Forced Sex in Pandemic: How Lockdown became a nightmare for Indian women?
Forced Sex in Pandemic: Here some shocking details
We are living in 2021, still criminalizing marital rape is a distant dream in India. During a pandemic, Women are bearing household chores, in which they are hardly helped by the men in the house. The morning’s breakfast, then lunch, evening tiffin, dinner, cleaning the house, washing clothes, fulfilling every demand rising each minute, and much much more.
During pandemics, women are more exposed to forced sex because they can’t run out and seek help from people. According to the reports, rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. India remains one of the countries where it is not a crime for a man to rape a woman — as long as they are married.
“Forced Sex in Pandemic has become a reality of many women. Here are a few important details. According to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, forced sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, who is not under 18 years of age, does not count as rape.” Consent means actively agreeing to be sexual with someone. Sexual activity without consent is rape or sexual assault. But Indian men don’t understand consent.
What is marital rape?
In any marriage, the relationship made by a husband with his wife without permission is called marital rape. However, Indian law does not consider it rape. A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court to criminalize the 2017 marital rape. While hearing this petition, the Central Government had said in the Delhi High Court that if marital rape is declared a crime, it makes the institution of marriage unstable.
How law forces women into sex?
After marriage, the husband and wife are assigned certain responsibilities and rights towards each other in the Hindu Marriage Act. These rights also include sex. It has been recognized by law that refusing to have sex after marriage is a type of cruelty. It has also been said by law that divorce can also be sought on this basis. Under Article 19 of the Constitution of India, the fundamental right to equality and the right to life respectively have been ensured for every citizen of India.
It clearly means that every person who is a citizen of our country has the right to live a life of equality and dignity without any form of discrimination, abuse, or violation of these rights. However, with Indian marriage laws being largely patriarchal, the basic idea behind these fundamental rights is extensively exploited, especially when it comes to gender-based crimes or minority crimes.
Read more: Thousands of people protest against Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro
Situation Worsened By Lockdown
As the lockdown trapped many Indian women with their abusers, the absence of a law meant they can’t go anywhere. According to the United Nations (UN). Globally, one in every three women have experienced intimate partner violence, a trend COVID-19 lockdown is feared to have worsened. “When the abused women were confined to their homes, they were forced to stay along with the respondents. They did not have access to vehicles or public transport to search for help.
The NCW received a total of 19,730 complaints of crimes against women in 2019 as compared to 23,722 in 2020, according to official data. A year after the lockdown, the NCW continues to receive over 2,000 complaints every month of crimes against women with nearly one-fourth of them related to domestic violence, it stated.
According to the NCW data, 1,463 complaints of domestic violence against women were received from January 2021 to March 25, 2021. According to the 2013 report of the Verma committee headed by Justice (Retd) J. S. Verma. “A rapist remains a rapist regardless of his relationship with the victim,” said the report while advocating for the criminalization of marital rape. According to the survey of UN in 2013, Around 25% men of the 10,000 respondents across nine sites in Asia and the Pacific admitted to committing rape.
Learn to say no to sex
We need to teach our daughters to learn to say no to sex and sons to learn consent. During the initial years of upbringing, we need to teach both to say no. We need to empower our daughters so that they can’t be in a position to face marital rape and domestic violence.
Have a news story, an interesting write-up, or simply a suggestion? Write to us at info@oneworldnews.com
