Rapist India?
I came across this news report a few days back..
It all started with BBC's documentary 'India's Daughter', which included interview with a convicted rapist and his lawyers. The documentary was a well laid out story except for the interview portion which gave the rapist and his lawyers a platform to justify their crime and demean Indian women. The above pictorial news is the result of that documentary which has managed to create a world opinion that India is a land of rapists!
I came across biased views and stereotyping of men and situation in our nation in international forums that I am a part of . A lot of messages on WhatsApp and Social media circulated by my desi friends didn't help the situation either.
Being a proud Indian and one who believes and practices in equality of gender, I simply had to spend time to dig out the facts and present it to you.
The news media and overzealous freedom of press activists and keyboard warriors of social media have made sure that image of our nation and our men is tainted when in reality this is a highly biased picture presented, well at least these statistics speak so:
I am not justifying India like a child does by pointing fingers at other nations and claiming it's happening there so what is the problem here? Majority of Indian men have good regard for women and are against rape and other sexual crimes against women in our land, we are an open minded society and highly tolerant when it comes to others feelings and belief. But the picture that such media presentation has created internationally is highly biased and I am fighting against undoing that damage, while on the other hand I support the fight against such crimes. It's not just through my words but my actions as well. I head a corporate training company and as a part of this women's day we offered three free sessions to empower women and girls, 124 girl students of a Government run high school and 33 women employees of a reputed IT company have benefited from the first two sessions. We will be executing the third free session in the coming week.
India is a land where the laws are pro-women just that the system is full of loopholes, where the judicial system is almost perfect in curbing crime against woman but the social system is yet to make the women feel secure and provide them safety. Bring out positive reports about crime against woman being stopped rather than creating an illusion that all men are rapists. Let people know there are more good Samaritans who value life and women around us, slowly other people will start doing the same. People will become bolder to get out of the herd mentality and speak and act out against crime happening around us. Only positivity can overcome negativity.
If you have unknowingly played your part in damaging the reputation of our nation and wish to do what is in your hands to undo the damage do spread the link to this blog - http://smartynaughty.blogspot.in/2015/03/rapist-india.html to all the contacts who may have been influenced by your messages and are further spreading the negativity unknowingly.
I love my India. Jai Hind!
It all started with BBC's documentary 'India's Daughter', which included interview with a convicted rapist and his lawyers. The documentary was a well laid out story except for the interview portion which gave the rapist and his lawyers a platform to justify their crime and demean Indian women. The above pictorial news is the result of that documentary which has managed to create a world opinion that India is a land of rapists!
I came across biased views and stereotyping of men and situation in our nation in international forums that I am a part of . A lot of messages on WhatsApp and Social media circulated by my desi friends didn't help the situation either.
Being a proud Indian and one who believes and practices in equality of gender, I simply had to spend time to dig out the facts and present it to you.
The news media and overzealous freedom of press activists and keyboard warriors of social media have made sure that image of our nation and our men is tainted when in reality this is a highly biased picture presented, well at least these statistics speak so:
RAPE FACTS
Adjusted for population growth over time, the annual rape rate is:
2.0 per 100,000 people in India
1.2 per 100,000 in Japan,
3.6 per 100,000 in Morocco
4.6 rapes per 100,000 in Bahrain
12.3 per 100,000 in Mexico
24.1 per 100,000 in United Kingdom
28.6 per 100,000 in United States
28.6 rapes per 100,000 in Australia
66.5 per 100,000 in Sweden
114.9 rapes per 100,000 in South Africa
REPORTED CASES
Now you may think you are being smart when you say in India majority of the rapes go unreported. Well, that is true, very true.. but so it is in the so called ‘developed countries’. Here are more facts:
USA: According to the American Medical Association, sexual violence, and rape in particular, is considered the most under-reported violent crime. Less than 10% of rape crimes get reported in USA.
UK: A 2007 British government report says "Estimates from research suggest that between 75 and 95 percent of rape crimes are never reported to the police.
RAPE RATE
According to a news report on BBC One there are 230 cases of rape reported every day in UK
New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault says 1,871 American women are raped per day (Higher rate here is because unlike India, rape in marriage is a crime in USA)
NCRB data shows 93 women are raped in India every day, I don’t believe this figure completely but comparing with UK and USA this is far too low
CONVICTION
Available British Crime Survey reports 6 in every 100 occurrences of rape led to a conviction in UK
The conviction rate for rape was 4 in every 100 occurrences of rape led to a conviction in USA
The conviction rate for rape was 24.2 in every 100 occurrences of rape led to a conviction in India
INFORMATION SOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk
http://www.911rape.org
https://fullfact.org/…/rape_conviction_rates_deserve_carefu…
https://www.uky.edu/CR…/files/TopTen/07_Rape_Prosecution.pdf
I am not justifying India like a child does by pointing fingers at other nations and claiming it's happening there so what is the problem here? Majority of Indian men have good regard for women and are against rape and other sexual crimes against women in our land, we are an open minded society and highly tolerant when it comes to others feelings and belief. But the picture that such media presentation has created internationally is highly biased and I am fighting against undoing that damage, while on the other hand I support the fight against such crimes. It's not just through my words but my actions as well. I head a corporate training company and as a part of this women's day we offered three free sessions to empower women and girls, 124 girl students of a Government run high school and 33 women employees of a reputed IT company have benefited from the first two sessions. We will be executing the third free session in the coming week.
India is a land where the laws are pro-women just that the system is full of loopholes, where the judicial system is almost perfect in curbing crime against woman but the social system is yet to make the women feel secure and provide them safety. Bring out positive reports about crime against woman being stopped rather than creating an illusion that all men are rapists. Let people know there are more good Samaritans who value life and women around us, slowly other people will start doing the same. People will become bolder to get out of the herd mentality and speak and act out against crime happening around us. Only positivity can overcome negativity.
If you have unknowingly played your part in damaging the reputation of our nation and wish to do what is in your hands to undo the damage do spread the link to this blog - http://smartynaughty.blogspot.in/2015/03/rapist-india.html to all the contacts who may have been influenced by your messages and are further spreading the negativity unknowingly.
I love my India. Jai Hind!
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