Though welcoming the outpouring of anger through protests and rallies against atrocities on women in the State, women’s rights activists and counsellors have stressed on the need to focus the debates on the underlying causes that rape.
Over the past week, protests have erupted across the State and so far, they have stressed on stricter punishment, including death sentence for rapists. However, activists who talked to The Hindu are divided over the efficacy of capital punishment as a deterrent.
Crimes“Sexual crimes against the children are the worst. The death penalty should be enforced, and this should be done in public to increase fear among men,” said Shahnaz M., activist and editor of a women’s monthly magazine. Similarly, Hilda Rayappan, Director, Prajna Counselling centre, said the death penalty can be a deterrent to an extent. However, Vidya Dinker, from the Forum against Atrocities on Women, believed the death penalty will lead to lower conviction rates and would end up counter-productive.
Patriarchal society
The activists, however, said the protests – and the subsequent “knee-jerk reaction” of the government – should also focus on the tackling the underlying causes of the incidents.
“Seasoned politicians know that these protests will die out in 10 days, and their statements show they are waiting for that. The government is also taking token actions, such as transferring officials, instead of coming out with the long-term measures,” said Ms. Dinker, adding that the government should set up district-wise “rape support centres” where survivors could access counsellors, lawyers and doctors.
The activists suggested clamping down on “sexualised” content in movies. Ms. Rayappan emphasised on the responsibility of parents and guardians to break the bonds of a conservative patriarchal society and be open to discussing sexuality with their children.
She said society had a “terrible” habit of ignoring the deviancies of the men and instead blamed the women.
