By Vinod Varshney Rape cases are mounting at an alarming rate. Everybody is rightly concerned about it. Since there is hardly any unanimity about the root causes of this distressing crime hence no consensus on solutions. When feminists protest carrying placards and scream ‘this is our body, we have full rights over it’, they just limit the notion about the magnificent womanhood to their body. This is a mistake: they see and want to be seen themselves only as a body--a sex object--not as someone with a personality, exclusive individuality, dignity, opinion and above all, intelligence. It is sad, even ironic that women activists themselves spread this totally wrong notion.
It is common knowledge that people with a criminal bent of mind, who think they can get anything done by use of force, and easily escape from the clutches of the law, are the ones who indulge in rapes. So, only all-out measures will end rapes. But will it? Odds are great indeed.
In some advanced countries rape is punishable by chemical castration, which is which is nothing but forced medication to control the excess formation of testosterone,the male sex hormone that increases the libido. But feminists in India are against the measure. Rape being a crime of pervert mind and excessive sexual desire, controlling it should start with the mindset. There is a well-known aphorism that sex does not exist between the legs, but in the mind. That means young minds should be helped to develop a balanced mind about sex. However, even a cultured mind can get corrupted by pornography and vulgar novels. These generate an irrepressible obsession about hidden female parts. But there is a strong lobby favouring them.
PIL demanding ban on viewing porn in India
There is the instance of an advocate who filed a Public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court to ban internet pornography, especially child pornography. But lo, here appeared a spate of articles in the social media against the ban saying that porn is a good thing! A few said it helped sex education. Others thought it released pent up energy which in the case of those who masturbated was probably correct.
Over 20 crore porn videos or clippings are freely available in the net. Two alleged rapists of a 5-year-old child in Delhi admitted that they saw a porn clip before committing the crime.
Few parents are aware of the deleterious effects of porn on their wards. Even if they knew what could they do? The ubiquitous mobile has made it impossible to have any control on porn-viewing, because schoolchildren are routinely provided with mobile phones (or tablets) for the convenience of parents. They do not have time even to check how their children make use of the gadget.
One expected that at least women activists would support the demand for banning pornography, but no; many of them have campaigned against banning it because it curbs the freedom of expression enshrined in the constitution! They say porn is banned nowhere except in Saudi Arabia and China. Some European countries and Iceland have just started debating the pros and cons of banning it. It may be outrageous to make viewing porn a cognizable offence, but at least its availability, especially child porn, on the net should be banned.
Note: The article was first published in the monthly magazine 'Lokayat' (May, 2013 issue).