Rape is not an Indian affair

Rape is not just happening in India. Any campaign against rape and rapists must occur in a wider perspective and collective consciousness from global media. A documentary by an actress turned producer Leslee Udwin is making headlines and BBC is going to broadcast it on International Women's Day.

The short film India Daughter is an attempt to find out why do men rape. In an interview to the Guardian, Udwain said," I began this film with a narrow focus. Why do men rape? I discovered that the disease if a lack of respect for gender. it's not just about a few rotten apples, it's the barrel itself that is rotten."

Well-said. Well-understood. If the issue is rape and men, why should the focus shift towards India alone? Are rapes not happening in parts of the world? Why a hardcore criminal is given undue importance in the documentary? Has any country witnessed such an outpouring of protests and condemnation against the rape of a woman? The Indian officials have even granted access to a foreigner to meet and interview a hardcore criminal to make a documentary that tarnishes the image of the country. Isn't India more democratic than others?

The horrific Delhi gang-rape of a 22-year old Jyothi Singh was not one among several rape incidents reported in India. It changed the course of Indian political scene and for the first time in recent history Delhi proved it does not belong only to the bureaucrats. The brutality involved in the crime made people took the streets in hundreds continuously for a month.

The attention must be given to the factors that lead to rape and not the number of rapes or why do men rape women. Can anyone, including Udwin, deny the role of sexually explicit material available in the form of films and web contents in shaping the attitude of men towards women? When leading actresses shed clothes for a meaty role and money, and the attention they get because of such a 'daring act' and even becoming UN ambassadors, where is the role of women shaping a future voice?

The digital age is portraying women as objects of pleasure than other periods in the history of mankind.

When you open a website there will be single women to mingle with you. There will be relationship articles that focuses on bedroom activities.Ads of white men and women even in local magazines and websites. Not to say of movies. If all these raises sexual fantasy of average women and treat women as if they are born to give pleasure to men, who is to be blamed? When sex is a beautiful union of two minds than body, the message common man - White, Black or Brown - gets is just physical act where man is the master and woman is his obedient slave. Similarly, in other areas where women have to share the shoulder with men. Majority of men, even the so-called literate and highly-paid, find it difficult to share the company of women who has their own opinions or courage to face daily challenges. They just unite to eliminate her presence in whatever means they are capable of.

Once again, the rape that shook the entire nation is back in news. One should not forget a relentless  effort by Indian media in bringing the rape issue to a larger public has put the governments in tender hooks to take stringent action against offenders,

Yet, rape is happening. From 6-month old baby to 65-year-old grandma is getting raped. Educating men about women and her role in the society is the challenge the world is facing now. It must begin from home.