Can rape be classified as ‘big’ or ‘small’?
Violating somebody's body - whether it is in a 'big' or 'small' way - is wrong. Period. No questions asked. PHOTO: AFP
A week after Ajmal Kasab – the gunman guilty of complicity in the 2008 Mumbai attacks –was hanged in November 2012, a friend from Mumbai and I were discussing the pros and cons of capital punishment.
While we both agreed that hanging a person who threatened the security of the state was just, our stance on capital punishment itself was opposite:
I was in favour of death sentences, while my friend was against them. When the discussion turned towards rape, things got complicated.
“Depends on whether the rape case is big or small,” said my friend.
In all fairness, I know he wasn’t speaking literally but at the same time, it was the exact response that drives me up the wall.
Violating somebody’s body – whether it is in a ‘big’ or ‘small’ way - is wrong. Period. No questions asked.
But sadly, most people prefer to determine what the appropriate reaction would be after ‘analysing’ the scenario. These are some of the questions which start pouring in as soon as a rape case is reported on a news desk or even as people come to know of the incident:
Was the victim a minor or an adult?
Was it one person or a gang rape?
Was the victim raped once or multiple times?
Was the victim beaten or ‘only’ raped?
My reply to all of the above is: Does all of this even matter? A rape is a rape.
However, it seems as though the goal is rate the ‘intensity’ of the rape on a scale of one to ten – one being the least, ten being the highest.
It took a woman who was raped and brutally violated on a moving bus in Delhi for the nation – including my friend – to cry out for the accused to be hanged. The Delhi rape incident, it appears, was a ten.
The ‘magnitude’ of the crime and whether it fulfils the criteria for capital punishment can also be traced in the Indian law. In 1983, a ruling by India’s top court stated that the death penalty should be imposed only in “the rarest of rare cases.”
However, ask the woman who has been raped. Does it matter to her whether she was violated once or many times?
Does the one who was raped and beaten suffer more than the one who was gang raped?
The truth is that there is no way anybody can put a number on the trauma that a victim of rape suffers. It is intangible.
If, however, we must follow this gross rating system, I believe that if it’s a rape, regardless of what number it ranks on this ‘scale’, the punishment should apply evenly across the board. Punish one rapist, punish them all!
The problem is that most often, when a punishment is awarded, the victim or survivor is taken out of the equation. In the Delhi rape case, the victim did not survive but ask those who did, and they’ll tell you that there is no scale which could measure if what happened to them was worse or better than the other person who was abused. In fact they would ask that if Dhananjay Chatterjee, a security guard accused of rape and murder, could be hanged in 2004, why weren’t the other rapists arrested after him given the same fate?
What does it say about the society and the law of the country?
Governments and advocates of ending capital punishment need to be conscious that by defining which acts ‘deserve’ the death sentence, we are inadvertently encouraging a grading system. A system where the person who goes on to commit a crime as gruesome as rape, murder or even molestation, can rest assured they will live to see another day as long as the fine line between ‘rare’ and ‘rarest’ is not crossed.
Stop discussing how a woman dresses, who she was with and why she was there. Stop rating the chances of her getting raped because she did ’xyz’.
Treat rape like the heinous crime that it is.
Read more by Zahrah here.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
So basically you turned a small conversation you had with someone you know into an entire blog. It is like you are exploiting the subject matter to write a juicy blog.
Think about it. No one important argued if a rape can be ‘big or small’… you don’t have a survey of a majority of people who agree with this person… I’ve actually never heard of someone that… so what’s the point? Shall I write a blog about what my gardener said about shia killings next?Recommend
Was the victim a minor or an adult?
Was it one person or a gang rape?
Was the victim raped once or multiple times?
Was the victim beaten or ‘only’ raped?…. These question are for the better judgement of a Rape case…
Now to if one is just gives a Judgment on emotional bases that raper be hanged N.Q.A. Would he be following the Duo Process..That’s the question.. Vigilantism or Duo Process. ???Recommend
Rapists must be punished to minimize the incidents of rape but women should dress up properly to save them…Recommend
To hmmm:
Actually yes what your gardener thinks about Shia killings.
Everything that happens in the world is a result of society
And society is made up of individuals.
“no one important” who exactly is important
The way we view rapes come from the way people around us view rapes
You don’t have ideas in a vacuu
Social conciousness comes from understanding what someone else thinks and why they think what they think.
I don’t think you understand the purpose of this blog
It is a blog. She is sharing her thoughts and the thoughts of her friend
Not proposing a law or even stating this as an absolute truth
She is simply providing a perspective that exists so that we may all ponder upon it
There is nothing wrong with that
We all need to spend more time thinking and less time judgingRecommend
I don’t think there is any doubt that rape is a henious crime. Its the legal process involved to establish the crime and the mode of punishment that is debatable and this is moulded by society, culture, religious beliefs etc and as such you have this divergence.Recommend
@Erum –
Why? What if a woman moves around in shorts or something even less? Does it give license or an invitation for the men to rape them? That’s just sad & regressive thinking!
No amount of law/capital punishment can stop this, its the mentality that needs to be changed.Recommend
Erum
Rapists must be punished to minimize the incidents of rape but women should dress up properly to save them…
I don’t know what’s more disturbing, this statement or the fact that it’s coming from a woman. As GrimmJow has correctly mentioned, this mentality needs to be changed. Stop blaming the victims!
Oh and before I publish this comment, let me ask you this one question. You say that women should dress “properly”. Care to elaborate what properly means? I can only assume that this means you are against skirts, tops etc. That sounds fine but tell me, when women are raped in villages & in tribal areas, are they also wearing skirts? Please tell us, how they should be dressed ‘properly?
.Recommend
@Erum: Rapists must be punished to minimize the incidents of rape but women should dress up properly to save them…
Most Muslim women in USA don’t wear a burqa or hijab. I have not even heard a single case of rape of Muslim woman in USA. I heard some cases of imams raping boys. In Muslim countries even women/girls in burqa get raped. I have read about serial rapists in Saudi arabia.
Do you think boys are also raped because they are not dressed properly. Lot of boys get raped in Muslim countries.
Just search “emirates247 rapes Saudi”, you will get some idea of what is happening.
It seems like problem is not what women wear, PROBLEM is MEN who know that most Muslim women will keep quiet. In most Muslim countries women wearing burqa, get harassed and sexually abused even in public Muslim women in many countries don’t report rape because of fear shame, fear of being honor killed etc.Recommend
@GrimmJow: can you name a single country where women go outside with shorts & can’t be attract for the men?Recommend
India should stop the sex-based bollywood film at first. then they will have to take measure against sex-based serials. Then Indians lady sply young girls have to will put on long Shalwar-kamiz. Then They will have to stop killing girls-baby.Recommend
If someone just groped you, that doesn’t deserve capital punishment.
That’s why they rate rape on a scale of 1-10.Recommend
I’m an Indian male and you should have asked your Indian friend what he feels about this:
Shove a big iron rod into him and ask him to rate it on a scale of 1 – 10, whether it was ‘big or small’. I’m sure he would have psychological problems for the rest of his life if he was sodomised like this. Now imagine how a woman would feel if something went into her without her consent.
Rape is rape, there is no ‘big or small’ rape. I can’t even tolerate people looking over my shoulder when I’m browsing the Internet on my cellphone or reading a newspaper in a public space. How can a woman cope with the trauma when someone penetrates her without her consent?
Moderators, you may cut this comment out from the general section but do pass it on to the blog’s author as I support her views fully.Recommend
@KHI – are you kidding me? I mean seriously? Really? I’m so sorry for you…indeed I’m!Recommend
Indian young girls are caught between India and Bharat, said one young married woman having two boys of her own, in the BBC program of “Have your say”. My husband and two boys are putting too many restrictions on me and I had trouble coming to this meeting. Quite frankly, I cannot cope with this any more and if I were to be molested and attcked by a man, I would not be able to defend myself, which they are asking me to do.
As a foreign observer I have not yet been able to comprehend what the young married woman was trying to convey? Let someone please who knows the difference between India and Bharat decode the statement. 1-10 is a balloney!
Rex MinorRecommend
@sirajul islam: Thank you for the suggestions. We don’t want to live in a society where few dictate how others should dress or live. We think we can better address this issue by making and implementing more effective laws and better awareness. We understand it’s a long and hard process, but fix it we will.Recommend
@Erum –
“but women should dress up properly to save them…”
Seems like a blame the victim mentality. Very disappointing. And who defines ‘prperly’….this is a very slippery slope.
“Can rape be classified as ‘big’ or ‘small’?”
Well some kinds of rapes recognized by western society are not even recognized as rapes in India/Pakistan e.g. marital rape, So that answers that question clearly.Recommend
@KHI: “@GrimmJow: can you name a single country where women go outside with shorts & can’t be attract for the men?”
Seriously? Are you for real?Recommend
I don’t blame the author for her thought process, because from a layman’s perspective she seems to be right in her thinking. But, as a lawyer I would say that death sentence of a rapist can never be awarded in India unless the victim is murdered. In the recent Delhi gang rape case, the court will have a tough time in deciding whether the victim was murdered after being raped or killed after raped. There is a huge difference between murder and killing. In Dhananjay Chatterjee’s case, it was the first instance which sent him to the gallows. But, in this case, it is yet to be determined if it falls under sec 299 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) or sec 300 (culpable homicide amounting to murder).
If its sec 299, then the accused won’t be awarded death penalty. But, if its sec 300 (which I doubt) then the accused may face death penalty.
The difference between 299 and 300 is – while 299 deals with the knowledge but not the intention of the accused to kill the person. 300 deals with both the knowledge as well as the intention to kill the person. The Delhi rapists brutally raped her and even beat her, but they left her alive and fled, without the intention of killing her. However, the consequences of rape got her killed. Whereas, Dhananjay raped her and then killed her with full knowledge and intention. Hence, he was hanged.Recommend
A RAPE is A RAPE !
Award = Death Sentence to the rapist
Victim should be given financial and educaitonal AID by the respective govt.
Please leave the writer alone – author of the article / blog is trying to convey her thoughts. Instead of fighting about rape scales and intensity – why don’t the govt. just announce capital punishment straight away so any future rapists would know for sure what they are getting into.Recommend
Rape is a heinous crime rather tantamount to murder in some societies. A raped girl is worst than a murdered girl in plural instances. Criminal should be dealt in the most severe form of punishment i-e “Death Sentence”. Severity of crime in this case isn’t important, if it’s proved that a rape is committed then the outcome should be death penalty for the perpetrator.
Beside the severity of punishment for criminal, women should take care to avoid appearance in victims’ list. Just for example, what’s so difficult for a woman to cover her properly to avoid attentions of corrupt minds in instances where she is alone or has to pass through a remote area. I mean all of us take care in other activities of life then why not in this case. It’s in the very favor of all women to evaluate their outlooks according to their suburbs. It’s not a criticism on anyone’s dressing/outlook, it’s a manner that can make you invisible to evil and once it’s passed enjoy as you want. There are places where one has to overcome his/her aesthetics.Recommend
@Indian lawyer: “The Delhi rapists brutally raped her and even beat her but they left her alive and fled, without the intention of killing her.”
Really? Rape is brutal, what exactly does brutally raped means? How do you know they didn’t intend to kill her? She didn’t die b’cos she was raped or beaten, she died b’cos she was brutally assaulted!Recommend
Why are people confusing rape with sexual harrasment? There’s a line. A difference between catcalls/groping and violating someone’s body. Seriously Im so glad I left Pakistan because its not about to change and people,especially uneducated women,will continue to blame the women for the rape because naturally..I wear a sign on my head that says “Okay. Permission to rape,granted”.
This is why I dont wear hijab because in a sick country like Pakistan..it doesnt really guarantee safety. Some of the comments are so ignorant that I could slap the person. You dont know what being raped is like. The fear,the trauma. You just sit in your warm house with your laptop and write retarded crap. How do you people live with yourselves? Why should I not wear what I want to wear because your men are disgusting? Just cause they werent raised well,should I also toss aside the freedom I was raised with? Teach your men then preach to other women.Recommend
KHI
@GrimmJow: can you name a single country where women go outside with shorts & can’t be attract for the men?
Antarctica! Try going out in shorts there :/Recommend
@ Gary – I just shared my opinion from the legal angle. The accused did assault her but they did not intend to kill her. That’s why she was left isolated, or else they would have got her killed like Dhananjay Chatterjee after raping her.Recommend
@Erum:
I can’t believe a woman (assuming you are one) posted such a comment. I don’t know if anyone told you this but rape has nothing to do with sex. It’s a violent crime of power. A NORMAL dignified man won’t care what a woman’s wearing, he won’t rape her no matter what. A sick minded power hungry misogynist won’t care if a woman is wearing a covered outfit, he’ll rape her if he wants and gets the chance. If the clothing theory were true, women in majority Muslim countries would never be raped and yet they are. Everyday.
Can’t believe in 2013 people still blame how much fabric a person is wearing. It’s cloth, not armor.Recommend
@sirajul islam:
There is no justification for rape, so stop trying to throw the blame on women or the film industry. Such regressive thinking is what allows such crimes to happen.Recommend
@Citizen:
And what impacts ‘thinking’? What makes it regressive?Recommend
Rape is a rape whether it’s big or small: RaisaniRecommend
From emotional point of view author is right, but just think for a moment, if in case of delhi incident, the criminals were not that brutal, the girl would have been alive. Doesn’t it make a difference?
By no means I am saying that punishment of rape should be less severe, it should be more harsher then current provision of IPC and there should be strong enforcement and conviction.
Also we need to change the mentality where there is social stigma after rape. as ASP said in comment that rape become more traumatic because society blames victim and stigma is attached for life. This should not happen and for that we need to change the mindset.Recommend
@Erum: ”
” Rapists must be punished to minimize the incidents of rape but women should dress up properly to save them” _
the views reflects a sick mentality where the victim is held responsible for the heinous offence, This mentality does not develop in isolation . This has been taught to them by the parents , teachers and religion that the women is not free and must follow the dictum of covering her body else face the consequences. This society implicitly justifies the rape.Recommend
@Indian lawyer:
I guess you have a point. The Indian law specificaly states that the murder charge can only be considered when the victim dies in the presence of the perpatrator. It was all the fault of the police not to be present where the body was thrown and the incompetence of health car in Indian Hospitals to send the poor victim abroad. The Soloman law should be applied in cases of this dimension. The perpatrators should be hanged but be allowed to die in the autopsy room.
Rex MinorRecommend
I don’t think that rape can be classified as big or small. However, there are cases where a girl has a relationship with her boyfriend and says no once or gets mad at him and claims rape where none has occurred that need to be treated differently.Recommend
@Working Woman:
Quoting @Nobody here, rape has nothing to do with sex. It’s a crime of power. So by assuming that the perpetrators were influenced by the mass media is akin to blaming the majority for the actions of a few. Regressive thinking is what you witnessed right above, the view that all women should wear shalwar-kameez to stop rape from occurring. That’s basically objectification of both the sexes, rather than a solution to such heinous crimes being committed.Recommend
@Domlurian: Rape is rape, there is no ‘big or small’ rape.
In Western countries a woman can accuse her husband of raping her. In most Muslim countries I don’t think a wife can accuse her husband of raping her, even if she was forced to have sex.
Most rapes in Western countries are “date rapes”. Most date rapes probably happen when both man and woman are drunk and may not even remember what happened.
In India a girl can have consensual sex and later file rape charges “saying this man promised to marry me” but refuses to marry now.
I don’t support rape. but there is difference where death threat was used or girl was beaten also. That may not make a difference to the girl, bur rapists can be charged with assault and attempted murder in addition to rape.
One Pakistani man had sex with 100 dead women? Is that rape?Recommend