Rape survivors face a chauvinistic legal system
We are disheartened to see that the legal channels through which a survivor can report rape are gender insensitive to the point of being hostile.
A report in this paper on November 15 cites the case of a young woman raped by her stalker in July 2018, who sought help from the local Nari Nirjatan Protirodh Committee (committee to prevent violence against women). But instead of helping her the head of the committee who is also the Union Parishad Chairman called her a "sex worker" and even issued a notice claiming that the rape survivor engaged in "sex work" at home and that her father was a drug dealer. He urged the woman's landlord to evict her and her father. When the survivor filed a case with Tangail District Court in November 2019 he sent the earlier notice, to the deputy commissioner, police superintendent, and bar association of Tangail. Later when faced with media criticism and official censure he admitted that he had made a mistake and that he had not verified the fact himself but was given the information by influential people in the area. The rapist is now out on bail.
Another survivor, a minor, who was raped by her landlord's son in 2004 tried to file a case in Mohammadpur Police Station but instead of recording the case the duty officer ogled her and remarked that it was a false case and she was trying to entrap the landlord's son because she was poor. Later when she filed a case through the court her father was forced to sign a document by the perpetrators saying that it was a fabricated case and that his daughter was of "immoral character". The rapist walked free.
These two examples demonstrate the very first hurdle in a series of legal hurdles a survivor of rape or other form of sexual violence faces—in these cases, the head of the very committee that is supposed to seek justice for such victims and the police officer on duty. In the first case why didn't the chairman verify the facts before maligning the survivor's character? And why didn't he on his own accord declare his mistake? In the second case the police officer's sexism was obvious.
Thus major reforms need to take place within the system in which sexism is ingrained and impedes justice. Gender awareness and sensitivity training must be part of training of law enforcers and ensured for courts and relevant government institutions (including committees to prevent violence against women) to stop this culture of victim blaming so that rape cases are tried without these preconceived notions regarding the victim's character. Police stations must have women officers (with gender sensitivity training) to receive cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
The justice system must recognise that it is "lack of consent" that is relevant and defines the crime as rape or sexual assault, not the survivor's character, social class, attire, past sexual history or lifestyle.
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