Rising cases of sexual abuse in young children shows that even though there are strict laws, but they are not being implemented with the same strictness. The figures which have come out reveal that childhood is still unsafe. On average, four of the sexually abused children are not getting justice every day, as the police close the case due to lack of evidence.
This fact came to light after studying the cases filed under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act 2012 by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and how they were disposed. The data were collected on the basis of a study of cases filed between 2017 and 2019 at the National Crime Records Bureau. Meanwhile, the number of cases closed has increased. The police closed the cases citing lack of evidence after investigation and did not file charge sheets.
51% of cases of five states including UP, Haryana, Delhi. About 51% of the cases were reported in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. The punishment percentage ranges from 30% to 64%. Most of the victims come from weaker sections. In this case, cases are closed.
3000 cases do not reach court: Around 3000 cases registered under POCSO do not reach court after investigation and four victims children are not able to get justice every day and their cases are closed. Nearly 43% of cases were closed in 2019 as compared to 2017 and 2018.
Reason for closure of the case: Despite the registration of the case, the case does not reach the court for trial due to lack of evidence and evidence. In closed cases the police have considered the lack of evidence as the reason.
The matters required to form a monitoring unit should be monitored by a DSP level officer. It has been recommended to set up separate units to monitor child sexual abuse cases in all districts.
The Bombay High Court is under negative spotlight recently following a verdict passed on a POCSO case. In the detailed copy of the judgement which has been made available lately, Justice Pushpa Ganediwala of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has said that ‘skin to skin contact with sexual intent without penetration is necessary for the act to be considered as a sexual assault’. The ruling also said that ‘mere groping’ will not fall under sexual assault.
A complaint regarding the pursuant events was filed by the victim’s mother on 14th December 2016 at Gittikhadan Police Station in Nagpur. The complaint registered at the station is that “on the pretext of giving her [the minor] a guava in his house, Satish Ragde pressed her breast and attempted to remove her salwar.” The girl was found crying while the mother rescued her. She complained that the man attempted to silence her when she started to cry while disrobing.
The accused was charged with Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty); 363 (punishment for kidnapping); 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) of the IPC; and Section 8 (punishment for sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) by the police in the FIR. During the hearing, the special court added Section 361 (kidnapping from lawful guardianship) to the aforementioned charges. The accused was found guilty by the special court and was sentenced for 3 years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs.1500 in total.
In pursuit of the appeal filed by Ragde at the High Court of Bombay, challenging the verdict passed by the special court, Justice Pushpa Ganediwala has acquitted him of Section 8 of the POCSO charges. The Court convicted him for minor charges of IPC, thereby cutting down his three years of imprisonment to one year.
According to Section 8 of POSCO, ‘Whoever, with sexual intent touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child or makes the child touch the vagina, penis, anus or breast of such person or any other person, or does any other act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration is said to commit sexual assault.’ The High Court ruled out the POSCO charges by saying, “Considering the stringent nature of punishment provided for the offence, in the opinion of the court, stricter proof and serious allegations are required. The act of pressing of the breast of the child aged 12 years, in the absence of any specific detail as to whether the top was removed or whether he inserted his hand inside the top and pressed her breast, would not fall in the definition of sexual assault.”
This shocking verdict on sexual assault towards women and children has led to outrage across the country. The judicial system is turning a blind eye against its paramount concern of protecting its citizens through this judgement.
Marital rape is the act of indulging in sexual intercourse without proper consent of the partner. People often mistake marital rape as an act of domestic violence or sexual abuse, although a lack of consent is enough in itself. The right for sexual intercourse within the marriage was considered as a naturally consigned right of the spouse, historically. Many countries around the world have rightly classified non-consensual sexual intercourse as “rape”, yet countries including India regard this intimate assault a perfectly legal crime.
Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code propounds rape as all forms of sexual assault involving non-consensual intercourse with a woman. Yet the Exception 2 to Section 375 absolves the unwilling sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife over fifteen years of age from Section 375’s definition of “rape”. Thus the atrocities and abuses within the sacredness and sacrosanctity of marriage are legalized by the government under this section. This is a clear case of discrimination against female victims by the Indian criminal laws, just because they have been raped by their own husbands.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reports, an average Indian woman is 17 times more likely to be subjected to sexual violence from her own husband than others. Such heinous acts go unreported due to the ineffectiveness of the existing laws. Though India is striving hard to empower its female population, it fails to ensure their safety even in the very basic social structure like family. The patriarchal social structure of India is the fundamental reason for the mortifying status of women in Indian society and the persisting ineffectiveness of laws protecting them.
NGOs for the empowerment of women and Constitutional experts are of the opinion that the Exception 2 to Section 375 is a clear violation of Article 14 and Article 21 and insists that its high time India criminalize marital rape and frame new laws for protecting women from intramarital violence. The equality and liberty rights assured for all citizens in Article 14 and Article 21 of the constitution are denied in exception 2 to section 375. Even the UN General Committee has recommended the Indian government to criminalize marital rape back in 2013. A large part of the British influenced Indian laws which need timely amendments remains untouched for the past 73 years since independence. No Indian government has, however, so far shown an active interest in remedying this problem. As a result, many of such primitive practices still exist in our society.
“Silence does not mean yes. No can be thought and felt but never said. It can be screamed silently on the inside. It can be in the wordless stone of a clenched fist, fingernails digging into palm. Her lips sealed. Her eyes closed. His body just taking, never asking, never taught to question silence”
Amy Reed
I came across a post on Feminist’s Instagram.
This post struck a nerve that no other post ever did. Mainly because whoever this person (thedarkchocolatedandy) is, didn’t insult anyone, nor did they try to persuade anyone to believe them. All they did was point out how humans are different than animals and also that women aren’t a piece of meat.
I decided to make a post on what crosses the line from being intimate to being considered rape. I am not sure how comfortable I am with men and most women not knowing or understanding what rape is and who the assailant is, and also that no reason is justifiable for rape, however, I wanted to make it clear and give no one who reads this an opportunity to claim they were unaware.
Take this post as a guide to know what is rape.
What is Consent?
The general definition of consent is to allow or permit for something to happen.
Consent in terms of sex or intimacy refers to agreeing to have sexual intercourse with someone and letting them know about it. It also includes finding out where the other person stands.
Consent is restricted and comes with thick boundaries. A person may consent to sexting, but not actually having sex, or vice versa.
Consent could also be restricted to just being physical and not actually having sex.
Take for instance the Netflix Original, “GUILTY”. A beautiful movie loudly stating that consent doesn’t give permission for anything and everything. Tanu (Akansha Ranjan), accuses VJ (Gurfateh Singh Pirzada) of raping her. Throughout the movie everyone had numerous reasons to tag her a fibster, they refused to believe her, they ridiculed her, said she was asking for it. The biggest reason was that she was very into VJ and that she threw herself on him quite a lot. In the end it was revealed that she wanted to have sex with VJ. She was consenting to the sex. What she wasn’t consenting to is being watched by VJ’s friends and being recorded. She didn’t consent to being sexually assaulted while the two bystanders ridiculed her and lead VJ on.
This movie is an eye-opener and covers many reasons rape culture still persists in our society.
When do you NOT have Consent?
When a person is sleeping or unconscious
When a person is drugged or intoxicated
When you are threatening them
You use a position of authority or trust
Consent is withdrawn
When you ignore their NO, cries and physically being pushed away
When you have consent for only one form of sexual act and not the other
When they are pressured
Verbal Consents:
Yes
I am sure
I want to
Don’t stop
Go on
I still want to
I want you to
I’m ready
Yes please
I am comfortable
I want to continue
Verbal Disagreements:
No
Stop
I don’t want to
I am not sure
I don’t think so
Please don’t
Please stop
This makes me uncomfortable
I want to stop
I don’t want to continue
This feels wrong
Maybe we should wait
Diverting the topic
I want to, BUT
Saying Yes fearfully
Non-Verbal Disagreement:
Pushing Away
Pulling Away
Crying
Avoiding Eye Contact
Silence
Shaking their head no
Standing/Lying motionlessly
Looking Scared
Not removing their own clothes
What is Rape?
Sexual Assault refers to any form of sexual contact or behaviours without explicit consent by the victim. Attempted Rape, Unwanted touching, forcing a victim to perform sexual favours, oral or penetrating penis or any other object.
The Medical definition of Rape is, “Forced sexual intercourse, and/or forced sexual assault between two or more people is considered rape. Rape may be heterosexual or homosexual. Rape involves insertion of penis or any inanimate object into a person’s vagina, anus, mouth. Rape also includes any other sexual acts.” Force here doesn’t just refer to physical force; blackmail, psychological manipulation to coerce someone into being sexually active is also considered rape.
Sexual intercourse between an adult and a minor is legally considered statutory rape. The adult is found guilty even if the minor was consenting.
Intimacy with a minor wife is considered rape in India.
Marriage is not a licence for either partner to force an unwilling partner to have sex. Marital/Spousal Rape is now recognized and is a criminal offence.
Date Rape, sexual assault followed by the victim being drugged or psychologically manipulated.
Intoxicated Rape is when the victim is drunk and unconscious, not in the state to make a sober choice.
Consent taken by threatening the victim or victims loved ones is also considered rape.
Gang Rape occurs when a group of people rape a person.
Rapes in prisons and jails by other inmates or prison officials is also an offence, often overlooked and unreported.
Serial Rape is the rape committed continuously over a relatively long time period.
Payback/Punishment Rape is when a person rapes another out of spite.
War Rapes are rapes committed by soldiers during war as a way to force prostitution and slavery to insult an entire country.
Deceptive Rape is the rape that occurs when the rapist rapes a victim by gaining consent by misleading them.
Corrective Rape is a hate crime where homosexuals, trans and queer individuals are raped hoping to “correct” them. To force them to “turn” heterosexual.
Custodial Rape is the rape occurred in custody of police, hospitals, old age homes, orphanages or any other employee of the state.
Prostitution Rapes are rapes where rapists force prostitutes to have sex without paying them for their services, to inflicting pain and torture (cigarette burns, slapping, choking).
Exchange Rape is the rape where sexual favours are exchanged for money, rent, food, drugs or any other resource.
Punitive Rape is when rape is used to punish or discipline someone. Usually by an abusive teacher, parent, Religious leader, or a peer.
Incest Rape is when a victim is raped by family member.
Consenting Rape is when a consenting partner withdraws consent, but the rapist doesn’t stop and continues to get sexually intimate. Consenting rape is also when the victim consents, but isn’t completely “into it.”
Rape Culture
Rape Culture refers to the sociological concept of normalizing rape, and blaming victims for dressing or acting provocatively. A few illustrations of Rape Culture include:
Blaming the victim
She dressed provocatively
She shouldn’t have been out so late
She is already sexually active, who says she didn’t want it?
Boys will be boys
Tolerating sexual harassment
Assuming only immoral women get raped
Making degrading jokes about women
Associating “manhood” as dominant and sexually aggressive
Associating “womanhood” as submissive and sexually passive
Offensive memes
Not believing people who speak out
“You haven’t been raped yet, so chill”
Slut-shaming and congratulating men on “scoring”
Calling young women gold diggers when they marry old and older woman, cougars
Objectifying Women
Associating Rape to Victims character and not the rapists
Rape Culture is the direct consequence of toxic masculinity. The heavily patriarchal world teaches and forces boys and men to be strong and exert “masculinity” in the form of dominance, arrogance and sexual and physical aggression.
The only solution is to fight patriarchy.
Support for Those in Distress
The National Commission for Women, provides a set of helpline numbers, legal aid, and counselling contacts.
Eduindex News 
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