Victims of rape hidden silent by our system.

The renowned newspaper 'The Hindustan times' lately looked close into the neighbourhood of the Capital where reporting of rape was the highest. In three areas Aman Vihar (Outer Delhi), Ambedkar Nagar and Govindpuri (Southeast Delhi), all the men accused of rapes were known to the survivors. There were approximately 103 FIRs alleging rape registered by women and girls in the year 2014. In 42 cases, they were men from the neighbourhood. In 30 cases, close family members had preyed on their young ones. Our authorities for long have taken refuge in such stats. In % of all the rape cases victims are known to the accused and police can’t do much to prevent them because they are, as the former police chief had put it earlier opportunist crimes committed in private spaces. By the same logic, police should not be expected to do much about the murder because at least 50% killings in Delhi are prompted by property or family dispute, extra marital affairs or business rivalries. Sexual assault by someone known the victim is very common, said by the International crime data. A study by a social networking site called the Mumsnet that launched the “We Believe You” campaign across UK in 2012, reveals that more than a third of women surveyed had been subjected to some kind of sexual assault. In 66% of the cases the women knew the person responsible. In many states in the US, ‘blind reporting’ is being encouraged to allow victims of sexual assaults to file anonymous reports to the police without taking the burden of participating in the full investigation. Victims also have a choice of not using their real names in medical and legal records related to the case. Former we did not have such a system in India but after the December 16 gang rape the police are not turning away victims to make their record books look good. But sexual assaults behind ‘closed doors’ is still hidden, mostly when the attacker is a known person to the victim especially when the attacker is from the family. It requires a lot of courage to the victim because they’re often dependent emotionally and financially. In Delhi rape rehabilitation is the most ignored aspect of women safety. In our present system, rape survivor’s suffering is akin to getting raped a second time. It is a shame to see dispirited women and girls who were bold enough to see their ordeal. Their examples are also a huge discouragement for others looking for support and assurance to find courage to speak out.