It makes me shattered when I hear about the escalating incidents of sexual assault in a democratic and secular country like India. As we know about such a heinous crime that has roofed most of the countries globally, our country India has scored 5th rank in such a filthy felony. In India, Rapes and Sexual sadism are rising not less than a disease and according to the National Crime Record Bureau, a crime against women have amplified by 7.5% since 2010 and women are being raped after every 20 minutes in India. The majority of rape victims fall under the age group of 18 and 30 years. About one out of three victims are below 18 and one in ten rape victims under 14. Most rapes go unreported in India and the rest of the world. The lifetime threat of attempted or complete rape is up to 20% for women, but men and children are also often sexually sullied. Sequelae of rape include unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases (Trichomoniasis, Gonorrhoea, Chlamydia, Syphilis, Hepatitis B, and HIV), depression and psychosomatic disorders. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea are widespread and may lead to pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility in females if untreated.
The regularity and sort of sexually transmitted infections attained from sexual assault depend on their local prevalence and the nature of the assault. The risk of acquiring HIV in developed countries is generally low but much higher especially in conflict zones. Safeguarding of evidence and good documentation are crucial for supporting judicial processes obligatory to prosecute perpetrators. Who is sexually assaulted? Anyone can be sexually assaulted but some populaces are in particular exposed, such as adolescents and young women, people with disabilities, deprived/homeless people, sex workers, and those living in institutions or areas of conflict like our Kashmir valley. Now, the picture of sexual violence in India has achieved a new score, the perpetrators are raping the minor baby girls like the case of innocent Asifa, eight month old baby girl raped in Delhi in 2018 and a recent 3-year old rape victim from Aligarh whose eyes were gouged, body mutilated and dumped in the garbage.
Not only this, Indian media from time to time is flooded with reports of animal rape cases, like on July 2018, NCR remained shocked after a pregnant goat had died after being gang-raped by eight men in Haryana’s Mewat district. For the protection of animals, the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) is taken critically across the country; on the other hand, the new inclination against animals is now raping them. So, how can we label ourselves as social animals? It has been reported that the consumption of alcohol is commonly linked with sexual assault, although covert administration of drugs is unusual. People often seek medical help shortly or rather later after sexual assault, although they may not disclose the reason for their presentation.
What is the association of Sexual assault and psychosocial factors? The psychological and social impact of sexual assault can be intense. Psychological responses differ significantly, but on the whole, individuals who experience rape are more expected to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than victims of any other felony. During the early weeks after sexual assault most people experience a strong emotional reaction and articulate a range of post-traumatic symptoms. Other early symptoms include anxiety, tearfulness, self blame and guilt, disbelief, physical revulsion, and helplessness. Longer term difficulties include posttraumatic stress disorder, generalised and phobic anxiety/depression, difficulties with social adjustment and sexual functioning, and substance misuse.
Feelings of shame and humiliation are common and persistent and contribute to low self esteem and depression. Levels of suicidal ideation and attempted and completed suicide among people who have been raped are significant. Injuries in about half of people reporting sexual assault, include major trauma for example, a head injury that is uncommon but may be life threatening and so its management takes precedence over the forensic examination. Key elements of early intervention in rape victims include education, a space to ventilate and explore anger, reduction of shame and guilt and consideration of coping mechanisms, and social support and integration. Management guidelines for post-traumatic stress disorder indicate that people should be offered trauma focused psychological treatment i.e., cognitive behaviour therapy or eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. If no noticeable improvement results, clinicians should consider an alternative psychological therapy or drugs. In Islamic law rape is completely criminal and is punishable by death.
Islam takes very critically the honour, protection and upliftment of women, and the Quran repeatedly reminds men to treat women with benevolence and equality. So, no new law is required to be enacted against rape accused, it’s better to implement Islamic law against such felony to curtail such ogres from our society. When it is a matter of GAU MATTA, the Govt of India acts spontaneously, because in India cows are more sacred than women and people are getting lynched to protect cows. But women’s protection is ignored and sexual violence along with acid attacks against women is expanding. In India girls are not even safe in diapers now. Soon we will be buying cow face masks for our mothers, sisters and daughters for their protection.
Indians always feel proud of their culture, tradition and diversity of different languages and religions but nowadays because of hate mongers, country India is totally in shambles. It’s a country where a father rapes his daughter, where women’s are treated like a piece of meat, a country with growing bestiality, where people are killed for the sake of GAU MATTA, where criminals are MPs and MLAs in the Govt. It’s time to pull our socks up and be amalgamated like a family so that we can safeguard our nation, our mothers, sisters and daughters from such monsters.
Respect women and perceive her innocence in the form of a daughter, her concern in the form of a sister, devotion in the form of a wife, warmth in the form of a friend, divinity in the form of a mother and blessing in the form of a grandmother.
Dr. Abrar Ul Haq Wani, Writer/Ph.D. Scholar; Dept. of Medicine, SKUAST K