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The Need To Protest Rapes By Fathers

By Meenakshi Gogoi

21 April, 2016
Countercurrents.org

These are turbulent yet interesting times, today, when we are witnessing resistance movements against state authority and to strengthen constitutional values, debates and discussions on issues like what are nationalism, patriotism, and sedition law. Social media is flooding with messages, tweets, articles written in newspapers and on websites about current burning issues which is spreading public opinions and critiques across the nation on every single issue happening around. A revolution has taken place to break away the established order. What is striking about today, is the fact that a deep sense of critical thinking is developing and at the same time, critique is finding its very own space, too.

On the one hand, there is news trending about students uprising in central universities like JNU, HCU questioning the governmental actions over curbing the right to dissent and freedom of speech in a democracy, and on the other hand, what also caught my attention is the frequent news about father’s raping their daughter’s which may not be a trending national or anti-national news but still demands an equal attention to it. The frequent news of fathers raping daughters is not only disturbing but disgusting to bear with. What could be more threatening to the dignity of a girl and women empowerment than a father, the legal bearer of a girl is sexually abusing her? We need to invest some amount of critical thinking and raising concerns about rapes by father’s, too. Because rapes questions the ethical and moral values of a society. Patriarchy has always subjugated, oppressed women sexually and rapes by father’s is making the matter worse. Because if, a father who is the legal bearer of a girl child, the man himself, does not respect the dignity of his own daughter, the woman, then it is foolishness to expect other men to respect women. Hence, to lessen rapes by men, it is of immense necessity today, to protest rapes by father’s.

It is high time our choices about types of news must be broaden. For me, the news of a father raping his daughter is no less than a news about national, anti-national or any other international issues. I am hoping that my female fraternity would agree with me, too. When it comes to news about rapes, molestation, and sexual harassment issues, it hardly makes a big impact on society, except the Nirbhaya’s case in recent times, where the entire nation stood firmly to give her justice and ended up lighting candles in memory of the rape victim. Even after the whole nation was in panic and outraged over the Nirbhaya’s rape case, we are still witnessing a rise in the number of rapes.

What is more frustrating, is to know about fathers raping their daughters which is in the news for some time, now. It raises serious questions about where our blood ties and society is heading to? Are we not openly protesting against such kinds of rapes because a father, the legal bearer of a girl child has committed this crime? Don’t we realise that today is the time when raising slogans like ‘beti padhao and beti badhao’ is not simply enough.

How can we ever think of a holistic environment for girl’s education when some of them are facing fear, panicky out of sexual abuses even in a place like home where we live and consider it as the most secured place? For most of us crimes takes outside home but for some it takes place inside home, too. It is the bitter reality today, that whether an infant girl child, an adolescent girl or any other old women, some of them have to experience sexual abuses in their own homes. Instead of, performing his responsibility of taking good care of his daughter’s upbringing like to educate her, to make her aware of rights and freedom as equal to a son, some father’s are betraying their daughter’s faith in him by raping her. It is very complex to understand as to why does a father rape his daughter? How could a father forget his blood relationship of nurturing his own daughter? Is it because father’s also get sexually excited to see his daughter in a body revealing outfit which is widely believed to be one of the biggest reasons for girls getting raped today? Or is it because a father is a man, too, to rape a daughter, the woman?

Some of the recent news reports of rapes by fathers are here. A Navi Mumbai school girl wrote a letter to her teacher about being raped by her father many a times and the mother did not do anything to help her, an 18 year old girl filmed a video to prove rape by her father in U.P, another rape case where the father raped her daughter to stop her from seeing her boyfriend and in Telengana’s Ranga Reddy district last year, a father not only raped his daughter but also killed her too. But what is appreciating, is the fact that girls are now opening up more about such crimes. They are knocking at the police stations and filing rape cases against their fathers, too. This is indeed a welcoming step. There are laws on sexual harrassment and rapes to punish the rapists but to see the rise in number of rapes, society needs to actively protest against such crimes to retain the moral and ethical values.

Today, although, some award shows are organised to felicitate women achievers on the international women’s day and TV shows like women of worth sessions are hosted to talk about issues on gender discrimination, women’s empowerment, her freedom, rights and choice of life in a progressive manner, yet it cannot be denied that any such show can only proved to be effective when girls are being taught to live freely without any fear and to be vocal about their own rights and sexual abuses at homes first. It is high time that other elderly women in the family must come forward together and talk about it. Rather than making all efforts to train a girl in the household activities, grooming her to get married, to pass on to her culinary skills, and make her learn how to perform rituals at home, mothers and other older women at home should spent more times asking their daughters about their feelings and desires, about any kind of sexual harassment, or rapes, if they have ever encountered in their homes and outside home, too. Because when the home is not secure, we cannot imagine a society to be a secured place to live in.

It also cannot be denied that right to equality and empowerment of women can be a success in a holistic manner, only when along with women, men should also, come together and voice out to such issues. It is only possible when a father, who is the bearer of a girl child, the man himself, respect the dignity of his daughter, the woman. Thus, it is also, important to liberate men in order to liberate women. How can we think of broadening society’s outlook towards women or shout slogans to stop rapes outside when our girls and women are not safe from sexual abuse in their own homes?

Meenakshi Gogoi is a PhD Candidate, Centre for Political Studies, JNU, Delhi.




 



 

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