Gang Rape Research Articles

New Screen Economies and Viewing Paradigms: The Ethics of Representation in Delhi Crime

Abstract The new technologies of television viewership following the digital turn have introduced new anxieties and possibilities. While new screen cultures facilitate a transnational viewership, the importance of ethically and morally grounded representations cannot be overstated. In this context, Delhi Crime, the Emmy award-winning Indian series based on the Delhi gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi, will be instrumental in informing the ethico-political concerns that ought to be prioritized while representing the subaltern subject and the novel socialites fashioned through the new viewership patterns. This article attempts to understand the way in which the emerging screen economies provide new terrains for ethical representation and engendering digital publics. Thus, this article is interested in understanding the intersection of media ecologies and ethico-political concerns to introduce new dialectical possibilities.

An overview of the impact of sexual and gender-based violence on mental and reproductive health: Examining the legal framework, with a view of bringing perpetrators to justice.

In recent times women have been seen by members of terrorist groups as objects used to satisfy their sexual urges, render domestic services, act as spies, recruits, suicide bombers or used in trafficking light arms and ammunitions. Prior to this period most common types of sexual violence where imbedded in harmful cultural practices such as female genital mutilation or early child marriage. Other forms of sexual violence are in forms of gang rape by armed robbers and cultist in the Southern part of Nigeria or members of terrorist groups, in the Northern part of Nigeria. Most times victims do not report such violence against them because of societal norms and stigmatization, hence perpetuators are not brought to justice. The resultant effect is that victims are often traumatized which in turn affect their mental health. Their reproductive health is not equally speared as most victims end up with vesico vagina fistulae (VVF) and in extreme cases die from complications as a result of the violation. The general aim of this paper is to examine the impact of sexual based gender violence on the victims mental and reproductive health, specific emphasis will be on sexual violence committed by terrorist groups in armed conflict while examining the legal framework available to a victim for redress. The paper will conclude with recommendations for restorative justice for victims of SGBV, proffer solutions on how perpetuators can be identified and brought to justice.

Whose line is it anyway: graphic anthology drawing the line as a counter to mainstream rape reportage in India

ABSTRACT Published by Delhi’s feminist press Zubaan Book and Toronto’s Ad Astra Comix, Drawing the Line: Indian Women Fight Back is an anthology of graphic narratives by fourteen young women. The book came into being as a result of a workshop held in the wake of the brutal gang rape and murder of a young female medical student in Delhi in December 2012; the incident received extensive national and international media coverage and triggered massive civic protests across the country. The ensuing national conversation around rape was shaped in a significant manner by media reportage which ranged from fact-based reports of the night’s events to impassioned opinion pieces. However, as scholars like Deepa Fadnis and Shakuntala Rao have pointed out, the newsgathering and reporting process is heavily influenced by patriarchal socialisation; as a result, the conversation rarely moves beyond the language of surveillance and control of female bodies under the rhetoric of women’s safety. An anthology like Drawing the Line, I argue, offers a valuable counter-narrative to the problematic public discussion around rape. The anthology explores, in the black-and-white of newsprint and documentary photojournalism, a gamut of issues that undergird rape culture; these include punitive beauty standards, enforced heteronormativity, restrictions on mobility, lack of economic independence, street harassment etc. Equally importantly, the stories articulate a desire for what Shilpa Phadke calls the right to risk and pleasure. My paper, therefore, will explore this graphic anthology as an image-text archive that resists the hegemony of the mainstream discourse by significantly broadening its concerns and offering perspectives that interrogate the status quo’s espousal of the rhetoric of safety.

Status of child sexual abuse in India with reference to 2022

The most valuable stage of human life is his childhood; this is the time when the craftsmen of the country or society sculpt the childhood of these children with high human values ​​so that they can be made to build a better future for the country and society. These children are the golden future of our society, country, and childhood is the period that paves the way for this golden future and this is the period which is most sensitive where these children expect a very sensitive attitude and behavior from family and society. That is why children are called the heritage of the nation because the children are the most vulnerable group in the society. Therefore they need special protection and care, they are the victims of various abuses in the society, and one of the main ones is child sexual abuse or child sexual abuse. Some perverted mentality and ill-tempered people in the society use children for sexual pleasure; this is a gross inhuman crime which is most fatal for children because it is not only physical but also mentally and emotionally serious to the children. Child sexual abuse is an inhuman act and is a serious problem for the country and the world. In order to stop the sexual abuse of children in India, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act 2012 was passed by the Government of India, which has provisions for severe punishment, but when we look at the increasing cases of child abuse today, it appears that Enforcement agencies' interest in the implementation of this law is negligible, making laws and enforcing law effectively, both are different things. We saw the case of gang rape in Unnao and Kathua, which makes us see the insensitiveness of the government machinery. There is a need to strengthen the legal provisions to prevent child sexual abuse in a sensitive manner and focus on their successful implementation. This study reviews the issues related to child sexual abuse in India, studies the factors responsible for child sexual abuse, it also critically analyzes the existing legal framework. The study has also been done as well as the focus has also been on the new amendments of the POCSO Act. What are the shortcomings in the legal provisions, what are the shortcomings in its enforcement, the attitude of government agencies and their sensitivity has also been studied in the research paper and this study also focuses on effective measures and methods to prevent it.

Deciphering Links Between Sexual Violence and Castes in India

The recent incident, the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Hathras, a small village in Uttar Pradesh of India, once again sparks a debate on links between sexual violence and castes in India. This article aims to examine the links between sexual violence and castes in India. This study utilizes the national representative National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4, 2015–16) data. A bivariate analysis was carried out to analyse the data. A binary logistic regression model was applied to predict the effect of explanatory variables, viz. type of place of residence, years of schooling complete, economic status in terms of wealth index and finally castes on predicted variable, i.e. sexual violence. The binary regression model indicates that there were links between sexual violence and castes. For secured and dignified life of women, caste-based sexual violence must be annihilated.

What is Behind the Bodice (Choli Ki Pichhe)? Narratives of Simulacra, Rape, Forced Whoredom: A Critical Analysis of Mahasweta Devi’s Behind the Bodice

Media is not a charitable organization rather a profitable institution. Media often fails to publish important national issues and success to publish the non-issues for escalating the mercantile gains. Interestingly, media often adopts simulation, simulacra, hyper-reality to printed or digitalized news applying their unethical de-realization or yellow journalism. I, therefore, theoretically and thematically will show in my paper how this paid journalism and unethical media using a false representation of Gangor’s breast doomed her life. This ‘Simulacrum’ gives birth of narratives of violence, gang rape, and forced prostitution in Mahasweta Devi’s story Behind the Bodice. Jean Baudrillard defines ‘Simulacra’ as something that replaces reality with its false representation. According to him, it refers the false reality of the image and misrepresentation of true reality actually. In the story Behind the Bodice, Gangor’s breast feeding of her child is a natural phenomenon. But this true reality, ‘save the breast’ (simulacra) is represented with erotic code which sells abroad by Upin Puri at huge prices. This ace-photographer exhibited the nakedness of India to the West for his journalistic prosperity. His false representations of Gangor’s breasts germinate the tales of violence, eviction, male gaze, narratives of forced prostitution and finally, a tragic doom. I will highlight in my paper how this subject is appreciated by then. On the other hand, ‘Behind the Bodice’ introduces the narrative of simulacra, rape and forced whoredom by the power, politics and apparatus of the repressive state.

Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse in Ghana: A Media Content Analysis of Survivors, Offenders, and Offence Characteristics

While there are no official data and published studies on clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse (CPSA) from Ghana, local media reports continue to show worrying trends of the phenomenon. We drew on 73 media reports from January 2000 to March 2019, to describe the offence characteristics and profiles of the perpetrators and survivors of CPSA in Ghana. The findings showed females aged 10–19 as predominant survivors. The perpetrators were all males found guilty of lone rape, incest, defilement, indecent assault, sodomy, attempted rape, or gang rape. A preventive measure could involve streamlining the recruitment, training, and leadership structures of the church.

TRANSFORMATIVE VIOLENCE AND MOBILIZATION IN INDIA AND MEXICO

Why are some violent acts more galvanizing than others? Examining two cases—the gang rape of a twenty-three-year-old student in New Delhi in 2012 and the disappearance of forty-three students in Mexico in September 2014—this article builds a theoretical model that explains how violent acts can trigger mobilization in defense of groups suppressed by structural violence. Such transformative events differ from the cycles of contentious politics that explain mobilization patterns for most social movements. By process-tracing mobilization in both cases, I identify three conditions that must be in place for an act of violence to become transformative: (1) the victims are identifiable as members of a group of known statistical victims; (2) the violence occurs within pre-existing interpretive frameworks; and (3) both an image and narrative of violence are available. Transformative violence helps consolidate existing activist networks and institutional structures, political opportunities, historical memory, and interpretive frames.

Risky Sexual Practice among Street Dwelling People in Southern Ethiopia: A mixed-Method Study.

The number of street dwellers in major cities in Ethiopia is rapidly increasing. However, their sexual health needs are not that much studied. Hence, this study assessed risky sexual practice and associated factors among street dwelling people in southern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study employing a mixed method was conducted. For the quantitative part, a snowball sampling technique was made to conduct face-to-face interviews among 842 respondents. In-depth interviews among street dwellers and key informant interviews among stakeholders were conducted to collect qualitative data.A pre-tested and structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The collected data were entered using Epidata and exported to SPSS for analysis, and qualitative data analyzed by thematic analysis approach. About one third, 266(31.6%), of the participants had risky sexual practices within the last year of the study period. Sexual violence such as gang rape and same-sex practice were reported qualitatively. Male respondents (AOR: 3.24, 95%CI: 2.09-5.02) had a more likelihood of risky sexual practice than females. Living in Dilla (AOR: 9.62, 95%CI: 4.49-20.58) and Wolaita Soddo towns (AOR: 14.35, 95%CI: 6.29-32.69) had also a more likelihood of risky sexual practice than living in Hawassa. Moreover, the daily average income of 21-50 Birr (AOR: 0.52, 95%CI: 0.29-0.92) had a less likelihood of risky sexual practice compared to those with a daily average income of 5-20 Birr. Risky sexual practice among street dwelling people is found high. The Federal Ministry of Health and other stakeholders should work to cut risky sexual practices among street dwelling people.

MULTICULTURAL FACTORS AND THE REPRESENTATION OF ACID ATTACK SURVIVORS IN INDIAN SOCIETY BASED ON MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Women considered to the goddess nature and praised in the form of Land and Rivers, but struggle to buy bread and basics in day today life. Women face violence everywhere in every form such as domestic, gang rape, acid throwing, and sexual violence at work place, dowry death and forced abortion. Acid Attack is worldwide and it is considered to be the most abominable form of gender based violence against women. According to India Today Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) the statistics released by National Crime Records Bureau shows between 2014 and 2018, states that there have been 1,483 victims of acid attack happened in the country. The Victims are taunted, shamed and disfigured for no fault on theirs. It is the need of the hour to examine the gender based violence against Women in India; its cause and consequence, as this is an untold tale in the subparts of the country. On the other hand, Indian Cinema is an effective mass communication medium and continues to evolve. There is always a strong bonding between cinema and Indian Society as it is a cultural role player for Indian Audience as well as immigrants where it promotes the uniqueness of multiculturalism of Indian Society.. The role of Women in Indian Cinema acted between the dichotomy of passive subject and Pleasurable Object. Indian New wave made a shift in the screen and contributed dialogues to women‟s role and position. Women became a subject on lens. The representation of women in Indian cinema still endures with controversy and characterized by diverse interpretations in our Multicultural land. This paper aims to examine the Representation of acid attack survivors in Indian Cinema qualitatively with the help of case studies and Multimodal discourse analysis by interpreting with the Interactive and compositional meaning.

Sheltered in Safe Hands - A Study on the Usage and Effectiveness of ‘Kavalan’ SOS App among Women in Tamil Nadu

As we progress towards digital era, using smart phones to ensure safety of citizens, especially women is seen as a great relief. After the gory crime of Delhi gang rape in 2012, the government has introduced various safety measures to protect women, one of which is the development of safety apps. Though there are many safety apps for women, this study focuses on ‘Kavalan’ app, which was launched in 2018 by Tamil Nadu police to ensure women safety. This mobile application seems to have a wide reach as soon it was launched and efforts have been taken by the police department to make sure that citizens are aware of the mobile app. The present study focuses on few questions like the reach of the app in rural areas, and women who do not know to use technology and tries to find the answer through survey and in-depth interviews.

Sexual violence and rapes' increment during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Sexual violence and rapes' increment during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Semiotics of rape in Pakistan: What’s missing in the digital illustrations?

What remains invisible in the discourse, contributes to perpetuating multilayered inequalities through discourse. Stereotypical representations, under-representations, hyper-representations, or misrepresentations regulate rape myths, and consequently, particular ways of seeing and behaving of those inside or outside the cultural boundaries. It has, therefore, been studied if and how rape victims and perpetrators have been visually represented and framed in the digital illustrations on rape in Pakistan. Discrepancies concerning identity construction of the rape victims and rapists as well as the depiction of multifarious socio-semiotic dimensions of rape have been analyzed. Thirty-five digital illustrations appearing in 32 blogs and news articles published on rape cases in Pakistan have been purposively selected and studied based on ideational metafunction suggested by Kress and van Leeuwen. Results reveal under-representation of rapists and perpetrators, law enforcement, survivors, and existing myths regarding revenge rape, child abuse, gang rape, marital rape, and gender-based victimhood. The study has implications for semiotics, rape studies, gender studies, and digital discourse.

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Next article FreeCoverFull TextPDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreCover: The Mothertongue Project, Walk: South Africa (2014–19). Performance Project.Photographed by Catherine Trollope. The title is inspired by Indian theater artist Maya Krishna Rao’s Walk. Rao crafted Walk after the rape and murder of Jyoti Singh Pandey, a twenty-three-year-old student who was tortured, raped, and killed by six men on a Delhi bus in December 2012. A few months later, we decided, with Rao’s permission, to create our own version of Walk as a response to the gang rape and murder of Anene Booysen, a South African teenager, in 2013. The unimaginably horrific assault and deaths of these two womxn was a catalyst to create Walk: South Africa as a way to honor their memories and to talk honestly about rape culture. Our vision for Walk: South Africa is centered around a sparse aesthetic that foregrounds the figure of the womxn. Its focus is very much on the performers and considers the unavoidable physical fact of their bodies—a fact that we understand rape culture to seek to obfuscate or erase.© 2013 by the Mothertongue Project. Permission to reprint may be obtained only from the Mothertongue Project. Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Signs Volume 46, Number 3Spring 2021 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/712072 Views: 396 © 2021 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Understanding Gender-Based Violence Prevention among Young Women : Youth Workers Perspective?

This study focused on the expertise of youth workers in preventing violent acts with special focus on young women. A qualitative research approach was employed in this study. Ten youth workers were purposefully sampled to participate in this study. An unstructured interview schedule was also used to gather data. An exploratory research design was used to explore the experience of the participants. Data were analysed using thematic coding. Violence against young women in South Africa is a widespread problem that affect young women’s capabilities. South Africa is also facing a high prevalence of gang rape and young women are the most affected group. The findings reflect that youth workers prevent violence against young women by offering young people, both male and female, the following interventions: building youth self-esteem, health education and empowerment, soft skills programmes and building youth resilience. The study recommends that the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities establish a funding directorate that will focus on funding youth workers led non-profit organisations (NPOs) that have holistic youth programmes that mainly address violence against young women and social behaviour change programmes among young men.

Working with “monstrous men”: ambivalent sexism in the Bombay film industry

ABSTRACT In India, the 2012 Delhi gang rape case catalyzed protests for women’s rights, particularly in regard to their safety. These demands were rekindled with vigor anew with the eruption of the #MeToo movement. In the Indian film industry, the most visible change appeared in the gradual increase of films with women-leads. But behind the scenes, there has been comparatively less change in female representation. Currently, approximately less than 10% of film directors in India are women. Considering the importance of having stories about women being made by women, in this article I examine the factors that hinder women’s entrance and tenure in the Mumbai film industry. I argue that a composite of concerns, including but not limited to reputability and personal security, thwarts women’s progress in the industry. I base my conclusions on interviews with women and men working in the film industry, conducted in Mumbai in 2017. I use the framework of the Ambivalent Sexism Index developed by psychologists Glick and Fiske in 1996, and revised in 2013, (1996, 2001, 2013) to examine my interviewees’ encounters with hostile and benevolent sexism. This article complicates our understanding of the reasons that limit the work of women beyond explanations of overt discrimination.

Feminism and Its Discontents: Punishing Sexual Violence in India

Following the infamous gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi in 2012, India introduced a host of legislative reforms, including harsh punishments for sexual offences. Indian feminist groups, though invested in some of these reforms, have been critical of the carceral approach, but other than denouncing the death penalty, they have largely abstained from conversations around appropriate punishments for sexual crimes. Mapping the responses of feminist groups to the J. S. Verma Committee, this article underscores inconsistencies between the positions on defining sexual offences on the one hand and suggesting appropriate punishments on the other. It argues that the absence of engagement around complex issues of criminal law and sentencing not only left feminists divided on the outcome in Mahmood Farooqui’s case but also revealed unintended consequences of the newly introduced law on rape. The article concludes by questioning the use of criminal law as a site for feminist reform.

A Quest for “Justice” in Capital Punishment: A Socio-Legal Study of the Nirbhaya Gangrape Case

The December 16, 2012 gang rape case in India’s capital ignited fierce discussion on women’s rights, safety measures as well as the punishment for the rapists. A major question stemming from this case and elaborated in this paper is: is capital punishment for a rapist an effective measure, as a form of “justice” for the victim? The paper concludes that capital punishment should be abolished even for gruesome crimes like rape and it further raises the question whether capital punishment can serve as a reform tool for the existing and oftentimes dysfunctional criminal system in India. Through a thorough analysis of Mukesh & Another Vs State of NCT of Delhi and others (known as the Nirbhaya gang rape case), the paper explores capital punishment for the rapist from a socio-legal and cultural perspective. The case particularly becomes important as, along with other issues, it is concerned with the question of rights of the victim vis-à-vis the rights of the offender. In other words, the paper delves deeper into the conflict between the victims’ interests and the right of the offender in the justice system by examining who is responsible for what and to what extent. Taking a human rights approach, the paper examines the human rights jurisprudence in India as well as in international laws. Further, it maps the social and historical perspective revolving around rape victimhood and gender along with arguments that have been predominant for and against capital punishment, particularly for rapists in an Indian context.

Displaced Social Suffering: Burmese Christian Refugees in a US Midwestern City

Abstract Refugees’ vulnerability to mental illness has been well documented, but challenges in research remain. Following Bourdieu’s approach to social suffering, this article uses Burmese Christian refugees’ life stories to illustrate their lived realities of displacement in which their despair is produced. These stories reveal not only refugees’ subjective experiences but also various structural inequalities in the sending, transit, and receiving social contexts that hinder their well-being. Burmese Christian refugees’ social suffering is created by varied manmade social problems and processes, including the dictatorship and religious intolerance in Myanmar; human trafficking and gang rape in Thailand; labour exploitation and police corruption in Malaysia; and racial prejudice and oppression in the US. Regardless of their contributions to the blue-collar economy, Burmese refugees endure mistreatment and a lack of benefits and promotions in their labour-intensive factory jobs. Their feelings of displacement continue even after finding religious and political freedom in the resettled country.

Overview of Gang Rape Registered in High Court Province Five of Nepal: An Analytical Study

Rape, which is a heinous crime criminalized by law in Nepal is increasing and includes cases of gang rape. The Case Law Study was done on the 5 years registered cases of gang rape in High Court, Butwal Bench with official ethical permission. There are 6 district courts under the jurisdiction of High Court with diverse population and geographical distribution. There were 472 cases registered as sexual violence. 141 cases with 149 survivors were awarded with final summary hearing; 12% of these were gang rape cases. There were 18 survivors of gang rape with 52 male perpetrators. More than half the survivors of gang rape were minors and almost 90% of perpetrators were adult men, two third of them known to the survivor. The gang attacked to rape a sole vulnerable survivor range from 2 to 8 perpetrators. There were more than 10% male children accompanying adults in the activity. Most of the noted site of gang rape was fields, followed by the survivor’s home. Two thirds of the cases had medical evidence suggestive of violence. One third of the cases were acquitted due to lack of evidence, and few of the survivors were punished with fines for wrongful accusation in the final verdict. There are several challenges and loopholes in the socio-cultural as well as criminal justice system in Nepal which demands to be scrutinized to justify the maxim, ‘Let hundred guilty be acquitted but one innocent should not be convicted’ in heinous crimes such as gang rape.