antiplondon:

Another day, another shocking headline about rape in India, from the 30 girls in a Bihar shelter who were allegedly sexually abused over many years to the 10-year-old child who escaped from another “shelter” in Uttar Pradesh and ran to a police station asking for help.

Rapes have become the new normal in my country. So much so that India’s supreme court made headlines itself on Monday,
asking: “What is to be done? Girls and women are getting raped left,
right and centre.” This is unusual practice for a supreme court
anywhere, and underlines the gravity of the situation. Justice Madan
Lokur of the supreme court pointed out: “The National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB) data observes that a woman is raped every six hours in
India.”

Even the highly regarded Tata Institute of Social Sciences, in
Mumbai, has reported the abuse of minors and women. It uncovered
evidence while conducting a social audit of government shelters earlier
this year. A medical report confirmed 34 girls had been sexually abused.

The 10-year-old in Uttar Pradesh begged the police to save her and
her friends. Every evening, she said, red, black, grey cars came and
took her friends away. They brought them back in the morning and the
girls cried all day. Please help them, she pleaded. Predictably, she
captured hearts and headlines. So it became national news.

Likewise, the alleged gang rape of a 13-year-old tribal girl,
by seven tribal men, five of whom were juveniles. This was in Jharkhand
state, adjoining Bihar. The child was grazing cattle outside her
village when seven men were said to have pounced on her. One veteran
social activist explained to me some decades ago: “Sex before marriage
was accepted by tribal communities, so where was the need for rape?”

The
same person sadly reported that rape is now rampant in tribal
Jharkhand. Boys as young as 10 download pornography from mobile phone
shops for as little as 10 rupees (12p). The combination of endless,
violent porn videos and alcohol appears to be a lethal trigger for many
rapes in India
– a country where traditional Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh society
strictly forbids not just sex outside marriage but any mixing of the
sexes in towns and villages. Arranged marriages are still the norm
across all religions. For repressed men to be fed a constant diet of
porn on their phones is a recipe for disaster.

The infamous gang rape
of a 23-year-old student in Delhi in 2012 that led the city to be
called the “rape capital of the world” was carried out by six men who
had just been watching violent porn while drinking alcohol, another
taboo in orthodox Indian families.

Enakshi Ganguly Thukral, a child rights activist for nearly 30 years,
told me: “Society is being sexualised, there is sexual content
everywhere, in films and music. Rampant, vicious porn is easily
available to children. Middle-class families may monitor what their kids
watch, but uneducated and illiterate people haven’t a clue about what
their kids see on their phones. The vegetable vendor near my house sits
glued to his mobile all day. Two young boys with one wire plugged into
an ear each, sharing a video. I can assure you they are not watching the
news.”

Thukral, like me, is depressed. “Why should the supreme court
publicly lament the situation?” she said. “We look to the supreme court
for solutions, not laments. It needs to see that implementation of laws
regarding women’s safety is stringently carried out.”

For decades, women’s groups have fought long and hard to put safety
measures in place through special laws. But where is the proper
governance and monitoring of juvenile homes and women’s shelters? We
have special police now, to check on internet crime, harassment and
abuse. How do we protect children and women from predators and harmful
porn?

My liberal friends have fought for civil liberties and freedom of
expression over the years. As a journalist I support that. But
grassroots activists like me are increasingly sick of liberals fighting
for freedom to watch violent, sadistic porn. One tired human rights
defender said: “It’s hard to stomach glib sermons on the right to
freedom to use a potential ‘driver of rape’ [porn] when faced with a
wounded, bleeding raped woman or child.”

I have to say I agree with her. It’s time for the courts and the
government to look seriously at how we can clamp down on porn in India.
As we approach India’s 71st Independence Day anniversary, on 15 August,
perhaps we can focus on freedom from fear for our women and children.

Sexual violence is the new normal in India – and pornography is to blame | Mari Marcel Thekaekara

antiplondon:

Another day, another shocking headline about rape in India, from the 30 girls in a Bihar shelter who were allegedly sexually abused over many years to the 10-year-old child who escaped from another “shelter” in Uttar Pradesh and ran to a police station asking for help.

Rapes have become the new normal in my country. So much so that India’s supreme court made headlines itself on Monday,
asking: “What is to be done? Girls and women are getting raped left,
right and centre.” This is unusual practice for a supreme court
anywhere, and underlines the gravity of the situation. Justice Madan
Lokur of the supreme court pointed out: “The National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB) data observes that a woman is raped every six hours in
India.”

Even the highly regarded Tata Institute of Social Sciences, in
Mumbai, has reported the abuse of minors and women. It uncovered
evidence while conducting a social audit of government shelters earlier
this year. A medical report confirmed 34 girls had been sexually abused.

The 10-year-old in Uttar Pradesh begged the police to save her and
her friends. Every evening, she said, red, black, grey cars came and
took her friends away. They brought them back in the morning and the
girls cried all day. Please help them, she pleaded. Predictably, she
captured hearts and headlines. So it became national news.

Likewise, the alleged gang rape of a 13-year-old tribal girl,
by seven tribal men, five of whom were juveniles. This was in Jharkhand
state, adjoining Bihar. The child was grazing cattle outside her
village when seven men were said to have pounced on her. One veteran
social activist explained to me some decades ago: “Sex before marriage
was accepted by tribal communities, so where was the need for rape?”

The
same person sadly reported that rape is now rampant in tribal
Jharkhand. Boys as young as 10 download pornography from mobile phone
shops for as little as 10 rupees (12p). The combination of endless,
violent porn videos and alcohol appears to be a lethal trigger for many
rapes in India
– a country where traditional Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh society
strictly forbids not just sex outside marriage but any mixing of the
sexes in towns and villages. Arranged marriages are still the norm
across all religions. For repressed men to be fed a constant diet of
porn on their phones is a recipe for disaster.

The infamous gang rape
of a 23-year-old student in Delhi in 2012 that led the city to be
called the “rape capital of the world” was carried out by six men who
had just been watching violent porn while drinking alcohol, another
taboo in orthodox Indian families.

Enakshi Ganguly Thukral, a child rights activist for nearly 30 years,
told me: “Society is being sexualised, there is sexual content
everywhere, in films and music. Rampant, vicious porn is easily
available to children. Middle-class families may monitor what their kids
watch, but uneducated and illiterate people haven’t a clue about what
their kids see on their phones. The vegetable vendor near my house sits
glued to his mobile all day. Two young boys with one wire plugged into
an ear each, sharing a video. I can assure you they are not watching the
news.”

Thukral, like me, is depressed. “Why should the supreme court
publicly lament the situation?” she said. “We look to the supreme court
for solutions, not laments. It needs to see that implementation of laws
regarding women’s safety is stringently carried out.”

For decades, women’s groups have fought long and hard to put safety
measures in place through special laws. But where is the proper
governance and monitoring of juvenile homes and women’s shelters? We
have special police now, to check on internet crime, harassment and
abuse. How do we protect children and women from predators and harmful
porn?

My liberal friends have fought for civil liberties and freedom of
expression over the years. As a journalist I support that. But
grassroots activists like me are increasingly sick of liberals fighting
for freedom to watch violent, sadistic porn. One tired human rights
defender said: “It’s hard to stomach glib sermons on the right to
freedom to use a potential ‘driver of rape’ [porn] when faced with a
wounded, bleeding raped woman or child.”

I have to say I agree with her. It’s time for the courts and the
government to look seriously at how we can clamp down on porn in India.
As we approach India’s 71st Independence Day anniversary, on 15 August,
perhaps we can focus on freedom from fear for our women and children.

Sexual violence is the new normal in India – and pornography is to blame | Mari Marcel Thekaekara