Silence of Rape Victims
The recent Banani rape case shows a tendency to lay the blame on the victim. Accusing the victims has reflected our perception about rape. The old legal system, its implementation and lack of knowledge about consent are the main reasons for blaming the victim. Section 375 of the Penal Code 1860 mentions rape, ‘When a man forcefully has sexual intercourse with a woman, we call it rape’. But since there is no clear statement about consent, the loop in the law leads also to marital rape.
The definition of sex in Penal Code “legalizes” domestic violence where women are physically tortured. A study conducted by the UNFPA and icddr, b in 2011 shows that 10 percent of urban and 14 percent of rural men in Bangladesh have been sexually violent against women at least once in their life. This demonstrates the probability of numerous unfiled marital rape cases.
‘Two fingers test’ has been widely criticized as a legal probation of rape. The non-scientific method of inserting two fingers inside the vagina to find out whether the victim is sexually active disfavors the victim’s claim.
The legal requisition for sex education at educational institutions, has not been implemented properly. Neither the one stop crisis centers are immediately reachable, nor is any separate team to place complaints.
The implementation of existing laws and social campaigns run by different human rights groups can rephrase the concept of consent in order to prevent sexual violence. Note: I hope that I understood the last sentence correctly
Read more : http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/the-big-picture/why-ra
