‘India most dangerous country in world for women’
New Delhi: Sexual violence and rape against women have become a tragedy in India and every 16 minutes a woman falls victim to a heinous crime like rape.
According to Kashmir Media Service, rape culture in India reflects the social decline and it has not only affected the safety of women but has also created an atmosphere of anxiety and insecurity in the entire social structure.
Corruption, negligence of government institutions and failure to provide justice are the main reasons for the growth of rape culture in India. Every 16 minutes in Modi’s India, a woman falls victim to a heinous crime like rape. According to a 2018 survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation,
India was named the world’s most dangerous country for women due to rising incidents of sexual violence and rape against women.
According to the Indian National Crime Records Bureau, in 2022, 445,256 cases of crimes against women were registered in India, of which 31,516 were cases of sexual violence. On average, more than thirty thousand rape cases are reported in India every year. Most rape victims are deprived of justice due to fear, revenge, and a failed and ineffective judicial system. In India, 3 out of every 4 rapists are roaming free.
The Modi government is also behind the delay in the release of the National Crime Records Bureau report in India over the past two years. Due to the deep-rooted class division and caste system in India, poor and lower caste women also face rape and sexual assault. Since 2012, a 169 percent increase in rape cases against Dalit women has been recorded in India, with 4,241 cases of rape of Dalit women reported.
According to statistics, 10 cases of rape of Dalit women are reported in India every day.
On the other hand, in disputed areas like Manipur, women, belonging to minority communities, are victims of sexual violence, rape and gender-based violence. According to reports from the Manipur State Commission for Women, a total of 59 cases of sexual violence and rape were registered from September 2022 to September 2023.
Sexual exploitation is also being used as a weapon of war against women in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where there have been several incidents of exploitation and sexual abuse of women by Indian forces.
The “rape culture” has also permeated the Indian armed forces, where not only Indian women but also military officers harass and sexually assault their female colleagues. Foreign female tourists in India are also not safe from sexual assault. On March 2 last year, the rape of a 28-year-old Spanish tourist woman, who was gang-raped in Jharkhand, was highlighted by the international media. All this evidence not only points to the growing promotion of rape culture in India, but also reflects the moral decline.
