The United States Department of Justice defines sexual assault as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.” (What is sexual assault, according to the law by Karin Miller) This definition isn’t always rigid, it varies in different states and countries. Specifically, in India, sexual assault is defined through different amendments to provide a clearer picture. For instance, section 354A covers the act of sexual harassment, which comprises one part of “sexual assault.” This section specifically addresses physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures; or any demands or requests for sexual favors; or showing sexual pictures or videos to women against their will (Understanding sexual harassment law in India). Despite the comprehensive set of laws against sexual assault, it remains a large problem in India. The problem persists due to poor law enforcement and corruption along with the prevalent societal attitudes. Prior attempts to solve the problem, such as the anti-rape laws introduced in 2012, have gone in vain owing to an immutable stigma attached to sexual activity in the country accompanied with poor implementation of laws. However, the severity of the problem has led to immense public pressure eventually forcing the government out of its slumber. Interventions in the form of stronger implementation of laws and increased investment in educating the masses on key concepts such as consent, have helped pave way for reform and put the society on the right path towards correction.
Citing New Delhi as one of the worst cities in the world for violence against women, a Thompson Reuters poll called it India’s “rape capital.” (Despite India’s Anti-rape laws, sexual assault is still a major problem by Daniele Shelby) This poll, along with the brutal 2012 gang rape of a twenty-three year old woman – ‘Jyoti Singh’ – in Delhi, brought the issue of sexual assault under the national spotlight. The incident occurred when Jyoti and her friend were returning home at night and were given a lift by an off-duty charter bus. However, the six other people present within that bus, including the bus driver, raped her and gruesomely mutilated her to the point that she died because of her injuries. This case created a massive outbreak of support and helped generate awareness about sexual assault in India, as it rallied thousands to protest against the current judicial system in search of justice for the girl and her family. The people gave her the name ‘Nirbhaya’, meaning fearless, and accused the state and national governments for the lack of security for women in India. The case ended with the conviction of four of the six men and a penalty of death by hanging and the enactment of the Nirbhaya Act which brought about major reforms and amendments within the Indian Penal Code and the Indian Evidence Act on laws related to sexual offences. However, laws, are only as strong as their enforcement. Therefore, even though India worked to try and create a fair and clear set of laws against sexual assault, due to poor law enforcement by both the Indian police force and the courts, the problem continues to persist.
One of the major reasons for the inadequacy of proper enforcement is the lack of police officers committed towards protecting the ordinary citizens of India. New Delhi, for example, is home to one of the largest metropolitan police forces in the world with some 84,000 officers. However, only one-third of these officers are involved in any form of police work at any given time. Most of them provide protection services to various politicians, senior bureaucrats, diplomats and other elites (10 Reasons why India has a sexual violence problem by Olga Khazan and Rama Lakshmi). Furthermore, while the police force of India recruits a large number of women, estimated to be around 30,000 women in various police forces, (Policewomen In India: a long way to go by Anjana Sinha) they only account for 7.28% of the entire Indian police force (Just 7.28 per cent women in police forces: Government data). This lack of female officers creates an uncomfortable environment for the women to be able to report such crimes. In addition to the lack of police officers, there is a lack of officers who are willing to file these complaints as a majority of the officers are often seen being incentivized, through money or power, to persuade the victim to not file a report against the perpetrator. This leads to approximately 99 percent of the sexual assault cases going unreported. (99% of sexual assault cases go unreported, government data shows by Pramit Bhattacharya) If, after surpassing all these hurdles, the case is somehow filed and taken to court, the convict has a very low chance of being convicted, estimated at approximately 26 percent. (Khazan and Lakshmi) This is mainly because most victims withdraw their cases due to the expensive and time-consuming nature of court proceedings, which take years to be processed and resolved. In fact, the Indian court system has about 19 judges for every 1 million people, one of the lowest in the world. (India has 19 judges per 10 lakh people: Data) Altogether, such a flawed judicial and executive system discourages, if not forces, the victims from bringing forth their case and demanding justice for the crimes against them, thereby rendering the laws unenforceable.
Apart from improper enforcement of laws, the prevalent societal attitude towards sexual assault in India further disincentivizes reporting of such cases. Victim blaming is a mentality that is lethal and unfortunately still vastly prevalent in India. Females are said to be provoking men by wearing ‘raunchy’ clothing, drinking in public or even walking home alone late at night. As part of her doctoral thesis, Madhumita Pandey interviewed 100 convicted rapists in India. Astonishingly, only three or four understood and acknowledged wrongdoing, while the others were happy to continue blaming the victim. (Despite India’s Anti-Rape Laws, Sexual Assault Is Still A Major Problem by Daniele Shelby). Part of such a mentality can be attributed to the predominantly patriarchal society which continues to value its men over its women. This preference can be clearly seen through the prevalent practice of female foeticide (act of killing the female fetus) which led to a sex ratio of 112 males to 100 females at birth in 2016 (CIA World Factbook 2016), one of the highest in the world. Such an imbalance leads to a male dominant world where women are treated as inferiors and are expected to follow blindly. This mentality is so ingrained within society that despite being domestically abused and sexually assaulted, on the pretense of marriage, women are otherwise convinced that such acts are justified. Even if women try to report such incidents, they are disregarded and often ignored, thereby giving birth to a fear of coming forward. In addition to this, there exists a culture of practicing chastity within the Indian community which gives birth to an immutable stigma attached with sexual activity. A majority of the population look at premarital sex as an “impure” act which devalues the woman and lowers her prospects of marriage. Such cultural differences in concepts of individual self-determination places a lot of burden on women to remain “pure”. Therefore, in many sexual assault cases, women are fearful of being considered unfit for marriage and are unlikely to report such incidents. Such backward societal attitudes, coupled with the inefficiency of the judicial and executive systems, perpetuates such criminal activities without a fear of consequences or repercussions.
However, many new attempts are being made to try to rectify the situation of sexual assault within India. One of the most prevalent is the Me Too movement. The Me Too movement in India is a manifestation of the international Me Too movement, which is focused towards sexual harassment in the workplace. In India, the movement gained popularity in the entertainment industry of Bollywood when Tanushree Datta accused Nana Patekar of sexual harassment. Since then, many renowned, as well as ordinary, women have gained the courage to come forward and speak about their stories of sexual harassment without the fear of consequences or lack of support and thus breaking the long standing social stigma of sexual harassment against women. These non-hesitant actions towards the betterment of the female community has been on the rise, with many politicians resigning from their posts due to their past actions against women. One such example is of the veteran editor and Indian government minister, M.J. Akbar. After being accused of sexual harassment in the form of lewd messages by several women, the government minister, was made to step down from his position. Actions like these have led to the start of the deterioration of previous habits of the perpetrators to use their money or power in order to persuade the system to work for them instead of the victim.
In addition to the Me Too movement, the government, in cooperation with several other organizations, has taken up the initiative of educating the population about important concepts such as consent, premarital sex and anti-foeticide laws. To tackle the problem of female-foeticide and lack of importance placed on females, the government introduced the ‘Beti padhao, Beti bachao’ program which aims at educating women and providing them with a higher status within society. This helped counteract the effects of the male dominant society and tries to convert it into an equal society. Also, in order to dampen the problem of rape itself, the government developed the program ‘Saathiya’ which acknowledges premarital sex but focuses on consent and the importance of it. In the heat of the moment, people do not realize, or do not want to realise, that the other may actually be saying no which is exactly what the program aims at educating the population about. Programs such as these further spread awareness amongst the masses and help garner support as well as recognition about sexual assault, which it lacked previously. In conclusion, given the newfound support being received by the public, the media as well as the government, it becomes imperative for the authorities to act on the cases brought forth by women. This in turn leads to a stricter and more efficient implementation of the laws in place. Therefore, there is still hope that having put proper reform in place, correction will follow, not just in the executive and judicial system, but also in the attitudes of the people in India and their perception of sexual assault.