Sexual Harassment through the smartphone

 Police arrested some youth in Ballia because they had filmed a gang rape of minor girl & it had become viral.  This shows how insensitive we have become that we can film such acts instead of helping the victim .The fact ,that this act went viral shows something else ...a majority of us are indulging in sadism.We seem to take pleasure in watching others in pain. 

 

Smartphones are being increasingly used to film all such crimes & then they go viral as smartphones can easily transmit these video clips to various social media platforms like facebook, twitter, whatsapp .Moreover, the porn sites will pay for such video clips. 

 

Prajwala’s founder & anti trafficking crusader , Sunitha Krishnan ,is of the opinion that smartphones are used to film such acts because the perpetrators want to exhibit their acts or rather their crimes . In India, the woman has to bear the brunt of rapes & molestation, eve teasing etc. while  the perpetrators roam around looking for new victims. In our nation, the public believes that the girl or woman is herself responsible for having been raped or molested or eve teased. The man ( or men )   who did it did so because he ( they or )  was ( or were )  aided & abetted & encouraged by acts of commission & omission by the victims. In other words, the character assassination of the victim is is relentless while the perpetrators are projected as ideal persons. 

 

Sunitha Krishnan had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 2014 as she had been tipped in this regard about smartphones being used to forward such videos thereby making them viral. The Supreme Court directed that CBI to  investigate these crimes. Sunitha Krishnan launched the #ShametheRapist Campaign.The trauma of the victims or survivors increases exponentially  as each such share through social media shames them, more & more. And they are silenced  . Moreover, justice takes a long time in India to reach fruition even after fast track courts have been established as Nirbhaya verdict came after seven long years of waiting. And that too ,because there was tremendous public pressure .

 

The shame is also one of the many reasons why many times , the victim is coerced & raped repeatedly .And many men join, turn by turn in raping the victims because once she has been raped, she can be raped again because she has been numbed by the video going viral. Because as Bishakha Datta ,executive director of Point of View ( non profit organisation that works for women & other genders )  opines  that the body of survivor is public property & so can be abused by many more in repeated ways. It is as if a lifetime of silence is imposed on the victims as opined by Sunitha Krishnan.And sometimes, the victims have to pay up.

 

And this transmission is so easy that sometimes a person may be bullied, coerced &  shamed by sharing photos & videos though these photos and videos are not in the public domain. Hence, the platforms wherein such videos were posted also need to be taken to task .

There were many such videos on sale in Uttar Pradesh in 2016 .And going by the spate of rapes being reported in many States , it does appear that more & more rapes are being filmed & circulated all over India.

 

The Supreme Court has formed a panel to stop such videos in the wake of Sunitha Krishnan’s petition in this regard. And the panel will have representatives of Google India, Yahoo India, Microsoft India s also Facebook as these platforms need to be held accountable for the content which gets posted on them.

Moreover ,cyber crime is not easily solvable in India because of obvious reasons.Firstly ,  the evidence may have been erased before the investigation begins. And police in India lack training regarding cyber crimes & even the equipment to trace the origins & the trail of the cyber crime is extremely difficult.

 

 In 2018 alone, 2000 cases of sexual harassment & 700 cases of online bullying have been reported. The good thing, is that this high number is because now ,people are aware of cyber crimes. Of course, there are umpteen cases which never get filed because the victims have been numbed by the said criminal acts going viral .Another plus point is that the Government in 2018, has launched a portal called the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal for recording complaints online. Police have been trained in digital crimes as also public has been made aware of cyber crimes. 

The public must delete such videos from their devices once they come across such content. The members of the public must be able to complain anonymously to the police about such videos getting viral as suggested by Sunitha Krishnan. 

 

Another aspect as pointed out by Bisakha Datta  is that the relevant sections of IT act needs to be invoked to nail the accused .Then only, will the perpetrators understand that cyber crimes pay back with exemplary punishment. And last but not the least , cyber crimes must be routed through fast track courts as technology upgrades faster than human actions, commissions  & omissions . 

Saving our kids .

This was published as Featured Post on Women's Web on 14th June , 2019.

Justice has been delivered in the Kathua gangrape case.And yet, the question that should agitate our minds, is why kids of such tender years are assaulted sexually & other wise.Perhaps, because kids are the most vulnerable after girls & women. And kids include both boys as also girls. More boys are sexually abused than girls as per statistics .And our society being patriarchal , we live in denial, that boys are raped & continue to be raped.And what begins as a sexual assault can slowly give away to sexual trafficking of kids which is apart of the $ 150 million illicit world wide trade which comes third after trade of small arms & drugs.

Thankfully, the POCSO ( The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences ) Act has been made gender neutral to tackle sexual abuse of boys & girls .And yet, the death penalty for the guilty in POCSO cases cannot stem the rot of sexual abuse of kids.

Recently , a 2 year old girl was found lifeless ,with her eyes gogged out in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.As usual, the matter was politicized .One of  accused, who was arrested has been facing two charges under POCSO & yet, he was roaming  freely to look around for potential victims & traumatize more kids.

Hence, there has been an  urgent need to have a database of sexual offenders  on  a pan India basis. This would  help in faster arrests & a better conviction rate. This in turn, would  assist  in assuring safety of kids. The idea of a national registry of sexual offenders is  by  activists like  Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala. She also started a #ShametheRapistCampaign as she had received many gangrape videos .And she felt outraged, that people who filmed such videos & or  raped ought to be punished. She had approached Supreme Court with a plea that a national agency needs to deal with gangrape & rape videos which are being shared on various social media & the internet.

And all efforts by Sunitha Krishnan & other activists have yielded positive results.India has got a national registry of sex offenders . 

It has been shown time & again that most of the sexual crimes are committed by people known to the child.As per NCRB data of 2016 ,43.3 % % of rape victims are minors .13 % of minor rape victims are aged 11 & below.And NCRB data of 2016 reiterates that 94.6 % of offenders were known to the victims.So obviously, minors are being raped by people known to them. Though data is unavailable regarding percentage of offenders known to minor rape victims, obviously it must be above 75 % .This is also one of the main reasons why conviction rate is as dismal as 30 % because many a times, families want the shame to remain within the family. Nobody tries to understand how this  is going to traumatize the victim/ s who is/are  family member/s. as well. And this non reporting of sexual assault / s makes the offender more brazen about perpetuating similar or more violent assaults on others within the family & outside .

Rapes are very traumatic crimes that affect the mental as also the physical being of the victim and or survivors. And in India, its a social stigma as well.The victims & survivors have to face the blame that they asked for it by wearing clothes which were in appropriate or by being too bold in any what way. Rape is an act of power play & control..And if some of us say that dressing indecently ( what is indecent & what is decent, depends on how the viewer sees it ...it is therefore subjective & hence,  unfair & unjustified  ).Moreover, what I may feel is decent dressing, may be not so as per another person's viewpoint .If dressing made somebody commit rape , then how can rape of babies & old women as old as eighty be explained ? Gangrapes during communal flare ups & caste violence ? Can they be explained by skimpy dressing ? No, & definitely rape of minors cannot be explained by dressing sense. Specially, rape of minor boys can never be explained  , for those, who allege that females need to stay within limits & not behave like boys .Patriarchy is so entrenched, that the offenders roam freely after raping many, while the victims & survivors face the wrath of the society & the members of the society including anger from family & friends because the victim/s asked for it ( to be sexually assaulted ).

In a judgement delivered by Bombay High Court, the judges stated that rape is worse than murder because , it affects victims physically as also psychologically.And these affect the victim till the victim is alive. Hence, many of the victims tend to end their lives.

What needs to be done to prevent or lessen the number of rapes of minors ? Many steps need to be taken. Firstly, make sex education a part of school curriculum as has been done recently .Sex education will enlighten minors about the good touch,, the bad touch & the ugly ones. These will warn the minors about potential offenders.

Another step is sensitizing public about safety of children. .Its our duty as adults to create a safe environment for our children so that they grow up into fearless healthy adults.Minors who are raped suffer trauma on a  life long basis & they have lots of psychological issues as well.

Police needs to be sensitized to take faster action & thorough investigation in all cases relating to sexual assaults of minors .This will assist in increasing the conviction rate under the POCSO Act.

And last, but not the least, faster trials & speedy dispensation of justice will act as deterrent .Certainty of punishment is deterrent & not the death penalty. Death penalty is most inappropriate as death penalty has almost the same effect of deterrence as life imprisonment. as per 262nd  Indian Law Commission Report. Death penalty is a long & winding process .Death penalty is expensive. And sometimes , errors in judgement  lead to innocent people who are punished by death penalty.And the death penalty has been shown to be awarded to people who are from the minorities & scheduled castes & tribes .

 Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner  in a recent article on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour , 12th June, 2019  talks about steps each of us ,must take, to reach the goal of a child friendly society .Because each time, we remain silent as we witness any injustice in whatsoever form regarding a  child, we let down  that child & ultimately  our future.

Because , as stated by Nelson Mandela, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul  than the way in which it treats its children . "

Manifesto for change.

This post is a part of Weekend contest at BlogAdda.com in association with 
Chanakya's new manifesto.

Our country has a huge population which makes it very difficult to govern & even administer.Whatever facilities are provided,they  hardly reach anybody as the ever burgeoning populace makes every thing insufficient & wanting.Hence,one area of utmost concern, is to  curb  population growth.There can be only two kids per couple-Hum do ,hamare do should be revitalised. All who have more than two kids must be bereft of any government benefit schemes be it employment ,subsidies, accessibility etal. Quick ,easy & safe birth control methods available in all places will assist in keeping population steady.Sex education is a must, in schools so as to curb unwanted pregnancies.Condom usage  will be a two pronged weapon-check population growth as well as prevent AIDs which is spreading alarmingly in India.


The recent horrific gang rape in Delhi has shown how unsafe our nation is for women.This ought to  be set right.The Justice Verma Committee report must be implemented at the earliest .Fast track courts to try offenders & certainty of punishment for the accused, will go a long way, in curbing rising crimes against women be it stalking , voyeurism,molestation,rape etc.A data base of criminals involved in crimes against women will  go a long way in making them social outcasts .This in turn, will act as a deterrent for wannabe offenders.Moreover gender sensitivity must begin at home .More women at police stations & in courts will assure female victims that the State means business.

Our disputes are clogging the courts.Courts have a paucity of judges.At lower levels of judiciary ,many women can be appointed as judges - this will help immensely.Women are better at listening & will be able to amicably bring about settlement.There are many women who are law graduates & they can be appointed as judicial officers at the lower rungs.Double shifts in such instances , will mean faster disposal of cases.Double shifts means more women can be employed.This will curb unemployment of women to certain extent.As disputes get disposed off at lower levels ,many will not appeal & so less disputes will go for appeal to higher courts.This will eventually lead to de clogging of higher judiciary.Many man hours will have been saved .Hence justice will have been served by delivering it in time.

Vehicular traffic in our country is terrible.All seem to believe, that they have arrived only if they can flaunt their cars.Roads are terrible & yet people are buying cars not just one but in huge numbers.Rising fuel costs is not dampening this thirst of buying cars which guzzle petrol & diesel.Moreover ,we have no social conscience- so drunk driving is rampant .So are accidents which maim & kill thousands .Vehicular traffic jams lead to delays which can be avoided.Moreover crude imports are draining away our foreign exchange.One way out is to auction cars  as it is done in Singapore.So very few will be able to afford cars.Public transport must be made more accessible  & safe.This in turn will reduce air pollution as also noise pollution.Even commuting woes will come down. Insurance costs will stabilise. So easing vehicles out of roads, is a win win situation for all  !

All the four concerns listed above will come to naught, if corruption continues unabated.The Lokpal bill must be made into law as fast as it can.The officers of the State as also the politicians, must be brought to book if found guilty of corruption.No one must escape, if found to be indulging in corrupt practices due to gender,caste, religion etc.The law  must apply equally, to all offenders.A data base of those found guilty of corruption must be available on all government sites.The property of such offenders must be attached & used by the State to provide relief to the victims of corruption ,in building infrastructure ,etc.All offenders must be awarded a mandatory minimum sentence in jail .This will prevent others from becoming corrupt.

All the aforesaid concerns are interconnected.Tackling one will lead to curbing the next one & so on.There are many other concerns like cleanliness,environment degradation,female foeticide,honour killings etc to name a few.Yet if we can address the aforesaid five problems,we would have made a honest & humble beginning in making our nation a better State.

Fit to bobbitize.

The recent gang rape, of a girl in a moving bus, in Delhi, has ignited a  debate for the way to punish such offenders.The alternatives are death sentence,life imprisonment ,chemical castration & bobbitization.

Death penalty is an option though not suitable.It is costly -death penalty is rarely given.When given,the accused will go to all lengths, to procure a lesser sentence.This will delay punishment, thereby putting pressure on our already clogged Judicial system.The accused will approach High court,then Supreme Court & the President, for pardon.All this time ,the accused will be in custody, on the taxpayer's money.It is a colossal waste, that a felon /s  as barbaric as a rapist/s will be ensconced in jails, while the victim /s has died or is suffering physically & mentally as also  being   socially ostracised..And for demanding death penalty,more investigations,more defence lawyers,more bureaucracy is needed.It is too expensive an affair.Moreover, after the final refusal of the Presidential pardon ,getting hold of a hangman, is another task which is getting difficult if not impossible.Payment to the hangman, is also an issue After the hanging ,handing over of the body to his family is another matter to be dealt with .And the death penalty is too simple, a punishment, for an inhuman crime such as rape.

Life imprisonment is a big NO.No such criminal /s who have raped should be imprisoned for a lifetime. It is unfair for citizens, that their hard earned money is used to pay up for the judicial custody of rapists till the rapists are alive & kicking ! Our courts have started specifying life terms to more than 14 years .This is again, a drain on our  Exchequer.  There is no guarantee, that life imprisonment will continue for lifetime of the rapist/s .The accused may be let off earlier for good behavior or  medical or other grounds..Studies have shown, that a  majority of rapists will rape again when they move back into society.Medically unfit accused have all the ability & fitness to violate women.Our jails are overcrowded & minimally guarded.The accused rapists may rape others in the jails itself.This will lead to greater problems.Moreover ,the rapists may escape custody & be free to commit crimes again.

Chemical castration is an option being favoured as it costs Rs 2000/ per injection.Chemical castration is a therapy in which drugs are administered via injections to reduce libido.Studies have shown that while 3 % of sex offenders who are chemically castrated, will repeat rape/s as against 97 % of sex offenders who are imprisoned will rape again. And chemical castration is cheap- it costs nearly Rs 2000/- per shot.The problem with this punishment is that this shot has to be repeatedly administered.How will that be done ? Either the offender/s have to be monitored perennially or the offenders must be lodged in jail.In that case,the therapy does not work out cheap.If the offender/s are let off after the initial shots,how to give them the next shot/s ? Our police force is very  hassled & more  involved in protecting VIPs.Moreover ,locating offender/s in a highly populous country such as ours is tedious & costly.It will be a time consuming affair .Within that time ,it is highly possible that the accused would again commit rapes & other sexual crimes.

Bobbitization is the ideal punishment.Bobbitization is doing away with the penis of the offender/s. If the organ refuses to exist,there can be no repeat offence by the offender/s.Bobbitization is cutting off the penis.This term Bobbitization  gained notoriety after a housewife ,Lorena Bobbit severed her husband's penis in a fit of rage, after years of infidelity, in 1993.This happened in Virginia ,USA.

Bobbitization is a fitting finale, to an act as cruel as rape.It is cheap -can be done by anybody.No special training is needed.So no question of selecting candidates for being employed for bobbitization. Many will offer their valuable  services with their precious time to perform such noble tasks ! Good samaritans will  get their own instruments as well. A simple instrument or weapon like knife can be utilised to achieve bobbitization. After bobbitization ,the offender/s can be let off - he cannot commit rape again.So the expense of lodging in jails,monitoring ,etc is done away with  The offender can be bobbitised with an instrument which need not be disinfected.This will deter him & prevent others from such inhuman crimes.Moreover ,if the resultant infection is severe enough ,death will naturally follow.There are more positives for bobbitisation. A little brutality, will go a long way, to prevent & deter rapes, as compared to the brutality of rape/s visited on the victims.Moreover ,an offender can be bobbitised anywhere-so no establishment costs ! How come nobody thought of it before Lorena Bobbit ?

In India,one rape happens every 54 minutes as per the State of World Population report. Bobbitization will prevent as also deter such rapes.So many unwanted pregnancies result from rapes & gangrapes. Bobbitization will ensure that such pregnancies will reduce.This will, in turn, stabilsie if not reduce our high growth rate.The severed penises can be utilised for medical research.This may lead to mind boggling discoveries   of  therapies to make male libido virtually non -existent !

Bobbitization serves a dual purpose- it will deter potential offenders as also prevent repetition of rapes.This is what any punishment must aim at. Hence bobbitization, is the only punishment for the sexual offenders.It is infinitely better than chemical castration,death penalty & life imprisonment even in economic terms.It will be akin  to  family planning, with a twist !