Amid much publicised and criticised crimes against women which outrage the modesty of women; the cabinet give its nod to make ape a gender neutral offence. By making it gender neutral the word rape will be replaced by sexual assault. This will bring male victims within the legal ambit.
But what is happening in the country presents the reverse picture. After the feminist wave in 1980's many countries in the west took this course. But it will took a long time to bring women of our country at par with women of west. There is no doubt that females of our country have achieved great heights in the last 10 years but we have hardly heard a case in India where a man is raped by a woman. So, making rape a gender neutral offence in India makes a mockery of present situation.
I am aware of the fact that boys are often the victims of sexual assault. An episode of Satyamev Jayate has thrown enough light on this. But boys are prone to sexual violence only in their childhood. After they reach adultery they gain enough strength to fight against it. So, rape law should be gender specific when dealing with adults. Recently passed Child Sexual Abuse Act deals with this problem. Juvenile ( Justice and Protection) Act should be made more stringent to deal further with molestation.
Recently on Guwahati context National Commission for Women chairperson Mamta Sharma gave a controversial statement in which she had asked women to be careful about the way they dress. It is unfortunate that a body meant for protection of women rights is blaming them. Women have full right and freedom in whichever way they want to dress. Wearing revealing dresses has nothing to do with the increasing number of rape cases.
Before going any further we must see what is the reason of increasing cases of rape and sexual assault. According to a medical research males attain their sex peak at the age of 18. Between 18 to 25 they are most sexually active. Whereas females most sexually active between 30 - 40 years. Now in older times the average age of marriage in India was 14-15 years. So, before adultery boys have a female partner and due to less mobility there were remote chances of meeting new partner. Now, due to career oriented approach of youth and awareness about female health average age of marriage has shifted to 23-25 years. Mobility has also increased. So, many times either under the influence of alcohol or deprived of a female partner at that very moment of sexual urge they commit such crime. Females also feel the urge of sex but due to our culture and physical structure they control their feelings.
However, Union Cabinet has taken an important step by widening the definition of rape which till now only include penile and vaginal penetration and bringing sexual assault under it. But sexual assault is itself a very wide term which includes showing pornography, passing sexual remarks, touching at inappropriate places, asking for sexual favour etc.
Now can you give the same punishment to a person who is accused of raping her colleague in his house and another person who has touched a women in bus on her thigh? So sexual assault should be divided into sub categories and only severe acts should be bought under the rape law. Different punishment should be given for different grades of sexual assault.
The best among the government proposal is the one that will bar cross-examines from bringing into question the character and previous sexual experience of the victim, which is often used to dilute the victim's case and even discourage her from coming forward, allowing the perpetrators to go scot free.
To improve the present situation making rape law gender neutral is not going to help. It will make the law weak. Conviction rate which is very low at present should be increased in rape cases. That alone will deter sexual offenders.
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