Men: Rapes Happen Because of Girls!
The Print’s Shahbaz Ansar spoke to a few men on the streets of Delhi to know why they thought rapes were happening. The answers are a proof of the attitudes and mindset of people in India.
Since a few weeks there have been cases of rapes and assault against women. On the seventh anniversary of the gruesome Nirbhaya rapes case in December 2019, The Print’s Shahbaz Ansar spoke to a few men on the streets of Delhi to know why they thought rapes were happening. The answers are proof that the attitudes and mindset of people have hardly changed in these seven years. Answering to how rapes happened, the men said that rapes happen because of girls. They don’t dress properly, wear revealing clothes, wear short dresses and there is a lot of skin show. All this excite the men and then they happen to do the mistake of raping these girls. If the girls dress properly and they do not roam out in malls and markets till late night then they will not be raped. Girls should be at home on time and there will be no rapes. Some even said that the government should ask the big factories making such clothes to stop selling them. According to some, clothes are not the only problem; girls hanging out with friends, eating drinking habits of the girls are also responsible for the rapes.
Another problem they spoke about is that the girls openly drink and smoke nowadays. They have 5 – 6 (male) friends. It is okay for the boys to smoke and drink as they go for work to different cities. Some of these men have even curbed the rights of the females in their houses. The women in the house of these men are covered themselves up with salwar kameez and dupatta. Shahbaz Ansar said girls are not allowed to wear clothes of their choice. Men think that they are teaching them the culture and tradition of India. They do not even think that they are curbing the basic rights of women. They think that they are actually respecting women like Goddesses.
Many men even said that rape is consensual. It is always that the girls invite the boys and that no one can forcibly do something to the girls. Ansar said, these men don’t understand that they are part of the rape culture. Their attitudes are the reason that rapes are happening. Because of this so-called respect, women are jailed at home and treated like a burden. Women are treated like an object and held responsible for the family's honour. They are not allowed to live their life on their own, not allowed to wear clothes of their choice.
