Rape crime and punishment

Who is the criminal in a Rape crime? It seems that a vast majority of those who can speak out loud and transfer a transformative change have lost the potency to answer to this seemingly straightforward question.Rape, known as one of the most difficult criminal acts to prove in the court of law,too often,is even difficult to translate in many languages and hence the adopted alternatives effectively failto depict magnitude of this crime .

Whereas there are many countries where even the word Rape is not used to describe the offence in the legal language there is no dearth of societies and cultures where reasons to rape are endorsed, sanctioned, legitimized and popularized through media, art, literature, commercial cinema, panchayat/jirga ( parallel justice systems) and interpretation of religion, faith, honour and masculinity. Over the years the Rape has been assigned different forms like Acquaintance rape,Campus rape,Corrective rape,Date rape, Gang rape, Genocidal rape, Gray rape, Live streaming rape, Marital rape, Prison rape, Serial rape, Statutory rape, Unacknowledged rape, Rape by deception etc.

In Pakistan, where along with theother types of the abuses against women and marginalized people Rape in its various forms is also prevalent. The reaction and response of most of the police officers, legislators, TRP -aware TV anchors,community influencers, and politicians keep on varying and getting adjusted according to the “age, appearance, character, marital status, social profile,” of the victim or survivor. Victims (those who died) and survivors ( those who remain alive), children and those with humble background get more sympathy and credibility (useless) and not justice (mostly). Women (especially if they are divorced, single, wear modern or revealing clothing) are often reminded of religious teachings and their rape experience undergoes a moral autopsy. In case of transgender a few from the very community and some non-profits register their grief and anger. The commonest outcomes in all scenarios is distraction of focus from the actual crime, demand of accountability, lower rate of prosecution, acquittal of the culprits, sudden settlement of the aggrieved and accused parties outside the court or complete absence of the justice. Soon the matter, the affectees ,the damaged lives, and the perpetrators, criminals, convicts, complicit etc. are vacated from the twitter handles, social media, traditional media landscapes and if the latter are powerful such crimes are even erased from the official records of related departments. The cycle of contradictions, confusions, blame game, blunders, unapologetic arrogance, audacity and amnesia continues. Each “new” rape occupies the space of advocacy and activism mostly by elitist voices with apparently (at times) new(er) media practitioners, activists, civil society groups with higher capability of commanding attention according to the medium of communication emerge.

Under no circumstances choreographed activism, elitist vocabulary, biased researches and resourcefully trivializing the crime should be replaced by informed and authentic survivor-centered approaches and unconditional social justice

Different countries have different punishments in their law for a crime against rape. For instance, in China, with quick court proceedings death penalty is declared once the rapist is convicted. This is done by firing a single bullet at the spinal cord joining the neck. Another punishment given to the rapists in China is castration. Death by hanging is the reprimand for Rape, in Egypt. Masses and classes of various societies including ours have splitted opinion about the death penalty. Prominent human rights activists and advocates and technical and aid agencies find the idea of deterrence through death penalty as flawed.There is a school of thought that believes that Rape happens because of the enabling and inviting factors created by the one who is raped. There is another mainstream opinion that if a woman or a girl experiences anyform of violence including rape she is supposed to remain silent for the sake of honour of her family, convenience in her own life and rewards hereafter. Then there is a group under the umbrella term feminists. This group believes thatRape is a form of gender based violence and the offender should be punished.

A society and a state need to accept that candidconversations and trustworthy dissention are always rewarding. However, under no circumstances choreographed activism, elitist vocabulary, biased researches andresourcefully trivializing the crime should be replaced by informed and authentic survivor-centered approaches and unconditional social justice. To date there is no consensus on the mode/s of punishment against Rape in Pakistan. “Remove the crime” or “remove the criminals”have become the point of contest. Both are equally important and different but coordinated approaches are required to address this complex and multifaceted issue. Any crime including the crimes that fall under GBV owe their existence to the license to liberty of committing crimes without getting punished -the Impunity-that exists in all countries as there is yet to be an egalitarian State but more so in countries like ours with relative democracy, almost no rule of law andadvanced inequalities. The Carceral feminists (the phrase carceral feminism was coined by feminist sociologist Elizabeth Bernstein in 2007 )support this particular approach that sees increased policing, prosecution, and imprisonment as the primary solution to violence against women and does not acknowledge that police are often vendors of violence and that prisons are always sites of violence.Without totally disregarding this brand of feminism and relevance of good governance, one wonders what should be the punishment for the rapists (if not death) and who should be punished in a rape crime?Rape is a cognizable crime; I wish that public display of insensitivity, servility and stupidity by responsible authorities could be cognizable too!

The writer an intersectional feminist, has worked with disadvantaged communities, led a police project, worked with legislators, authored various analytical reports on GBV & violence against women and girls in Pakistan and is an award-winning TV Producer for her pioneering series on Gender issues from PTV way back in 2001.