As you may have heard, a young girl was gang raped in Delhi, India on a bus and has passed away in Singapore where she was being treated for the severe injuries inflicted upon her.
Having read and followed this story, it has deeply moved me and it hurts me that such atrocities even take place - it's even worse that nothing is ever done to help the victims nor is justice rarely brought upon the culprits. And it is not only in Asia, Africa, Latin America where rape crimes rarely result in justice - it is even here in the UK.
It has made an impression on me because she was 23 years old - not much older than myself - and that she never received any justice. She was someone's daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, niece, maybe even an auntie but this is always overlooked in the minds of rapists, criminals and those who are out to hurt others.
There was another case of a young girl in Patiala, Punjab where she too was raped - instead of the police helping her, they pressured her to accept a financial sum or to marry one of her attackers. She was a 17 year old girl and as a result of that pressure, killed herself.
Is this really what the value of life has come to? A cheap bag of notes cannot erase the pain nor can it ever make the victim feel as they were before the ordeal. It is the ultimate invasion of privacy and it is soul destroying.
A lot of people have been making comments on the treatment, perception and general attitude towards women in the Middle East, south Asia and other parts of the world. I have read comments that are purely evil and full of racist waffle (as ever) to ones of despair calling for women to be regarded and treated with more respect in those parts of the world. What they seem to forget is that a much needed change in the attitudes of men is important, especially as in certain cultures it is very male orientated and dominated by them. I know that in parts of Africa that rape is considered "normal".
I recently watched a documentary with one of my friends about the police in various countries and their response/attitude towards rape. I was stunned (in a bad way!) to their responses which varied from:
"If a girl is in a car full of men, she is asking to be raped. She is a loose character."
"If a girl is dancing in a club wearing a dress, she is inviting men to rape her."
"The girl was wearing make-up and perfume; she provokes men into raping her. It is her fault."
Naturally, this really hacked me off - what is the solution? Do we blanket-wrap women from head to toe in a sack and then let them go outside? That's unrealistic; I personally do not believe that modesty has anything to do with someone (man or woman) being raped. It has nothing to do with how much make-up a woman wears nor what type of clothing she wears; if an individual can conceive the thought of: "I'm going to rape that person" - there is something fundamentally wrong with the mentality and attitude of that person; not the victim. It is about time that authorities and society stopped blaming the victim and began to tackle the perpetrators as they are the root of this problem.
And also I firmly believe that we should teach girls self-respect, confidence and instill a belief in them that "You are fine the way you are. You should not feel scared to go out in public or be educated. There is no shame in being an educated woman. Be strong, be fearless, be a woman who will one day become a mother who will bring up strong, respectful children who are conscientious, tolerant, kind and will be part of a new generation. "
Having read and followed this story, it has deeply moved me and it hurts me that such atrocities even take place - it's even worse that nothing is ever done to help the victims nor is justice rarely brought upon the culprits. And it is not only in Asia, Africa, Latin America where rape crimes rarely result in justice - it is even here in the UK.
It has made an impression on me because she was 23 years old - not much older than myself - and that she never received any justice. She was someone's daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, niece, maybe even an auntie but this is always overlooked in the minds of rapists, criminals and those who are out to hurt others.
There was another case of a young girl in Patiala, Punjab where she too was raped - instead of the police helping her, they pressured her to accept a financial sum or to marry one of her attackers. She was a 17 year old girl and as a result of that pressure, killed herself.
Is this really what the value of life has come to? A cheap bag of notes cannot erase the pain nor can it ever make the victim feel as they were before the ordeal. It is the ultimate invasion of privacy and it is soul destroying.
A lot of people have been making comments on the treatment, perception and general attitude towards women in the Middle East, south Asia and other parts of the world. I have read comments that are purely evil and full of racist waffle (as ever) to ones of despair calling for women to be regarded and treated with more respect in those parts of the world. What they seem to forget is that a much needed change in the attitudes of men is important, especially as in certain cultures it is very male orientated and dominated by them. I know that in parts of Africa that rape is considered "normal".
I recently watched a documentary with one of my friends about the police in various countries and their response/attitude towards rape. I was stunned (in a bad way!) to their responses which varied from:
"If a girl is in a car full of men, she is asking to be raped. She is a loose character."
"If a girl is dancing in a club wearing a dress, she is inviting men to rape her."
"The girl was wearing make-up and perfume; she provokes men into raping her. It is her fault."
Naturally, this really hacked me off - what is the solution? Do we blanket-wrap women from head to toe in a sack and then let them go outside? That's unrealistic; I personally do not believe that modesty has anything to do with someone (man or woman) being raped. It has nothing to do with how much make-up a woman wears nor what type of clothing she wears; if an individual can conceive the thought of: "I'm going to rape that person" - there is something fundamentally wrong with the mentality and attitude of that person; not the victim. It is about time that authorities and society stopped blaming the victim and began to tackle the perpetrators as they are the root of this problem.
And also I firmly believe that we should teach girls self-respect, confidence and instill a belief in them that "You are fine the way you are. You should not feel scared to go out in public or be educated. There is no shame in being an educated woman. Be strong, be fearless, be a woman who will one day become a mother who will bring up strong, respectful children who are conscientious, tolerant, kind and will be part of a new generation. "
3 comments:
What do you think of the handling of the situation by the Indian Government against the culprits?
I agree with you, yes. However you said 'she never received any justice' this is incorrect as the perpetrators are being charged for murder and six people are on trial.
The perpetrators being charged for murder is still not justice. This girl was violated in the most repulsive and merciless manner which lead to her losing her life. Justice would have been if she had been protected by the authorities in the first place and if there was already a strict legal system in place which would serve as a warning so crimes like this aren't openly committed. Let's not forget this happened in a public place, the criminals were so shameless and fearless of the legal system due to rape not being an abnormal offence which carries severe consequences in India (aswell as other countries in Asia/Middle East etc). I just hope that due to the international attention this case has received it will create more awareness about the mistreatment of women and these countries will in place and implement laws which protect them.
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