THE CHAINS WE CALL TRADITIONS
India presents itself to the world as a thriving democracy, a rising global power, and a nation of progress. Yet beneath that image, millions of women live inside a system that strips away their safety and potential.
The harsh truth
Rape cases alone tell a devastating story. Around the time of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape, police were recording up to 25,000 rape cases per year. Since then, the annual number has largely remained above 30,000. Attacks peaked at nearly 39,000 in 2016. In 2018, on average, one woman reported a rape every 15 minutes across the country, according to a government report. In 2022, the latest year for which complete data are available, there were still more than 31,000 reported rapes. The government strengthened penalties after 2012, including a minimum sentence of 10 years and a possible death penalty for crimes against children. But yet nothing has changed.
To put it plainly, India has a massive rape crisis. And the most disturbing part of it all? Our own government.
Right now, 16 sitting politicians are charged under rape-related sections of the Indian Penal Code (specifically Section 376), including two MPs and 14 MLAs. This isn’t a problem tied to just one party, either. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) have five lawmakers each facing rape charges. These are the same people we trust to write the laws protecting women’s rights.
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Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh perfectly captures this culture of protecting the powerful. He is a convicted rapist who has managed to walk out of jail 16 separate times while serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his female followers. Letting a convicted rapist leave his prison cell 16 times isn’t just a regular administrative decision; it is a systematic dismantling of justice that completely silences his victims and mocks the rule of law.
Modern Pressure and Historical Proof
Now, let us look at society. From the moment a girl grows up in India, society imposes an unwritten dress code on her. We are told to dress “Modestly,” to wear loose, boxy clothes, and to drape ourselves in layers just to avoid the predatory male gaze. It’s an exhausting, everyday mental tax where women are forced to swallow the blame before a crime is even committed — as if a piece of fabric is the only thing standing between a man and basic human decency.
But if we take a step back into history, in ancient India, clothing was barely a strip of fabric. If you look at temple sculptures or the famous paintings in the Ajanta caves, women routinely left their upper bodies completely uncovered. For thousands of years, going bare-chested wasn’t provocative — it was just practical for a hot climate, and it carried absolutely no societal stigma. Men back then looked at women as human beings, not objects, and somehow managed to control their urges without needing women to hide under layers of cloth.
In fact, the tailored blouse and the ideas of “modesty” didn’t even exist until the British colonials forced their prudish views onto our culture. So, if men centuries ago could see a minimally dressed woman and maintain basic human respect, why can’t men do it now? Expecting modern women to wrap themselves in oversized clothes to “prevent” assault isn’t an Indian tradition — these are just the chains we call traditions, weaponised as a modern excuse for zero male accountability
State Inaction and Male Privilege
When you look at how the system treats men in power versus how it treats women who seek justice, the disparity is glaring. The government’s inaction isn’t a flaw in the system; it is a feature designed to preserve male privilege at all costs. We are dealing with an institutional boys’ club where the state would rather protect a predator’s reputation and political utility than validate a woman’s trauma. When a survivor comes forward, she is met with endless bureaucracy, character assassination, and systemic delays. Meanwhile, a well-connected man gets fast-tracked pardons, bail, and political shields.
True progress cannot be measured by economic growth when half the population lives in constant fear. India cannot claim to be a modern superpower while its government chooses to shield predators. Real change will only happen when the state stops opening prison gates for the powerful, stops policing what women wear, and finally decides that a woman’s right to safety is worth more than a man’s privilege.
