers. Here in our state, it is not uncommon to hear of rape victims being faced with judgmental questions and remarks, even from authorities: “Shouldn’t you have been home at that hour?” “Why were you dressed that way?” Therefore, for victims reporting such a traumatic experience as rape it takes a lot of courage and mental preparedness, and disparaging remarks like these can be enough to make even a brave survivor buckle and keep their mouth shut forever.
Secondly, when we talk of rape survivors, let us not just refer it to women. Men, too can be sexually abused but this is not discussed in the cultural and legal system in Meghalaya. There is not much discussion on sexual assault on men, especially in the Khasi culture where myths abound. Because of gender constructs many assumptions abound such as (a) males are considered physically stronger than women and therefore cannot be forced (b) males always want sex (c) males eventually enjoy sexual coercion. Because of these mistaken notions it prevents male rape victims from reporting the crime. Psychologists say that because of such myths, male victims are less likely to identify themselves as having been raped and finally they end up confused and even ashamed. Clearly, more awareness and better opportunities for male rape survivors are also needed to enable them to break their silence.
Thirdly, and this I witnessed with my own eyes when I was in Bangalore few years back – false reporting of rape to earn money. The law enforcement and justice system should be better prepared to handle such false reports of rapes. The number of false rape allegations is considered a “dark number” – we know that these exist, but the number is difficult to determine. We know only of cases where supposed victims later recanted their accusations, finally admitting that those accusations were made to earn money or as an act of retaliation, blackmail, power play, or mere exaggeration. For me personally, false rape accusations should not be handled with tolerance. A problematic consequence of tolerating false reporting – aside from the primary result of letting innocent persons suffer – is that it further silences the real victims. For every rape allegation that is found to be untruthful, an authentic claim definitely loses its credibility. This negatively changes the public’s perception of rape reporting, suppressing legitimate victims with more fears and hesitation.
I am certain there are lots of other issues surrounding the reporting and treatment of sexual assault in our State and in the country at large. At the core of all these realities is the devastating truth that rape has become a grave yet severely under-addressed problem in our society and in our government. As pointed in the beginning of this article almost every other day rape cases are being reported in our state. Therefore, this bone-chilling statistic should be enough for lawmakers to spring into action, but on the contrary, they choose to brush aside this crime. This highlights just how misguided and incompetent our leaders are and this inevitably perpetuates the culture of impunity towards rape. Although, this crime has long haunted the voiceless and vulnerable citizens whom lawmakers have vowed to serve during elections but are failing to protect because of so many vested interests that favours them. So, ‘what’s in a rape,’ is a question that should challenge our legal system and lawmakers.