Punjab & Haryana High Court order shows speaking out can be life-threatening for a woman – she will be shamed in ways that will silence hundreds of others.
A recent order passed by a double Bench of the Punjab & Haryana High Court on 13 September reflects the extremely complicated relationships our young children have landed in. The judges have given bail to the three gang rape convicts and used language to blame the victim’s lifestyle for the incident.
One thing is certain – sexual indulgence has different connotations and repercussions for men and women.
Whether one accepts it or not, society continues to have much greater tolerance for sexual indulgence by men. Women are increasingly subjected to moral policing, and branded as ‘promiscuous’ and of an ‘easy virtue’.
It is strange that communication technology and social media, the so-called symbols of modernity, continue to be used to blackmail women. For fear of getting ostracised, women often observe the ‘culture of silence’, by not even sharing it with their parents.
It is not difficult to understand why a girl being victimised sexually and physically chooses to remain silent. Parents, teachers, police, strangers, neighbours, and even members of the judiciary view sexually active young girls and boys differently, despite the fact that both are parts of the same act. Young people today, irrespective of class, residence, religion or caste, are unfathomable to the older generation.
While sex is no longer a taboo for India’s modern youth, it continues to be treated as a sin for girls. One rarely finds Amitabh Bachchans of ‘Pink’ in real-life situations. A girl who chooses to enjoy life as boys do, consumes hard drinks as boys do, is blamed if she complains about sexual violence. By continually bailing out young men, in daily life and in criminal cases of sexual violence, society persistently signals that things have not changed for the young women. She has to keep her sexual urges under control, refrain from any kind of indulgence.
Young women who manage to enter professional institutions of higher learning are confident and outgoing, but their conduct is restricted because they carry the burden of cultural heritage and family honour.
‘Speaking out’ can prove to be life threatening for a woman – she will be ‘shamed’ in ways that will end up silencing hundreds of others.
(Rajesh Gill is professor, Department of Sociology, and president of the Panjab University Teachers Association, Chandigarh)