When 'rape-survivor' becomes victim'

The offence of rape brings out a plethora of responses from the diverse units of society that includes the family and extends to the Criminal Justice System on the victim of rape, Besides the obvious physical scars, the emotional trauma stemming from rape is unparalleled which is often intensified by the way the family, community, and the justice delivery system reacts. Instead of being the support system the law enforcement system also resorts to shaming the victim, thereby, adding to her trauma and preventing her from regaining normalcy. In India, law recognises only rape committed on women by men, thus, seeking to protect the values held sacred to women that is her dignity, sexual autonomy, and physical integrity. Shaming responses emerge from various rape myths and percolates notjust to, the family but also to the diferent stake holders of the Criminal Justice System. In this paper, the authors have analysed the dilemmas in the responses towards the victim that occurs at diferent levels, that is by the family, by the community and the criminal justice process, including the law enforcement agencies and the courts, while also discussing the extent to which they are supported or dejected by these units. This paper also aims to unveil the impact on survivor throughout her journeyafter the rape,. in light of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013 that aim at responding more effectively to the survivor, and finally analyses if those changes are, at al, serving their purpose I. INTRODUCTION Patriarchy in Indian society stems from the primafacie belief that men are the superior sex. This sense of superiority has been instilled in the psyche of not only men but also women since ancient times when India thrived under kings and conquests, A cursory look through the pages of time would show that as a general practice, men were required to fight battles

Pakistan Law Review , 2018

The discussion in this paper revolves around the prevalence of rape cases in Pakistan, with specific focus on the area of Southern Punjab. The main issues under consideration are: the high number of rape cases in a scenario which witnesses a low report and conviction rate; the way state institutions deal with assault victims, which exposes them to undignified, if not cruel, treatment; and the societal perception that a large number of cases are falsely reported as rape. The paper will look into the laws in Pakistan penalizing rape and similar Islamic provisions on the matter. The historical and anthropological views of the offence will also be looked at. Original research has been conducted for this paper which has been coupled with other resources to present the paper’s conclusions. The final recommendations argue that Pakistani laws against rape, notwithstanding amendments made in the last decade, still need to be improved to allow adequate relief for victims of rape and effective deterrent for perpetrators. Concurrently, it is maintained that the real obstacle to effective legal prosecution of rape is the societal take on female sexuality and honour, which affects the way rape crimes are reported to and prosecuted by the police and other state institutions.

Temida, 2014

In general, most people display stronger beliefs in ?aggravated rape? or ?real rape?; including victims of such rape cases who often identify themselves as ?rape victims? than the victims of ?simple rape?, where none of the aggravating circumstances are present. Despite myths to the contrary these ?simple rape? cases in fact make up the majority of cases. This article considers the implications of ?real rape? and demonstrates how notions about what a ?typical rape? should be, in the form of rape myths, directly impact on societal attitudes towards rape victims and how the media continue to reinforce and perpetuate the notion of real rape through their selective reporting of ?serial rape?, ?stranger rape? or especially ?violent rapes?.

The article seeks to focus on rape as a form of sexual assault in contemporary India and analyse the response of the state and its institutions to the crime. It also attempts to highlight how recent waves of polarisation and communalisation have used rape as a weapon to attain their desired political goals.

University of North Bengal, 2019

Rape survivors are often seen as a curse in the society where people start believing that the rape victim was herself into some fault for the commission of the crime. A victim of rape is ignored at every stage of a criminal trial at first when the crime is committed by showing the lack of security she has from the state which is equivalent to the respect a woman has in a society thereafter while registering the compliant with the law enforcement agency thereafter during the investigation, trial along with sufferings of being a rape survivor (victim) in the case. It is very important to acknowledge that it is upon the victim the offence is committed and she has to undergo the ordeals of the justice delivery system while she awaits for justice whether it is taking care about her interim needs to that of her present needs along with giving psychological attention to her. She has every right to know about the progress of her case along with a dialogue with the public prosecutor which often a denial as the criminal justice system is more inclined in protection of rights of the accused. It is also very important to analyze how far the victim compensation scheme which is not a statutory right under Section 357A 2 has been applied uniformly across India. Whether the victims are getting interim compensation accordingly? The increase in punishment or making the laws more stringent than proper implementation is a victim centric approach or familiarising the victim and giving adequate representation in the criminal justice system is the right path?

LAW AND LAWYERS, 2020

Ferocity is at its worst demonstration when it occurs within the rim of a family. Rape within the bounds of marriage is a notion that can fret any woman to the very core. The dread of having suffering silently through is an unbearable thought. This self-imposed silence not only has deleterious reverberations on the emotional level, but also disturbs the mental stability of a woman. However, if looked at precisely, this silence is not exactly self-enforced. The enforcement makes its way through the shortfalls of the laws and the existence of social stigmas resulting in the concealment of a heinous crime behind the ‘saintly’ nature of a marriage. This paper focuses on highlighting the practice of marital rape, gives an account of the legality of marital rape laws, looks within the social extremity of marital rape, and attempts to frame a reference to human right stance. It also offers a comprehensive view of the legal complexities of the already existing laws - Section 375 (exception 2) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It will only be complying to say that minimal criminalization of this crime will not be enough to terminate its dreadful plight, but it will surely act as a predominant stride towards altering a woman’s encounter with sexual violence and dominance. It is high time for the abstraction of “rape is rape, irrespective of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator” to get acknowledged by judicial structures and be put to strict force, breaking off all the uncorroborated patriarchal claims of men over women.

Recently when the Bill to criminalize marital rape was introduced in India, it was turned down by the Parliament. According to some of the Parliamentarians, marriage is a sacred institution and touching it will leads to breakdown of marriages. They are of the view that India should be proud of its culture because `the nation has low divorce rates’. Statements have been issued against criminalizing marital rape without acknowledging the fact that most marriages in India survive because women silently endure violence and abuse within such relationships. The culture of `silence’, `tolerance’, `adjustment’, `compromise’ among women is propagated to `save and respect the `honour’, the `pride’ and the `values’ of the Indian family overlooking the fact that incest, violence, suicides, murders are the price women pay. On the other hand there is a men’s group which is lobbying fiercely to highlight the fact the law against domestic violence has been misused by women and therefore should be diluted. They further propagated that the enactment of penal law against marital rape will also be abused by women. According to such arguments, a woman, who is not docile, subservient or compliant and complains about the continuous abuse within the conjugal relationship is an anti-family warrior breaking the sacred bonds while converting bedroom to a battlefield. Both the groups ignore the reality that most cases of emotional violence, sexual abuse, physical assault, mental trauma, all takes place within this `sanctified’ territory because women are powerless and vulnerable and have been socialized to be pliant, obedient and subservient. This essay attempts to unpack the everyday possibility as well as reality of the lives of women in the light of backlash on women’s rights and looks at the debate on criminalizing marital rape from the gender perspective. It concludes that this concept needs to be examined in the larger perspective of violence against women and should be dealt accordingly.

Suffering it has been said, is in the eye of the observer and not in the eye of the sufferer. Rape is one of the most heinous forms of sexual harassment against women. It not only harms the victim physically but also drains her mentally. The victim of forcible sexual intercourse is treated as an accomplice in the society which values chastity as the most important attribute of womanhood and does not hesitate to test it by subjecting the woman to the ordeal of fire without causing a ripple amongst the onlookers.3 Rape transgresses into the right to privacy of the victim and cripples her for life. Unfortunately, in a patriarchal society like India the victim is forced to suffer for the act of the accused and is held responsible for her fate in one way or the other. She has to relive the tragedy in the court rooms if she gathers enough courage to prove her innocence. It is very unfortunate that it is the victim and not the accused of rape who carries the social stigma for life

Before beginning this essay a few things should be pointed out. The sole purpose of discussing this matter is to look at rape from not what we perceive or largely trained to understand it in a particular manner, which is to say, let us not treat the crime as what we are conditioned to think or be judgmental upon this matter and look beyond what is just visible.

Developing Country Studies, 2014

The identity of any person is based on his characteristic behaviors. But it is bitter true fact that civilized society reflects the good characteristic of human being that is living in the society. In the 21 st century men are trying to touch the untouched part of universe. In the field of medical science human has progressed to resolve the incurable diseases. We have developed a lot of infrastructures for the day to day uses. Men are talented to go anywhere by air, water and land mode within a short time. But in case of social context especially woman's rights and honors we are not able to say us a civilized citizen. Men always try to show his dominant nature over the women. The men's nature of dominant over the women in each sector of life style is called paternalism. Men always say the paternalism is a part of human value system. There is no need to more say about the current status of women in the society. According to National Crime Records Bureau data confirm that Delhi saw 572 women raped cases in the year 2011 as compared to 239 in Mumbai, 47 in Kolkata, 67 in Chennai, 96 in Bangalore. Let it see in another way, while Delhi had 7 rape victims among 1 Lakh females in 2011, Haryana had 6, Rajasthan had 5, Mumbai had 3, Uttar Pradesh had 2, Bangalore had 2 and Chennai had 2. My main questions are from where the rape was started?, How the rape came in the society?, Who was behind it?, Why these rapes are happening in our society?, Why we are not able to control it?, How the people encourage rape events with using the name of religion?, How the ethical value are demolished by men dominating power?, How we can make our society free from rapist?, etc.In this article Dr. Prashant Kumar Astalin has tried to give the answers for all the above mentioned questions.