We must reform the ecosystem which enables rape

Twelve years ago, the heinous Delhi gang rape shocked the nation. Streets erupted in protests, and the government scrambled to respond. In response, the Justice Verma Committee was constituted to recommend reforms in law, policy, and institutional practices to better protect women. The Committee offered a comprehensive blueprint for change.

As the French proverb says, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," nothing seem to have changed. A decade later, we face the same horrors. Every now and again, the streets are filled with angry citizens and the newspapers are saturated with gory details of horrific crimes of rape, exploitation against women and children. The list is painfully long: The rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata, the sexual abuse of children within their school premises in Badlapur, the rape and murder of another nurse in Uttarakhand, systemic sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry.

Notably, many of the accused were young boys when the Delhi gang rape incident took place. In all likelihood, they committed petty crimes or displayed troubling stalking behaviour earlier. But society collectively ignored, forgave, and ultimately forgot these signs of warning.

In a country where nine rape cases were reported every hour in 2023, we don’t react. We are woken from the slumber only when a particularly brutal crime happens in our geographical midst and the threat looms large over us and ours.

The journey from mens rea (the intention to commit a crime) to heinous crimes like rape, is paved by systemic failures. Sexual crime feeds on unchecked transgressions, unpunished acts and results in a path that progresses from minor offences to horrific crimes.

Preventing sexual crimes starts with education. Sex education promotes respect, consent, and boundaries, while child rights education and awareness of cyber threats can dismantle taboos and reduce harmful curiosity.

We must also respond promptly to early signs of sexual offences, punishing offenders and reassuring victims. A sex offenders' registry and mandatory background checks for those working with children and women are essential to prevent future crimes.

Though these measures are crucial, they aren’t foolproof. A significant number of sexual crimes, including harassment and abuse of domestic workers to the trafficking of children for forced labour and slavery, are commercial in nature, but the legal response remains inadequate. Acquittals often go unreviewed, while convictions are almost always appealed. The victims meanwhile are almost always forced to relive their trauma in a slow-moving system which drags its feet, adding yet another one to the long list of pending cases in our courts.

There is a staggering 2,02,175 pending rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 at the end of 2023. We owe it to every victim and every family to ensure that justice is not just a distant dream but a reality.

It is not a singular but many structural flaws within our systems that continue to plague various strata of our society.

The first and foremost structural flaw is the culture of silence. Society’s apathy towards sexual crime fuels an ecosystem of inaction leaving rapists feeling powerful and the victims ashamed. This shame needs to shift sides and must transfer from the ‘one who was raped’ to the ‘one who raped’.

Secondly, crime data is often under reported due to societal pressure and the political blame game, thereby pressuring the police to reduce reported crimes. Increase in reporting of crime does not mean that crime is increasing. In fact, increased reporting and action against perpetrators may result in a legal deterrent and decrease in crime numbers over a period of time. The best example of how registration of FIRs alone can impact the face, reach and magnitude of a crime is the reduction in number of missing children in India.

In 2010, while 1,17,480 cases of missing children were reported, only 10,670 FIRs were registered and cases investigated. In 2013, this number had increased to over 1,50,000. After a 2013 Supreme Court mandate for compulsory registration of FIRs, the situation changed drastically. By 2020, while the number of kidnapping cases registered increased to 54,785, the number of missing children reduced to 59,262. While the number of kidnapping cases may have increased over five times, in reality the number of kidnapped and missing children has decreased, with over 100,000 children prevented from going missing annually.

The third structural flaw is the State’s kneejerk response to assuage public anger after brutal incidents of sexual crime through stricter laws such as the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, and the earlier anti-rape bills by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra that are pending. However, the certainty of punishment, not its severity, creates deterrence. With only 3% of child sexual abuse cases resulting in a conviction, there is hardly a deterrence.

The fourth flaw is the way the survivors and their families are left alone, vulnerable and clueless and not provided with rehabilitation, compensation and support among other things.

The fight against sexual violence demands a fundamental shift in how we address and prevent these crimes. We must hold the police and forensic labs accountable for delays in FIRs, charge sheets, and reports. We must hold our courts accountable for their lacklustre approach in disposing of cases and releasing compensation. The delays in trials often result in witnesses and victims turning hostile, leading to low conviction rates. There should be budget allocations at both Central and State government levels and the steps should be towards creating a society that supports the victims while ensuring their education, protection and rehabilitation. The identification of sexual offenders, them being reported to a responsive law enforcement and judicial mechanism, ensuring protection and support to victims will result in petty crime not escalating. A comprehensive rehabilitation framework for both the convict as well as the victim will also result in increased trust between the society, the State and the judiciary. With increased deterrence, the fear of law will reduce crime. With increased prosecutions and convictions, the resulting deterrence will eventually reduce sexual crimes against women and children.

Addressing these flaws demands a systemic and systematic response at scale, and with urgency of a national emergency. It is only through these systemic changes that we can make the right to justice a reality for our women and children. The promise of the Constitution and the laws needs a reflection in society resulting in a safer today and a better tomorrow and it all depends on our actions here and now.

This article is authored by Bhuwan Ribhu, child rights activist and founder of the Child Marriage Free India campaign.