Justice Served??
“You know, I used to say, my daughter is engine of the family. All of us were like bogies yoked to the engine.” said the father who lost his daughter, while the mother said “Sundays are the hardest. I feel like she’s moving around us,”. For parents, the pain of losing a child is immeasurable and in-spite of that, Nirbhaya’s mother stood up and fought tooth & nail to get justice to her daughter. And Today, after the four convicts, who brutally gang raped her daughter in 2012, were hanged at Tihar jail, she said that justice has finally been done and women will feel safe now.
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Nirbhaya won today, and her family must be at peace. But there are several people who are guilty of this horrendous crime are still alive. For me there is nothing to celebrate or to be happy about. We know for a fact, that this penalty might have served justice but it won’t change anything around us. Where there are thousands of rape cases reported every year, only 4 accused are hanged while others are just free and fearlessly roaming around us.
Low reporting and punishment rates
Victims in our county are often too ashamed to come forward. Sexual assault is a very humiliating and dehumanising act against someone. The person really feels invaded and there is a lot of shame attached to that. Attached to that shame is a lot of self-blame. Victims of sexual assault almost always blame themselves, and we can understand why, because in our culture, we tend to blame victims in general. We say things like, “She shouldn’t have been wearing that kind of outfit, she shouldn’t have drank so much, why did she go to that party?” We find some reason to blame the victim.
Powerful Perpetrators
Even if survivors choose to report sexual assaults, justice is not always served. Powerful people such as politicians and other dignitaries somehow manage to get rid of such accuse by hook or by crook. These powerful monsters make the rape victim and their family suffer whenever they raise their voice against them.
Most of the people who are targeted of such sexual abuse, who have experienced it prefer keeping it to themselves, or a few might not even be aware that what has happened to them can be classified as sexual abuse or harassment. Sexual assault doesn’t mean only rape, it can also be attempted rape. Lastly, do not keep it to yourself. You can talk about it to your friends, family, teachers and colleagues. Do not feel ashamed of what has happened, do not feel guilty and never feel like it was your fault. Please, speak up. There are always people out there ready to help you, ready to listen. Speak up and scream if you have to.
