So after a good one year gap India is out again on streets for a right cause, up against an ineffective and indifferent government. Recent event in the national capital has hit where it hurts the most....in our collective conscience as an individual first and than as a society.
Though as a country we are not new to gruesome crimes and specially crime against women, but brutality of recent #DelhiGangrape will remain with us forever. Nothing, we do on streets or write on blogs/twitter/facebook, can Undo, this inhuman crime and save us from sharing collective responsibility.
somewhere i think we all are directly or indirectly responsible for this tragic event and many more...as we have allowed our society to become what it is today.
If we go by the current outcry and outrage may be this incident becomes a Tipping Point and we are able to mobilize our anger constructively towards building a better society. Utopia may just be an imagination and Indian Society may never become synonyms with Utopia but can we at least try and not be antonyms?
There are lots of suggestions floating in the digital world on how to make India safer for women, right from increased police vigilance to having lady bus conductors on night buses to death penalty for perpetrators of rape. Voice demanding capital punishment for rapes is getting stronger. I think reaction is natural because when human beings are provoked beyond a point violence seems to be the only solution.
I think A logical mind will never subscribe to "An eye for an eye" argument but an angry mind will. I believe as a society we need to think better and do better. A good reference point is a scene in recent hollywood movie "Ides of March" when US presidential candidate played by Gorge Clooney is asked a question around death penalty. My apprehension is most of these suggestions only attack the symptom and not the disease. A solution without diagnosing the disease will only offer short term relief.
Sadly there is no reliable study/research done on this crucial subject. Its already understood well that rape is not only a Sex crime, it is revenge crime, it is a Power crime, it is also a crime of entertainment for many.
In even a larger context one can argue that rape is about "Mindset".
1. Mindset which makes one believe that it is ok to rape a women.
2. Mindset which makes one believe that he can get away with anything.
3. Mindset which further makes one believe that even if he couldn't get away, its Ok, as he has nothing to lose.
For point 1 we as a society should take responsibility. point 2 is indicative of Government's failure to create deterrent in terms of investigative and judicial system. Point 3 is about a society where a major fraction comprises of "people who have nothing to lose". This is a much wider concept and needs elaboration not suitable for this article.
I am neither an expert in criminology, sociology nor in psychology. I think from a layman's perspective. So in my opinion an expert panel comprising criminologists, psychologists and sociologists will be better placed to study this issue in detail. A good starting point for the panel will be to study the past crimes and their perpetrators, study their educational background, socio-economic background, their moral beliefs, their religious beliefs. I am confident that some very revealing facets will emerge and THAT can become base for solution.
I think it is appropriate to mention as a last note, recent report on "Global Gender Gap 2012" published by World Economic Forum. "Global Gender Gap Index" is a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender based disparities in different countries. India ranks a poor 105 in a study of 135 countries, while our earlier rulers UK from whom we won our so called freedom ranks at 18.
This obviously triggered Subject of my article. While it is premature to link this report with crime against women, but i think it will be interesting to figure out if there is any strong correlation between Ranking on this report and rate of crime against women in a particular country.
Though as a country we are not new to gruesome crimes and specially crime against women, but brutality of recent #DelhiGangrape will remain with us forever. Nothing, we do on streets or write on blogs/twitter/facebook, can Undo, this inhuman crime and save us from sharing collective responsibility.
somewhere i think we all are directly or indirectly responsible for this tragic event and many more...as we have allowed our society to become what it is today.
If we go by the current outcry and outrage may be this incident becomes a Tipping Point and we are able to mobilize our anger constructively towards building a better society. Utopia may just be an imagination and Indian Society may never become synonyms with Utopia but can we at least try and not be antonyms?
There are lots of suggestions floating in the digital world on how to make India safer for women, right from increased police vigilance to having lady bus conductors on night buses to death penalty for perpetrators of rape. Voice demanding capital punishment for rapes is getting stronger. I think reaction is natural because when human beings are provoked beyond a point violence seems to be the only solution.
I think A logical mind will never subscribe to "An eye for an eye" argument but an angry mind will. I believe as a society we need to think better and do better. A good reference point is a scene in recent hollywood movie "Ides of March" when US presidential candidate played by Gorge Clooney is asked a question around death penalty. My apprehension is most of these suggestions only attack the symptom and not the disease. A solution without diagnosing the disease will only offer short term relief.
Sadly there is no reliable study/research done on this crucial subject. Its already understood well that rape is not only a Sex crime, it is revenge crime, it is a Power crime, it is also a crime of entertainment for many.
In even a larger context one can argue that rape is about "Mindset".
1. Mindset which makes one believe that it is ok to rape a women.
2. Mindset which makes one believe that he can get away with anything.
3. Mindset which further makes one believe that even if he couldn't get away, its Ok, as he has nothing to lose.
For point 1 we as a society should take responsibility. point 2 is indicative of Government's failure to create deterrent in terms of investigative and judicial system. Point 3 is about a society where a major fraction comprises of "people who have nothing to lose". This is a much wider concept and needs elaboration not suitable for this article.
I am neither an expert in criminology, sociology nor in psychology. I think from a layman's perspective. So in my opinion an expert panel comprising criminologists, psychologists and sociologists will be better placed to study this issue in detail. A good starting point for the panel will be to study the past crimes and their perpetrators, study their educational background, socio-economic background, their moral beliefs, their religious beliefs. I am confident that some very revealing facets will emerge and THAT can become base for solution.
I think it is appropriate to mention as a last note, recent report on "Global Gender Gap 2012" published by World Economic Forum. "Global Gender Gap Index" is a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender based disparities in different countries. India ranks a poor 105 in a study of 135 countries, while our earlier rulers UK from whom we won our so called freedom ranks at 18.
This obviously triggered Subject of my article. While it is premature to link this report with crime against women, but i think it will be interesting to figure out if there is any strong correlation between Ranking on this report and rate of crime against women in a particular country.
