The gang rape in India
The brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in India has put rape and the abuse of women firmly on the front page and hopefully in India change will come, but how much change can we expect to see?
India is a nation whose cultural world view hold women in low esteem. Pandita Ramabai was the first and as far as I am aware the only female intellectual that India has produced whose specialty was what the Hindu writings and Scriptures say about women. Her passion and study led her to the conclusion that under Hinduism there was no hope for women. She converted from Hinduism to Christianity and became a social reformer who stood up for the the rights of women in the the Indian culture. She founded the Mukti mission and died a national heroine in 1922.
Ramabai in her book the High Caste Hindu Woman cites passages of the laws of Manu. The laws of Manu (according to about.com) "are traditionally accepted as one of the supplementary arms of the Vedas, Laws of Manu or Manava Dharma Shastra is one of the standard books in the Hindu canon, and a basic text for all gurus to base their teachings on."
Some of the laws quoted by Ramabai include the following;
213. It is the nature of women to seduce men in this (world); for that reason the wise are never unguarded in (the company of) females. (Laws of Manu Chapter 2)
154. Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure (elsewhere), or devoid of good qualities, (yet) a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife. (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)
155. No sacrifice, no vow, no fast must be performed by women apart (from their husbands); if a wife obeys her husband, she will for that (reason alone) be exalted in heaven. (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)
156. A faithful wife, who desires to dwell (after death) with her husband, must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand, whether he be alive or dead. (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)
Hinduism sees women as being the property of men whom must be kept busy and subjected to the will of the man whether that be the father, brother, or husband.
148. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent. (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)
So with a world view that is so anti-women can we really expect serious reform on issues such as rape? Remember it is in India that 25,000 women are burned every year and 5000 are killed because the bridal dowry is too low, it is in India that some men sell their wives into prostitution and the ease with which this can be done lies in the fact that India's dominant religion teaches that women are not worth all that much.
So a woman and her boyfriend get on a bus in India, they are hijacked she is gang raped for an hour and beaten and they are both thrown off the bus at high speed, the girl dies the men are caught and what do you think their excuse is? It was all her fault.
This is despite reports that the bus driver allegedly confessed to police that "he tried to kill the young woman and her companion so they would be unable to identify their attackers."
Today the press is reporting that as the accused front court preceding s their lawyers are saying that it was the woman who was at fault it was the way that she was dressed that was the problem. This reasoning says that the woman provoked irresistible urges in the men that drove them into a frenzy that resulted in her continued rape and murder because she was not wearing a Sari. Therefore it was not the mans fault. The rapists are the real victims. After all she was a woman, and women are held in low esteem under Hindu teaching.
Two things here, one men are moral and can say no to their sexual urges, and, it is not the natural disposition of men to be rapists. No man whether he be Hindu, Moslem, Christian, Jew, Jane, Seik, Buddhist, Atheist or anything else can justify rape. Rape is an intentional aggressive action and for these guys to blame the victim holds up the Myth that somehow men cannot control themselves, and that a girl on a bus in a dress not a Sari put herself in serious danger by dressing the wrong way. This argument is rubbish! Real men control themselves. Real men respect women. Real men are not prone to rape if they see someone dressed differently. Real men are safe for women to be with in public and in private.
Men can control their urges. The world should be a safe place not matter how sexually frustrated a man is because men can control themselves and can say no to their libido if they want to.
All men struggle with lust at some point, a Bikini clad woman on a public beach may invoke some thoughts of sex, but what you do with those thoughts is the issue, mull them over and consider the possibilities and act on them, or do you refocus and get on with what you are doing?
If you are sitting in your living room and a voluptuous naked women with a drop dead sexy body walks in is she going to get raped, are you going to sit there with your tongue hanging panting furiously or are you going to ask her to to put some clothes on? I mean really in the REAL world what would you do?
Men need to be real, yes we have strong libido but it can be controlled and its presence can not mean imminent danger for the nearest female.
So how much change can we expect in India in the way that women are treated? If there is going to be significant change then people are going to have to break a few of the laws of Manu in order to look at women with a whole new set of eyes.
The Indian rapists need to own up to what they did and India needs to do some soul searching and change the way it values their women!
