WHY DON'T WE QUESTION THE OCCURENCE OF RAPE ?

Rape is one of the crimes and social problems that is somewhat regarded as a community’s least priority although the victims suffer from grave physical, mental, and emotional consequences. There is a new urgency for society to voice their protest against this social hypocrisy. Also, one must realize that rape has nothing to do with a woman’s actions and is solely the perpetrator’s choice. It must be instilled in all nations that any woman who has to face the effects of this brutal act has every right to receive the compassion, support and justice from the society in which she lives. In the highly developed countries, community response is generally positive and encouraging for the victim. But India being a conservative country, many Indians look down upon girls who are outgoing and prefer to wear western clothes. People often blame the girl for sending out wrong signals to men, thus making her vulnerable to rape. In cases where a woman is raped, she is always in fear of being marked a ‘whore’ or a woman of bad character, which ultimately prevents her from reporting the crime. In some cases, they don’t disclose these attacks to anyone and keep all their sufferings to themselves.
And now when rape has become so much prevalent in media, everyone is talking about stringent laws, capital punishment or safety measures. However, no one is going to the root of the issue. Nobody wants to know the reason behind the rape or the mindsets of the rapists. The easy answer to this question would be ‘that rape occurs because of our patriarchal society’, but deep down, we have to think scientifically. How do these rapists think? What motivated their thought process? What was the stimulus for them to act in such a manner?
A research fellow spent weeks talking to rapists in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Most of the men she met there were uneducated, only a handful had graduated high school. Many were third- or fourth-grade dropouts. She was convinced these men are monsters. But when she talked to them, she realized these are not extraordinary men, they are really ordinary. What they’ve done is because of upbringing and thought process. In Indian households, even in more educated families, women are often bound to traditional roles. Many women won’t even use their husbands’ first name.
More or less, parenting is what translates into how a person behaves. The education system also has an important role to play. A four-year-old looks for cues on how to act and react. We unconsciously teach them a power cycle. We use phrases like “Why are you crying like a girl?”, “Why are you walking like a girl?” ,“Blue for boys, pink for girls” and more. All this affects them. Men are learning to have false ideas about masculinity, and women are also learning to be submissive. Everyone’s out to make it look like there’s something inherently wrong with rapists. But they are a part of our own society. They are not aliens who’ve been brought in from another world.
In India, social attitudes are highly conservative. Sex education is left out of most school curriculums; legislators feel such topics could “corrupt” youth and offend traditional values. “Parents won't even say the words like penis, vagina, rape or sex. If they can't get over that, how can they educate young boys?” We need to call out sexism, especially in the songs that we listen to all day long. I see Bollywood coming in support of the current movement, but they are equally a part of the problem. The songs they dance to, the way stalking is made casual in movies have together immensely contributed to the framing of this culture.
In my opinion, rapists should be scientifically studied to understand their childhood, upbringing and environment, to come to a scientific solution as to how we can improve and have long-term change.