The critical issue. Between black and white

Ever since I read the Thomson Reuters report on India being the world’s most dangerous country for women because of the high risk of sexual violence, I’ve been thinking about it. Is India really the most dangerous country in the world for women? I’m not even sure how we can measure these parameters. When you hear something like this, you immediately conjure up images of a country where women cannot step outside their houses, where every step outside runs the risk of sexual assault, rape, and worse.

But is that really the case? There is no denying that Indian women run the risk of sexual violence. And the risks are everywhere, in the home, the outside world, and more. But that is not particular to India.

So is it that our numbers are higher? Perhaps — although no foolproof method has yet been found to measure statistics that can be said to be reliable, and in any case, statistics only reflect the partial truth. But that statistics have risen sharply in the last few years is another truth that we must line up alongside.

Are we talking about attitudes? There’s little doubt that despite changes in the law, attitudes to women’s sexuality and their claim to bodily autonomy have remained patriarchal and backward. One has only to read recent judgments on rape, some of them by the highest judges in the land, and there will be ample evidence of the valorisation of marriage, the targeting of sexuality and women’s sexual desire, and discussions about the ‘jewel’ that is women’s virginity. A new law has not changed much.

So what is it about the report that is worrying me? I’m not sure, but here are some issues I think are of concern.

In India we are adept at ignoring our pressing problems and pretending they do not exist. So sexual violence is a problem that requires urgent attention, but we’ve not done much to address it. We’ve created a new law, yes, but only after relentless campaigning and pressure from women’s groups, and not because the State suddenly realised its responsibility.

The report brings international attention to this important question, and a positive outcome could be that it embarrasses the government into addressing the issue of women’s safety and equality. Our Prime Minister tours the world presenting India as a modern, progressive country. And yet, if women are being sexually assaulted all the time, with what conscience can you claim to be modern and egalitarian?

Will the findings of the report change the way our politicians react to rape and sexual assault? Very likely not. Shameful statements such as those made post-Kathua will still be made, and political support for perpetrators will be abundant.

But I have other questions that I find troubling. I’m not sure if there are other subjects in the world — for example, the economy or the political rightward swing, or migration — on which a media organisation would produce what is made out to be a definitive report by polling as few as 548 people.

Admittedly these people are experts in their fields. And it is their perception that has been polled. But on what are these perceptions built and how can they be addressed? Partly, the beast that builds the perceptions is the beast that turns them into ‘truths’, and this is the media.

In India, unlike in many other countries, sexual violence has received much coverage in the media. This can create the impression that such violence is rampant, and once you begin to think that, you can find enough ‘evidence’ in the media to turn it into ‘truth’.

Then, often, the questions asked in such reports are a bit ‘loaded’. If you’re asked to choose which countries are the worst in, say, cultural and religious forms of violence and you list, as examples, religious fundamentalism, circumcision and so on, but not rape or anorexia, you will only get certain kinds of answers.

And there is a more fundamental point. Sometimes when we label ‘x’ or ‘y’ place the ‘worst’ we automatically give the moral high ground to other places which have statistics that are not so high. And yet, surely, even one case of sexual violence in any country in the world is one too many? And sometimes, as the report notes of the US, the problem is rampant but silent (witness the #metoo campaign, which has thrown light on a long-standing problem).

So how must we read such reports? I think not by resorting to nationalist stances, like the ministry of women has done. But not by wholly believing them either.

Instead, it’s important to take on board the cautions they bring, but to also remind oneself that the story they tell is always only partial.

Urvashi Butalia

Urvashi Butalia is an editor, publisher and director of Zubaan; blink@thehindu.co.in

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