Rape shatters the dignity of an individual and tears apart the very foundation of their social life, the fabric of communities, by replacing the social insecurity and pulling them into an eclipse of trauma and anxiety within their community.
by Bhabani Sonowal
It
is widely believed that the origins from Latin and developed through French
language rape (rapere in Latin and rapir in old French) as
terminology to describe one of the most abhorrent, harrowing and unbearable
crimes against humanity came into the general discourse in the late 13th
century. Since then the terminology attempted to understand the gravity of the
crime and framed the legal consequences in each jurisdiction while unifying the
planet against it.
But,
do we understand the depth of this crime?
Why are we unable to eliminate this crime?
Rape;
what does it imply, in its general connotation? The broadly accepted definition
goes as, "it is a type of sexual assault which involves sexual intercourse
or other forms of sexual penetration without the consent of the other
party."
But,
should the implication of rape be confined only to the definition prescribed
above. The answer to this is an emphatic no because rape amplifies far beyond
the general definition.
Rape
shatters the dignity of an individual and tears apart the very foundation of
their social life, the fabric of communities, by replacing the social
insecurity and pulling them into an eclipse of trauma and anxiety within their
community.
As
Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate of this year says, "Rape is not
just a physical, violent act perpetrated against one victim; it is an assault
on humanity." Denis Mukwege is a Congolese Doctor who treated thousands of
sexually assaulted victims admitted at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
It is needless to say that the Democratic Republic of Congo is known as one of the world’s war-torn areas, where armed conflict has shattered, flattened and ripped to shreds the parts of the normal life of the general public. According to Mukwege, at least forty women are being raped every twenty-four hours in Congo.
Imperatively
Rape has become the most horrendous and cowardly tactics of armed conflict
where women are being used as weapons or shields by both parties. In most of those
instances women and girls are forced into sexual slavery as was done by the Japanese Imperial Army in the name of Comfort Women and more recently by
fundamentalists of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Nadia
Murad, a survivor of sexual enslavement by the religious fundamentalists of
so-called Islamic State, is advocating for the rescue of around 3,000 ethnic
minority Yazidi women still in captivity and the return of 300,000 Yazidi
refugees to northern Iraq.
While
narrating her story Nadia Murad told the Al Jazeera, "I still feel
shameful of what has happened to many other Yazidi girls and me. [But] after we
were somewhere safe ... we wanted to raise our voices ... If we don't speak up
today, tomorrow this will continue."
Nadia
is one among the thousands of Yazidi girls who had a rare opportunity to escape
from the inferno and continue the fight against the inhuman crime.
Nadia
has the courage and groundbreaking ability to fight for justice in the land of
silence where thousands of women were forced to end their life silently due to
this brutality.
It
is significant that the group of Comfort Women eventually gathered the courage
recently to let the world know about the heinous past they have gone through.
They gave a first-hand account of malodorous history by ensuring the need for
justice and non-recurrence of one of the horrific chapters of history.
In
this context, it is indeed notable that, on December 10, 2018, Yazidi human
rights activist Nadia Murad and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege were awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their efforts to end sexual violence in
conflict zones. The world has recognized them as the guardians of the victims.
There
is still a long and difficult road ahead to overcome this challenge. It is the responsibility
of the entire human community to contribute and elevate these noble activities
against any form of sexual assault. Unity will enhance not only courage, but it
will weaken the enemies. That’s our fundamental duty; as Martin Luther King,
Jr., penned "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
The
writer is a Doctoral Research Fellow, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual
Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India
Post a Comment