The Misogyny of India

India has a diverse and beautiful culture. However, this image has been tainted by horrific crimes, especially rape, committed against Indian women. A woman is raped every 20 minutes in India. And it’s no surprise that approximately four out of five women have experienced some form of harassment or violence in public. 32 percent of rape victims are minors, and marital rape isn’t even recognized as a crime in India. Over 90 percent of these cases go unreported mainly due to being threatened by the rapist, a lack of money for the judicial process and because women fear being subjected to victim blaming from their community. The plight of women is constantly a subject of national news, and officials and politicians are grappling to find a solution to the crisis.

“A decent girl won't roam around at nine o'clock at night...Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes," Mukesh Singh said without any remorse in the documentary (that’s banned in India) "India's Daughter.” Singh was one of the five convicted rapists in the infamous 2012 Delhi rape case. His lawyer, Manohar Lal Sharma, went on to say: “Until today I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady.” A lawyer defending another one of the rapists said that he would “put petrol on her and set her alight” if his daughter or sister participated in premarital activities. Unfortunately, these disgusting comments aren’t disavowed by a large portion of the Indian community. In fact, they are propagated and spread by influential political party leaders. From a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (one of India’s two main political parties) saying that rape is “sometimes right and sometimes wrong” to the West Bengal Chief Minister saying that “Rapes happen because men and women interact freely,” the moral character of the female victim is constantly put into question. To them, the only woman worth respecting wears traditional Indian clothing, bears and raises children, stays at home and obeys her husband. Women who don’t follow this model are cheap and easy, and are partially at fault for being in the presence of an unknown male.

But victim blaming can only go so far before the Indian public needs a more substantial excuse. Officials turn to blaming “Westernization” for corrupting the minds of Indian youth. When hundreds of women were molested on New Year’s in Bangalore, the Karnataka Home Minister blamed youth who “copy westerners not only in mindset but even in their dressing.” He concluded by saying that “these kinds of things happen” on New Year’s Eve and Christmas. Abu Azmi, a leader of the Samajwadi Party, also cited Western culture as a negative influence. “Partying late night in half-attire, blindly following western culture, has never been our culture," he said. "As far as the Bangalore molestation is concerned, women and their guardians must also take precautions and remember that security starts at home." The words “women and their guardians” make India seem like a third world Saudi Arabia. And why should security start at home when 1,500 police officers were on duty that night? 

There have been countless other instances of politicians shifting the blame, such as the leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Party citing Valentine's day as a driving force behind rape and the false claim that rapes only happen in cities where women wear fewer articles of clothing. These people talk as if the West plagued India with the dowry system and as if the West taught Indian men like them to view women as objects to safeguard and discard at will. They talk as if the West exposed India to child marriage to the extent that 42 percent of girls are married before they’re 18. The Indian public is missing what instigates sex offenders: the blatant disrespect of women in Indian culture.

Millions of girls have been aborted in India due to a partiality for boys, leading to a skewed sex ratio. From the day a girl is born to the day she dies, her life is strictly controlled. Her independence is limited in comparison to her brothers,’ and when there’s a shortage of money, the boy nearly always receives preference to receive an education. Daughters are seen as an expensive burden parents pay dowry to get rid of while sons are seen as providers and achievers. Whenever a woman does something wrong it reflects on the family while men can do anything and not be questioned. When a society undervalues females to this extent, victim blaming isn’t met with the outrage it should be; rather it’s subtly accepted by Indian families. The same goes for Westernization. The results are earlier curfews, stricter dressing rules and less excursions for women, instead of teaching men not to rape.

Unless the cancerous mentality that lurks in India’s mind is eradicated, then sex crimes won’t decrease. Unfortunately, political figures choose to bank off of underlying, misogynistic morals that the Indian public has so they don’t have to do anything about the issue while they’re in office. However, educated Indian youth is diverging from these patriarchal ideas. The number rapes actually being reported has increased by 277 percent from 2012, and more women than ever are topping exams. While most kids are raised to see the hypocrisy of others, the Indian youth must see through hypocrisy of their own.