Womens Movement against Sexual Violence in India

by
Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Professor and Head, Department of Economics,
SNDT Womens University, Mumbai-400020
Email: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
The entire public debate arising out of the recent Delhi gang rape incident has centered round
the issues of enacting a strong law and prescribing harsher sentence. It has failed to
recognize more basic issues the enormous social obstacles encountered in registering
complaints, in the conduct of thorough investigation, in the protection of witnesses, in fast and
efficacious prosecution and in unbiased adjudication in other words, the issues of
implementation of the law, and the functioning of the police and judicial machinery which
necessarily precede sentence. The debate has also largely failed to take into account the deeply
patriarchal character of our social institutions, and law enforcement machinery which render
women vulnerable to violence in the family, in the larger community, in their work places and
public places. In particular, in this representation, there is a need to focus on the even more
serious situation that arises when patriarchal attitudes are reinforced by caste, communal and
class inequalities or perpetrated by the state, that is, when sexual violence is inflicted as a part
of an assault by a dominant community as in a caste attack or communal riot; or when sexual
violence is inflicted on women in custody in a police lock-up or jail or state institution; and
when sexual violence is perpetrated by the police, security forces or army.
Introduction
New ordinance on Sexual Violence has been given ascent by the President of India today.
Thousands of individuals and groups made online submissions asking for a comprehensive law
that prohibits sexual violence, while ensuring an efficient criminal justice system. There is a
broad understanding that any such law should focus on more than just penetrating sexual assault,
as proposed in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2012. It is imperative that the definition of
sexual assault is broad enough to include anal, oral and digital rape, as well as rape with objects,
marital rape and sexual assault against transgender people. Judicious implementation of
Protection of Children from Sexual Offense Act, 2012 is demanded by citizens fora, womens
groups and child rights organisations. Currently, India is divided over demands such as chemical
castration and capital punishment for rapists.
Gender under the spotlight in India
In the month following the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student, debates over the
social construction of gender have taken centre stage in India. The general public, community
leaders, parents, youths, education providers, policy makers, politicians and the media: all are
discussing the prevalence of sexual violence in a society.
The crime has come as a shock to Indian leaders. The masses, spanning four generations, have
started discussing misogyny, barbarism, the influence of pornography in valorising
sadomasochistic relations between men and women, the influence of Westernisation on womens
dress codes, consumerist culture, hedonism, and how the chivalry toward women that existed
among civilized cultures is being replaced by hostility toward women. And the educated middle

class that had previously declared India to be post-feminist has suddenly started approaching
ageing feminists, who have consistently sought to end violence against women, to be panellists
and speakers at public forums.1
Lively debates in media have scrutinised men as hunters and women as prey. Patriarchal
social structures have also been accused of helping to control womens sexuality, fertility and
labour through the weapon of rape or the fear of workplace sexual harassment; through double
standards in sexual morality for men and women; and through the propensity of conservative
forces, particularly religious leaders, to blame the victims of sexual assault.
In the past month, thousands of demonstrations throughout the country have demanded greater
dignity, equality, autonomy and rights for women and girls. Protestors have demanded immediate
relief through legal, medical, financial and psychological assistance, as well as long-term
rehabilitation measures that must be provided to survivors of sexual assault. Improved
infrastructure is required to make cities safer for women, including well-lit pavements and bus
stops, help lines, and emergency services. Effective registration, monitoring and regulation of
transport services (whether public, private or contractual) is needed to make them safe,
accessible and available to all.
More broadly, demonstrators have called for compulsory courses on gender sensitisation for all
personnel employed and engaged by the state in its various institutions, including the police.
Demonstrators have also demanded that the police do their duty to ensure that public spaces are
free from harassment, molestation and assault. This means the police force itself has to stop
sexually assaulting women who come to make complaints. They must register all first
information reports an initial written document recording the offence and attend to
complaints. CCTV cameras should also be set up in all police stations and swift action must be
taken against errant police personnel. Fast-track courts for rape and other forms of sexual
violence need to be set up across the country immediately. State governments should prioritise
the creation of such courts in areas where they are most needed and sentencing should be
completed within a six-month period.
Demonstrators have also recognised that the National Commission for Women (NCW) has time
and again proved itself to be an institution that works against the interests of women. The NCWs
inability to fulfil its mandate of eradicating violence against women, the problematic nature of
statements blaming victims for being out on the road at night made by the chairperson and its
sheer inertia in many serious situations warrants a review and audit of the NCW as soon as
possible.
The Indian state acknowledges the reality of custodial violence against women in many parts of
the country, especially in Kashmir, the northeast and Chhattisgarh. There are several pending
cases involving state custodians such as police, Para military and military forces, and immediate
action should be taken by the government to punish the guilty and to ensure that such incidents
are not allowed to be repeated. Long-standing demands by womens rights activists to reform
Indias the Indian Evidence Act and section 376 concerning rape have also forced the
government to form the Justice Verma Committee, which will provide recommendations on how
to amend laws to provide speedier justice and appropriate punishment in sexual assault cases.

Agnes, Flavia No Shortcuts on Rape: Make the Legal System Work, Mumbai: Economic and Political Weekly,
Vol. XLVIII, No. 2, 12-1-2013, pp.12-15.

In the demonstrations, rallies and public statements responding to this latest outrage, women
have demanded freedom from fear. For the first time, the state is ready to accept the painful fact
that there is widespread child sexual abuse in Indian society and an overabundance of sexual
violence against women. This has given a big push to the One Billion Rising campaign, which
started on 25 November 2012 (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against
Women) and which will conclude on 14 February 2013. But the Indian state will have to struggle
far beyond this date to achieve safety for women across the country.
New Beginning.........
Women's rights movement in India gained a national character with an anti-rape movement in 1980.
Its genesis lay in the excesses committed by the state repressive machinery during the Emergency
Rule in India from 1975 to 1977. For many middle class women it came as a major shock. In the
post emergency period, civil liberties organisations also highlighted rape of women in the police
custody, mass rape of poor, untouchable and Muslim women during caste and communal riots and
sexual molestation of tribal women by Central Reserve Police (CRP), State Reserve Police (SRP)
and other para-military forces.2 The print media gave an enormous coverage to the testimonies of
women victims of sexual violence. Many began to question the powers given to the police and State
authorities in the control of people's lives. In 1980, when the Supreme Court of India gave its
verdict on the Mathura Rape Case, there was a national outcry. 3
Mathura, a teenage tribal girl was raped by two policemen, in the police station at dead of night
while her relatives were weeping and wailing outside the police-station. The legal battle began when
a woman lawyer took up her case immediately after the event in 1972. The Sessions Court blamed
Mathura for being a woman of "an easy virtue", and the two policemen were released. In the High
Court Judgement, the accused were given seven and half years imprisonment which was reverted by
the judgement of the highest legal authority-The Supreme Court of India. It held that Mathura had
given a wilful consent, as she did not raise any alarm. 4The resulting nation-wide anti-rape
campaign in 1980 demanded reopening of the Mathura Rape Case and amendments in the Rape
Law. 5Prominent lawyers took up the issue, as did the national and regional language press. New
groups of women were formed around this campaign. They organised public meetings and postercampaigns, performed skits and street-theatre, collected thousands of signatures in support of their
demands staged rallies and demonstrations, submitted petitions to MLAs and the Prime Minister,
and generally alerted the public to the treatment meted out to the rape victims. The initiative came
from the middle class, educated and urban women. Later on, the political parties and the mass
organisations also joined the bandwagon. 6
Debates on Reforms in the Rape Laws
The demand of the amendments in the Rape Law touched wide variety of issues concerning social
construction of sexuality that reflected in the assumptions in the law and in the civil society about
women, past sexual history of the rape victim, procedures of the criminal justice system-First
2

Pate, Vibhuti: Womens Challenges of the New Millennium, Delhi: Gyan Publications, 2002.
Vibhuti Patel: "Women's Liberation in India", New Left Review, No. 153, 1985.
4.
Tukaram and Ganpat versus State of Maharashtra, 1979, Supreme Court of India, Delhi.
5.
Neera Desai and Vibhuti Patel: Indian Women-Change and Challenge in the International Decade, 1975-85, Sangam
Publications, 1990.
6.
See Vibhuti, Sujata, Padma (Forum Against Rape): "The Anti-Rape Movement and Issues Facing Autonomous
Women's Organisations in India" in Miranda Davies (Compiler): Third World-Second Sex, Zed Press, 4th Impression,
1987.
3.

Investigation report (FIR), inquest, medical examination, rights of women in custody-in India. Two
booklets represented the debates and discussions amongst the feminists and the democratic rights
activists on gang-rape, custodial rape, rape in the family, burden of proof, etc. 7 When the national
conference on 'Perspective for Women's Liberation Movement in India' was held in Bombay in
November 1980, the proposed rape bill was the most controversial issue. As a result of rigorous
debate amongst the feminists, it was resolved that demands of the women's organisations should be
as follows:
1. A woman should be interrogated only at her dwelling place.
2. During interrogation by a police officer, a woman should be allowed to have a male relative or
friend or women social workers present with her.
3. Women who are detained in custody should be kept in a separate lock-up meant for women
only. If there is no such lock-up available then the women should be kept in childrens or
women's home meant for the protection and welfare of women.
4. The medical report of a rape victim should state the reasons for arriving at the conclusions and
should be forwarded without delay to the magistrate to avoid possibility of tempering.
5. During a trial of rape, the past sexual history of the rape victim should be excluded from the
evidence.
6. A police officer who refuses to record a complaint should be guilty of an offence.
7. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code which clarifies that the consent of the woman in order to
be considered as consent must be absolutely free and voluntary must be amended in view of the
Mathura case.
8. The provision about 'burden of proof' in Section 111a of the Indian Evidence Act must be
changed and it should be added that in cases where the accused in a rape trial is a public servant,
police officer, superintendent or manager of a jail or hospital or remand home, where sexual
intercourse is proved and the woman makes a statement on oath that she did not consent to the
sexual intercourse, then the court shall presume that she did not consent. 8
The last point raised a major controversy as many feminists felt that in all cases of rape the burden
of proof should be on the accused and not on the victim, given the nature of the offence, the
dominant position of men over women and the impossibility of proving lack of consent except by
stating that she did not consent. While women activists from the background of the mass
movements felt that such provision could be abused to victimise the male members of the tradeunions by the management and the male activists of the dalit, tribal and peasant organisations by the
local vested interests.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act (1983)
After three years of heated debates in the women's groups, media and the Law Commission of
India, the parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act (1983). This Act amended the
Indian Penal Code, The Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act with respect to the
law relating to rape. As per this Act, revealing the identity of a rape-victim is an offence. Though
this Act maintains more or less the same definition of rape, it introduces many new categories of
offence of sexual intercourse by persons in custodial situation-such as superintendents of hospitals,
remand homes, prison and police officials-with women in their custody. In cases of custodial rape,
burden of proof lies with men and if a woman victim makes a statement that she did not consent, the
court would believe that she did not consent. Feminists had demanded that marital rape should also
7.

See, Lawyers' Collective: "Rape and the Law", Bombay, 1980 and Sudesh Vaid, Amia Rao and Monica Juneja: "Rape,
Society and State", People's Union for Democratic Rights, New Delhi, 1980.
8.
Vibhuti Patel: "Needs and Rights: Experiences of Women's Movement in India", United Nations University, 1984.

be considered a punishable offence, but this demand was rejected and thus the government
supported the popular social belief that a married man has the right to have sexual intercourse with
his wife, with or without consent. The rejection certainly meant that the Act did not meet the
aspirations of the women's movement. In spite of this limitation, popular debate on the subject
enhanced self-confidence and sense of solidarity within the women's movement. 9
Definition of Rape
The Act defines rape as being sexual intercourse with a woman under either of the following
Descriptions:
A. Against her will.
B. Without her consent.
C. When her consent is obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in
fear of death or of hurt.
D. With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and her consent is
given because she is under an impression that he is her husband.
E. With her consent when she is incapable of giving consent because of unsoundness of
mind or intoxication.
F. With or without her consent when she is under sixteen years of age.
The Act makes it clear that "Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse
necessary to the offence of rape.10The only change made by the amended Act, is in provision that
sexual intercourse with consent, when it is obtained by putting any person in whom she is interested
in fear of death or hurt is rape.
Punishment for Rape
As per section 376 of the Act, the minimum punishment for rape is seven years and the maximum
life imprisonment. If the judge finds valid reasons he/she can impose a sentence of less than seven
years. In the cases of 'custodial rape' or 'gang rape' the minimum sentence is of ten years and the
offence is cognisable and non-bailable. Sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, who is living
separately from him under a decree of separation or under any custom or usage without her consent,
is punishable with imprisonment which, may extend to two years. This offence is cognisable and
bailable. This definition of rape makes it clear that the husband has a right to have sexual
intercourse with his wife with or without her consent. The underlying notion in this provision that
does not see a man guilty of raping his wife is that a woman is the private property of her husband
and he can use/abuse her the way he wants.
Many women's rights organisations had demanded that forcible sexual intercourse by a man with
his wife should also be defined as an offence of rape. But the Law Commission of India refused this
demand. At the same time it introduced a new section, which makes forcible intercourse by a man
with his judicially separated wife an offence. Commenting on this, a progressive legal activists'
organisation Lawyers Collective commented; "This new section is a small step forward in the
direction of recognising the rights of the wife not to be raped by her husband.11
9.

Susie Tharu: "Slow Pan Left: Feminism and the Problematic of Rights", paper presented at National Seminar on
"Indian Women-Myth and Reality" on March 9, 10, 11 1989 at School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University,
Calcutta. Also see, Neera Desai and Vibhuti Patel, 1990.
10.

Flavia: Journey to Justice-Procedures to be followed in a Rape Case, Majlis, Bombay, 1990.

11.

A Lawyers Collective Publication: Recent Changes in Laws Relating to Women, Bombay, 1985.

Rape Victim and the State Enforcement Machinery

According to the criminal justice system in India, rape is an offence against the state not a crime
against an individual. The matter has to be reported by the rape-victim to the police and First
Investigation Report (FIR) prepared by the police, inquest and identification parade conducted by
the police and medical examination report prepared by the recognised government hospital have
major bearing on the judgement. After the police file a charge sheet, the trial is conducted in a
Sessions Court. During the trial the victim has no choice to select a lawyer to defend her case. The
state appointed public prosecutor represents her. The rape-victim is merely the prosecution witness.
Hence during investigation and rape trial she is completely at the mercy of the state.
How Does a Woman Experience the System of Law?
In a book by a retired Inspector General of Police, Mr. S. K. Ghosh there is an admission to the fact
of police involvement and connivance in the cases of rape as a generalized phenomenon. 12 In cases
of custodial rape such as rape of prisoners by the jailer and other staff of the prison or of a patient by
her doctor or of a woman employee by her employer or of the women hostilities or inmates of
remand homes by the members of the management; the state apparatus in most of the cases chooses
either to maintain a conspiracy of silence or to hush up the case. 13 In many parts of the country
where remand homes for minor girls do not exist, minor victims of rape are kept either in police
custody or in prison, sometimes for 8 to 12 years without any legal redress. In such cases the rapists
lead free, 'respectable' lives and the victims stay confined in institutions. In West Bengal, the
Association for Protection of Democratic Rights has taken up the cases of such victims. 14
When an individual woman accompanied by her relatives or neighbours approaches the police
stations she has to meet with either hostile or indifferent attitude of the custodians of law and order.
Lewd remarks, jokes, double-meaning sentences, weird smiles and cynical laughter are used by the
police force to generate fear and uneasiness in the minds of the victim seeking legal redress.
Comments on her dress, hairstyle, looks, figure, sex appeal and overall physical attributes are
considered to be a part of normal behaviour by the police officials. National Conference of Rape in
1990 declared that "A woman victim of rape is raped twice-first by the culprit and then by the
criminal justice system.15
Experiences of Women Activists while Dealing with Rape Cases
As a member of Forum against Oppression of Women (FAOW) since 1980 one has been
experiencing the biases and misogyny of the criminal justice system that sees rape-victim as an
offender.
In response to a news item about the rape of a teenage construction worker by the three policemen
and a bootlegger in 1980, FAOW (at that time known as Forum against Rape) decided to follow up
the case. To get the case filed in the FIR we had to organise a demonstration in front of the police
station. The police charged the women activists and the local social workers with 'riot, trespass and

12.

S. K. Ghosh: Women in Policing, Light and Life Publication, Delhi, 1981.

13.

Maithreyi Krishnaraj (ed): Women and Violence-A Country Report, A Study sponsored by UNESCO, Research Centre
for Women's Studies, SNDT Women's University, Bombay, 1991.
14.

ibid. See, the section on Women's Action Groups and the State Machinery.

15.

Report of National Conference on Rape, Forum against Oppression of Women, kali for Women, Delhi, 1990.

dacoity'. 16This event happened before the amendments in the Rape Laws were made; the situation
has not changed even after the enactment of the legal reforms.
In 1983, when a six-year-old girl was raped by her neighbour, her uterus was ruptured and she had
to be hospitalised. In spite of repeated plea by the victim's mother, the police refused to register a
case because there was no penis penetration. As the rapist did not succeed in penetration, he had
inserted an iron rod and his fingers. 17 Penis penetration remains the only and exclusive concern of
the authority while deciding the rape case.
Police Attitude
* "Do you know the definition of Rape?"
Last year, as a member of an investigation team concerning the gang-rape of a middle-aged woman
worker living in one of the slums of Bombay, we had several meetings with the police officer in
charge of the case. We had found out from the victim and the community that the police did not help
them in any way. The rape victim accompanied by her neighbour and social workers approached the
policemen to file an FIR; the police were not only indifferent but also very hostile. It was past
midnight. The police station was busy making accounts of drugs they had captured in their raid.
First of all the police did not believe that a rape had taken place. When the victim kept on repeating
that she was raped and other witnesses also supported her statement, the police officers and
constables had a hearty laugh. They then cynically asked the victim, "Do you know the definition of
rape?" The victim was totally dazed. She showed her injuries on the forehead, head, neck, hand,
chest, etc. Without doing any paperwork, they just told the victim and her friends to go to the
government hospital without any note or accompanying constable. In the hospital she was just given
first aid, diazepam and pain-killer tablets. In the morning she approached a woman activist. Once
again they went to the police-station and after a great deal of verbal exchanges between middleclass women activists and the police officer, finally the FIR was filed but in the meantime all
important evidence was lost.
* "If you pursue this case, no one will marry your daughter."
Every police officer has an obsession with the crime record in his area. He has to see that it does not
exceed certain 'limits' or else his chances of promotion will be jeopardised. Hence many a time he
shows a reluctance to file cases of crimes against women. In 1982 we were involved in support
work of a minor girl who was raped by a teenage boy. The victim's mother was in a state of shock
and deep anguish and wanted to see that the culprit was punished. In a slum where all communities
live, the victim's community who are migrant 'untouchable sweepers' from Haryana, face the most
discrimination. The police officer who conducted the inquiry was humane while dealing with the
victim and her mother. But he kept on insisting that the case should not be filed as it would involve
a long drawn, tiring and humiliating legal battle. Moreover the girl would get defamed no one
would marry her etc. The victim would be kept in the government remand home, as she was a
minor, till the case ended. But the mother wanted us to take up the case as it would teach all other
miscreants in the slum a lesson. We argued endlessly with the police to convince him of the
necessity to file a case. Finally he confided to us that if the crime record in his jurisdiction increased,
it would reflect on his career.
* "After all she is a petty thief.
16.

See an evaluation report of one decade (1980-1990) of Forum against Oppression of Women: Moving... But Not Quite
There, Bombay, 1990.
17.

ibid. p. 7.

When a 16-year old poor girl was taken into custody, unlawfully confined, repeatedly gang-raped by
the Bombay Suburban Railway Police, she became pregnant. The policemen quietly arranged her
abortion in the government hospital. When this girl managed to reach her home after some weeks
she was bleeding profusely. Her relatives approached a feminist group. While conducting an inquiry
we had verbal exchanges with the bosses of the rapist policemen. When we alleged the higher
authorities of collusion with rapists they retorted back by saying Why are you so worried about this
girl? After all she is a petty thief, a pick-pocket. It is good that our men taught her a lesson."
* "There cannot be smoke without fire.
In the urban as well as rural India as a result of lumpanisation of socio-cultural life; in college and
school campuses, on lonely roads, in buses and trains, in middle class neighbourhoods and in slums,
incidences of eve-teasing have increased. Earlier the law enforcement machinery was not taking any
cognisance of it. Women's groups in Delhi played a very important role in making this issue
officially recognised. Eve-teasing and ragging during certain festivals (like Holi, the kite-flying
festival of Gujarat or balloon throwing during the month of Shravan) have provoked many
individual women as well as women's groups to protest against the law enforcement machinery.
Eve-teasing of women by bus conductors and bus drivers, railway police, road traffic police are still
not paid attention to, in spite of the legal provision. Most often women or girls do not report
incidents of harassment such as obscene phone calls or lewd remarks by miscreants for fear of
getting into trouble. When the protectors of 'law and order' have a reputation of themselves being
eve-teasers in the public eye, how can we expect women to approach them? Class, caste and
communal biases along with gender bias of the police and other bodies of the state are responsible
for apathy, inertia, indifference and hostility faced by women when they seek support in the cases of
eve-teasing.
Molestation of Madhushree Dutta
In 1990, a noted film and stage director Madhushree Dutta was badly molested by two railway
policemen who were in plain clothes in the railway station at the midnight. At the time of
molestation she was not alone. Ms. Flavia, a feminist lawyer was with her. Both of them being
involved in the women's rights movement for over a decade and fully aware of the legal provisions
immediately prepared a notice against the molesters. When they went to submit their write-u at the
appropriate police station, the police officer in-charge refused to co-operate. Madhushree being
well-known in media circles, the news of the incident appeared the very next day on the front page
of the leading newspapers of the country. In response to the news reports a strong protest
demonstration was organised by women's groups to demand suspension of the police officer as well
as the molesters. To make her withdraw the case, the policemen kept on making anonymous and
threatening phone calls to her lawyer's office. The court trail was an extremely humiliating
experience as the defence counsel hired by the policemen kept on shooting questions after questions
implying that for a budding artiste like Madhushree it was a cheap publicity gimmick to get a lime
light. If a woman, so articulate, visible and well connected with the media world, aided by an
equally strong and articulate feminist lawyer, has to face such terror-tactics by the police. One can
imagine what must be happening to "ordinary" and "helpless" women victims of sexual violence?
This incident happened in Bombay anti-rape campaigns have been consistently taken up since 1978.
In spite of wide media coverage on the issue of sexual violence, the attitude of both the state as well
as the civil society, as reflected in readers' reaction in the newspapers, was not sympathetic to the
victim. Many asked why Madhushree was there at such a late hour.

An analysis of the judgements of the Sessions Courts, The High Courts and the Supreme Courts
since 1980 done by Adv. Flavia reveals an extremely negative view of the judiciary of women's
sexuality. She gives several examples of rape-cases were stereotypical arguments of victim-baiting
were used liberally to reduce punishment to the culprits. Supposedly pro-women judgements in
cases of rape of minors were also coloured by a conservative concern for chastity and purity.
Flavia states, The positive judgements which are reported involve rape of minor girls resulting in
multiple injuries where the question of consent does not arise. But even these judgements have a
conservative reasoning for the conviction. Here is an example of how the judiciary looks at the
issue: "Virginity is the most prized possession of an unmarried girl. She would never willingly part
away with this proud and precious possession. "18
Mass Rape of Women during Caste and Communal Riots
The human rights organisations and the women's groups have provided detailed testimonies of mass
rape of Dalit women during caste riots in Marathawad (1978), Ahmedabad (1983), Bhojpur (1985),
Nagpur (1988) and communal riots in Delhi and Bombay (1984), Bhagalpur (1988) and Surat,
Bhopal and Surat (1993) to the government. In most of the above mentioned cases the state
enforcement machinery was either indifferent to the plight of the victim or directly involved in
perpetrating violence against the victim in collaboration with the anti-social elements. But, in none
of the above mentioned cases the criminal justice system has brought the culprits to book. Raising
an issue about the role of Indian military and para-military forces in torture and rape of women in
Assam, Tripura and Nagaland, Punjab and Kashmir, tribal regions of India and in Srilanka generates
great deal of hostility in the government circles.
Efforts to Activise the State Apparatus
During the decade of eighties the women's movement in India was concerned mainly with fighting
against sexist behaviour of the state enforcement machinery but now its efforts are more in direction
of creating pro-women environment so that the victims of sexual violence can get legal redress and
societal attitude towards women's sexuality can change. Articulate women journalists, researchers,
academicians, independent consultants and activists attend the government sponsored training
programmes and act as resource-persons for 'gender-sensitisation' of police officers, administrators,
judges, etc. Initially the women activists were reluctant to have a dialogue with them as, while
dealing with day-to-day practical issues, the government bureaucrats, forest officials and police
officials were not found helpful to women's cause.
In the beginning of the anti-rape movement, many women's groups had put forward the demand to
the state that it should increase its number of women judges to ensure gender-justice and more
police-women to ensure sympathetic treatment to women victims. But the last one decade has given
ample evidence that just by virtue of being women; they are not going to be more sensitive or
judicious about women's issues. Women judges and women police being representatives of the state
do not behave differently from the male judges when it comes to taking sides. After all Maya Tyagi
was inhumanly tortured by a woman police constable who also encouraged her male colleagues to
rape her. Women officials in jails and remand-homes behave as inhumanly with women in their
custody as their male counterparts behave. The government had set up several judicial inquiries to
contain public fury after an individual case of rape or cases of mass rape were reported. Reports of
18.

Flavia: A Critical Review of Enactments on Violence against Women during the Decade 1980-1989 ", Economic and
Political Weekly, April 25, 1992, w.s. 19-33.

the inquiry Commissions gather dust in the government offices, not circulated or discussed widely.
None of their recommendations are implemented. To the government, this exercise is a safety valve
tactics to contain public fury.
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by the Women's Groups
Women's groups have filed PILs to activise the state enforcement machinery and to sensitise the
masses. Manushi, a women's magazine files a PIL in the Supreme Court of India after the Delhi
riots in 1984 in which hundreds of Sikh women were raped and who are still languishing in the
refugee camps. So far, none of the culprits have been charged. When a tribal woman, Guntaben was
raped by eight policemen, paraded naked, brutally beaten and verbally abused; the concerned police
station, district magistrate and the hospital staff got together to hush up the matter. There was an
atmosphere of terror in the community. In this situation, two women's groups and democratic rights
organisations filed public interest litigation and also continued their campaign. The government
responded by setting up a tribunal which, declared that the rapists must be punished. Amnesty
International also took up this case. Finally, the culprits were punished.
Role of Media Publicity in Activising the State Apparatus
Media publicity has proved to be the most effective tool in activising the state apparatus. In the postemergency period, investigative journalism got pride of place in the mainstream media. On the one
hand plethora of sensational articles trivialised the issue but on the other hand several sensitive
portrayals of the issue were also given space in the media. Many protest actions by the women's
groups and mass organisations against rape of poor, dalit, tribal or minority women without media
coverage would have been ruthlessly crushed. Thus media publicity can be double edged. Gender
sensitisation programmes for journalists and other mass communication personnel are viewed
seriously by the women's groups.
Conclusion
The existing rape laws do not recognise the unequal power relations between the rape victim and the
rapist. The victim is not given a choice to get her voice heard by her own lawyer. She faces sexist
biases and hostility at every step- inside the family, within the community, at the police station, at
the time of medical examination in the government hospital and in the court-rooms. The criminal
justice system expects the victim not only to get over the trauma and be calm and composed at the
time of prosecution but also shed all her inhibitions and give a vivid description of the event in the
court-room. After the act of rape, if the victim washes herself (but naturally), important evidence
will be lost. In this situation, the women's movement and the concerned authorities need to direct
their energies to amend the procedures so that the case can be handled speedily and the victim does
not face humiliation at the hands of the administration that is known for its inertia, indifference and
antipathy towards women. Attitude of the judges in cases of rape is another deplorable area. Some
feminist lawyers have put forward a demand of special courts for rape trials to ensure speedy
dispensing of justice. Majority of judgements in rape cases are coloured by the preoccupation of the
judges with 'past sexual history' of the victim and their notions of 'virginity', 'purity' and 'chastity' of
women. Gender-sensitisation programmes for judges must be given top priority by the state.

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About redefinition of rape there is a consensus among the women's rights groups that 'rape', 'attempt
to rape' and 'violating women's modesty' as they are defined at present must be clubbed together
under a heading of 'sexual offence'. It is also suggested that the redefinition of rape must be brought
out of the patriarchal confines where 'penetration of penis' only is taken into consideration while
defining rape. 19
The most controversial issues for which there is no consensus amongst the women's groups are
marital rape, punishment for rape and demand of monetary compensation to the victim. Women's
groups providing support to women in distress have found that sexual assault by husband is the
most common and blatant form of rape. But those who oppose to recognise existence of rape within
marriage put forward an argument that when a woman enters matrimony she knows that it is her
duty to fulfil the desire of her husband. Many experienced lawyers have expressed their concern
over the fact that stringent punishment codified in the law results in fewer convictions. While the
women's groups have always demanded higher punishment in rape cases. Some women's groups
have asked for a compulsory monetary compensation either from the state or the culprit looking at
the fact the rape victim faces tremendous social stigma, employers shun her and in most of the cases
even her own family disowns her. After decade and half years of struggle against rape, the most of
the women activists are feeling that they have reached a square one position so far as changing the
situation of rape victims or prevention of rape is concerned. 20
An international campaign initiated by Centre for Global Issues and Women's Leadership to include
'violence against women as violation of human rights' in the UN Charter on Human Rights has
become a rallying point for women's rights organisations in India. In the context of the recent
developments in Somalia, Bosnia and India, this campaign is also focusing on the issue of 'Rape as
a war-crime'.
In response to increasing numbers and intensity of barbaric sexual violence against girls and
women, women groups are demanding "Parents - Don't tell your daughters what to wear or not
wear, sensitize your sons to treat girls and women as equal people". The governments should be
petitioned to make compulsory studies on Gender Equality in the curriculum of the schools of
the country.

19.

Report, op. Cit., 1990.

20

Geetha, V On Impunity, Mumbai: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XLVIII, No. 2, 12-1-2013, pp.15-17.

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