Factualizing 'Rape' as an act of violence and barbarity

Beginning with etymology of the word “rape”, the term rape originates from the Latin rapere (supine stem raptum), that means "to snatch, to grab, to carry off". Since the 14th century, the term has come to mean, "to seize and take away by force". Referring to rape as a sexual endeavor is equivalent of referring to murder as a recreational activity. By no means has the definition implied that rape occurs when the perpetrator is evoked by the victim’s dressing or what they have watched in their alone time because the same man who can control his sexual desires in a crowd or where they have no power to show their dominance over the one whom they find a desired person to rape then how do they lose control when they get an opportunity to   find the vulnerable alone.

Rape is not a sexual fantasy. Rape is not a fetish. Rape is an act of violence. An act of destroying a person’s autonomy and invading their bodies completely. You all have heard saying men , justifying their ideologies or defending their masculinity that women give half of their consent by dressing in an inappropriate way or by coming out on roads, streets, shopping malls, work places, hospitals or anywhere.  Consent is affirmative "informed approval, indicating a freely given agreement" to sexual activity. It is not necessarily expressed verbally, and may instead be overtly implied from actions, but the absence of objection does not constitute consent. And lack of consent is the key to the definition of rape. Therefore, if a woman is not dressed according to the cultural norms, still rape cannot be justified as the activity of leisure. It is a crime and needs to be treated as a crime, where blaming a victim must be prohibited.

The controversy that started some days back when PM Pakistan took the call of a fellow citizen and upon answering a question of what steps he and his government has taken on surging cases of rapes in the country. The answer was that “the obscenity has increased in our society that’s why rape cases are surging”. The man whose voice is being heard by a population of millions and whose words and recommendations are being followed either he recommended a drama or a book, people have obsessively followed that and acknowledged that too but when it comes to a highly sensitive matter, giving a two faceted response to a question in a society that still think that it’s a woman who urges a man or watching pornography urges a man to rape a woman  was not appropriate. Watching pornography can be an element in doing it but doesn’t play a holistic part in it. As we see in history where men rape in wars, not because they’re sexually aroused to help themselves, but it is tool of violence. It is a power dynamic.

So now the question arises that how we can change the mindset of the society collectively whose head is still wondering on how to answer that particular question. Definitely, the onus is not just on men but on women too. How the onus is on women? Every human is intrinsically good they adopt their behaviors either bad or good from the environment or from the home, they are living in. It is the responsibility of every woman and every mother to teach their sons how to respect women, how not to take advantage of her vulnerability, and how to take out of their gender roles to make this world a place worth living for. Visual context plays an important role in determining the effectiveness of the act being conducted, public hanging of the perpetrator should be conducted for a better lesson for everyone and for this, we need a sound legislature. Law makers instead of defending their patriarchy and misogyny should work on it  and make a law for public hanging of the rapist.

AUTHOR: HIRA ARSHAD