Open Access Research Article
EXAMINING RAPE FROM THE LENS OF UNCONVENTIONAL COGNITIVE FACTORS (By-Nistha Sahoo)
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EXAMINING
RAPE FROM THE LENS OF UNCONVENTIONAL COGNITIVE FACTORS
Authored By-Nistha Sahoo, IFIM Law
School[1]
Abstract
Rape is considered to be a heinous
and monstrous crime in our society. It is a matter of disgrace to delay the
trial of rape, but it is absolutely fine to blindly surrender against the
triggering points of the crime. Is justice delivered if a rapist is trialled
for the crime? Isn’t it our social duty to plough out the rooted strands
leading to rape? If justice means a mere execution of a convict, then why are
we still struggling with rape! This paper revolves around the factors leading
to rape and tries to derive an interconnection between ignored yet crucial
elements behind such a dreadful act. It will examine rape via the lens of
cognition and further distinctive parameters to unlock the shackles of your
mind cultivating a new perspective towards rape.
KEY WORDS:
Toxic Masculinity, Hostility towards
women, Dehumanization, Sexual Objectification, Body Autonomy, Cognitive
Distortions, Intimacy and Attachment, Motivational Interviewing
Introduction:
In an economy which dwells in the
universe of “how” and “what”, we consistently undermine the importance of
“why”. In the verge of fitting in a generalized box, we lose the original
ingredient necessary to derive justice.
Usually, rape is misunderstood and
inappropriately envisioned which leads to the ever-increasing cases of rape. In
the race of satisfying our own justification, we fail to intricately analyse
the strands contributing to weave a cloth to suffocate innocent lives.
If giving a death sentence to a
rapist is the end to the crime then why are the girls still living with the
nightmare of being raped even in their houses? It is the need of the hour to
uncarve the hidden
contributions leading to fostering of
rape in the society. We need to change our perspectives and come out of our
repressed conditionings to take the charge as a frontrunner creating a more
holistic and escalating economy.
Creating an empowered shield to
protect us rather than escaping from the outcome of our actions will help in
alienating crime from the society. A self-aware approach including cross
examination of various social stigmas is a mental revolution each one needs to
go through. The moment we stop feeding the wrong conditions and take an
assertive step towards forming our own definitions, we will set free our lives
from the clutches of the society.
An
Encounter To Unlash Rape
A rapist is not the result of a mere
lust or a violence cultivated out of a single emotion of hatred, rather it is a
resultant of various complicated emotions entangled. Rape is an amalgamation of
domination, control, power and misogyny. A question mark on nature vs
nature arises and Psychologist Del Paulhus categorizes evil behaviour under
four heads i.e., Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, Narcissism and Everyday Sadism.[2]The
attitude the rapists carried left an unforgettable patch on the minds
irrespective of the brutality of the act.
Lack of empathy, narcissism,
hostility are few common characteristics which gets fuelled by rigid
attributes to commit rape. The dehumanization generated in rape acts as a
psychological lubricant diluting one’s inflaming destructive passions. It
enables a person to climb the pinnacle of uncertainties in order to perform
acts unthinkable. The design of the justice system compels to compensate the
violation by catching and sentencing the convict. But there is no effective
system to analyse the core elements which influenced the offender to commit the
crime. We need to profile each rape case in order to derive a link or cause
which is essential to study the cause behind such unpredictable crimes.
Varied experiments done by
psychologists suggest the importance of the study of psychology of the rapist
to understand the real objectives behind rape. A study by a US psychologist
interviewed 50 men having quite contrasting backgrounds with unimaginably
different personalities belonging to different domains of the world. The only
common factor being their unconcerned and callous attitude towards the criminal
offense.[3]
Sex and violence are biologically
linked because of the common trigger hormone called testosterone. It was
considered to be an asset in earlier days to showcase aggression accessing
women. Psychology professor Norm Shpancer, studied that people hate to go
against the societal norms, as a result when a woman says “No’ ’it triggers his
ego.[4]He
found men internalizing and generalising that flirting and foreplay will
eventually lead to intercourse and it is the stepping stone for the pleasure
they seek at the end.
Usage of coercive behaviour was a
common trait found in the rapists who were sure to get away with rape without
punishment. Peterson, assistant professor of psychology at University of
Missouri claimed antisocialism as one trait which depicted care less
attitude towards society and its rules.[5]
Although it is a matter of
impossibility to try fit the rapists under a single umbrella, we can categorise
them based on few highlighted traits that are dominant in them:
1.Opportunistic Rapist: An unplanned
and impulsive sexual gratification in exchange with forceful practices to gain
the opportunity of the circumstance without any predestined plan is called an
opportunistic rapist. Due to uncontrollable assistance of one’s own impulses
they look for instances such as lonely women in an isolated road.
2.Anger Rapist: Fuelled with severe
violence, aggression and previous antisocial offending, he tries to objectify
the victim by using her as like a punching bag to burst his anger.
3.Sexual Rapist: A person preoccupied
with sexual fantasies and urges ready to exploit someone sexually.
4.Sexually non sadistic rapist:
Sexual arousal is fetish in nature and he is ingrained by the offence
supportive beliefs in order to satisfy his insecurities regarding sex and
masculinity.
5.Sexually sadistic Rapist: The power
and control over the victim is the trigger point and he is not motivated by
sexual feelings rather aroused by humiliation and degradation to the victim.
6.Vindictive Rapist: Anger and
aggression focused on women specifically intending to humiliate and degrade
victims.
Analysis Of
Criminal Mindsets
Society has surrounded us with
certain jurisdictions with a vision to cultivate a harmonious environment for
everyone to live in. Even though genetic endowment tells what one can do,
society curbs it to what should not be done. A nurture of a criminal mind is a
resultant of a habitual thinking errors leading to a cracked behaviour.
It is an integral part to get a deep
insight into the way criminals think and what pattern enrolls their names on
the front pages of our newspaper. Criminologists and mental health experts
focus in studying the psychological traits which leads to heinous crimes.[6]
Rape occurs when vaginal or anal
penetration occurs without lawful consent. When the consent of the victim is
obtained by putting her or any near to person in fear of death or hurt,
fooling via date rape or when the victim is a minor.
Myths formulated by the way our
society looks at rape:
i.
A
women’s dress up and behaviour indicates if she asks for sex or not.
ii.
A
woman enjoys being raped.
iii.
Women
are raped only by strangers.
iv.
Women
can avoid being raped if they really wanted to.
v.
Women
pretend to cry for revenge over powerful men.
Lack of meaningful research in India
highlights a great lacuna of skills required to analyse mental health factors
that underlie criminal activities.
Does
Cultural And Societal Norms Foster Rape?
TOXIC MASCULINITY
In a patriarchal society which is
highly dominated and conditioned to fulfil own requirements by crushing the
rest, sexual assault is not about sexual gratification but more about
dominating people, Sherry Hamby, a research professor of psychology at
University of South in the US state of Tennessee exclaimed.[7]
Toxic masculinity promotes rape
culture because it showcases a means of social status among male peers to be
highly sexually experienced. Not being sexually active is seen as a drawback
and stigmatized. Peer pressure of such kind entangles young men to commit such
crimes and they do rapes in order to highlight the pride they carry.
A fake masculinity is reflected when
the environment around including media asserts dominance over women and
denounces less sexual encounters.
HOSTILITY TOWARDS WOMEN
Constrained by the several rape
myths, rapists hold fallacious beliefs regarding rape. They visualise women as
sex objects and derive their sexual need exploiting their dignity. They assume
a NO to be a YES, misconcepting that the women are challenging the man’s
potential.
Rapists usually carry this illusional
concept that women sexually arouse them and it’s their duty to repay them back.
Women being seen as inferior beings over men is the core cause behind this
dehumanization. A deep-rooted cultural training ingrains a loss of emotions
which blindfolds them to deal with their own feelings and value others too.[8]
IS THE RIGHT TO BODY AUTONOMY
IMPLEMENTED?
According to the research of UN, most
of the women in the developing countries are constrained from the decisions
affecting their bodies. May it be a sexual intercourse or using contraception
for sex, consent of the women is barely taken into accordance. The
repercussions of this are broadly forecasted by the ruthless rapes, forced
sterilization and genital mutilation.
Due to the entrenched patriarchy, a
woman is deprived of her right to body autonomy which breaches her right to
personal liberty and right to equality under Article 19 and Article 21
respectively. In the case Puttaswamy V. Union of India And Ors, it was held
that right to privacy was a constitutionally protected right and it satisfies
under Article 21.[9]
Natalia Kanem, the executive of UNFPA
says that inequalities ignite the violence which arises from the stigmatized
issue of gender discrimination. A woman’s bodily autonomy is labed when we
encounter honour killings, forced marriages, virginity tests and female genital
mutilation. The freedom to make decisions relating to pregnancy or abortions
should be awarded to her
irrespective of ruling over her.[10]
A FLASHBACK INTO NIRBHAYA CASE
A tragedy that left everyone
spellbound and questioned about the legitimacy of humanity left in this
wrathful world. Jyoti, a 22 year sacrificed her life in the tug of war battle
saving her dignity, integrity and self-respect till her last breath. She was
raped in a bus ferociously by four men, Ram, Mukesh, Thakur and Afroz.The whole
scenario was pre-planned and it was a bait put by these inhuman rapists who
wanted to satisfy their hunger by vanishing her spirit.
Jyoti wrestled against the convicts
by biting three of the attackers, but in vain. Their insanity and immoral
gesture forced them to beat her with a rod as a result leaving serious
injuries in her abdomen, intestines and genitals. Doctors disclosed the
fact that a blunt object i.e., the rod was used for penetration. Amidst her
endless rape, her friend was pinned and his helpless eyes couldn’t even attempt
to save Jyoti.[11]
After committing the whole offence,
the assailments tried very hard and removed every evidence claiming them to be
the suspects. With harsh and monstrous will they threw both the victims from
the moving bus. Jyoti’s body had innumerable bite marks showcasing the way they
engulfed her body like a piece of meat. At last Jyoti’s soul departed this
barbarous world and her demise fuelled to the new raging revolution which
arose. Now the fight was against every woman, who was toiling hard to live in
the hostile clutches of prevailing inhumanity. The whole world enraged and
fought for the justice ordering the hanging of the convicts.
The most appalling statement made by
Mukesh, one of the convicts stated that a girl is responsible for the rape, boy
and girl are not equal. Roaming in nights doing wrong things wearing wrong
clothes is reason for this. Moreover, he added that when being raped, she
should have stayed silent and not fight against in order to submit in front of
them. This crazed statement showcases the prisoner inside Mukesh who is ailing
in the framework of prejudiced beliefs.[12]
What Can Be
The Cause Behind Such Atrocious Gestures?
In a multifarious society which is
full of unpredictable instances, there is never a single or generalized cause
behind a certain act. Every case annexes the elements further highlighting the
broader picture to us. Whereas there are few core boulders which undoubtedly
become the path breaker for the rising change, here are few enlisted factors:
1.DEHUMANIZATION:
A highly dominance hierarchy over
rules the society and suppresses the heads of passive citizens by intimidating.
Violations of respect relating to the body autonomy are dehumanizing. The
invisible imprint it leaves behind when a person persuades an unwanted touch
communicates a message that their body is someone else’s property. The agenda
behind the rape is to create restrain of bodily rights.
The huge misconception that we dwell
with to mask the original reason is lust. People claiming attraction being the
cause behind such inhumanity is objectionable. Sexual assault and rape are
about exerting dominance. Abusers force innocents to relinquish control of
their bodies to serve themselves a platter to feel empowered.[13]
Ill conditioning of women stating
that their body is a public property decreases their self-esteem and moral to
defend them against these crimes. This as a result creates a negative body
persona leading the women to devalue themselves and judge their worth by
estimating their body according to the stagnant standards of the society.
2.SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION
OF WOMEN:
Objectification refers to treating a
person as a commodity without regard to their personality or dignity. It is a
type of dehumanization which portrays women as objects of male sexual desire
rather than individual beings. In the ongoing era of commercialising, women are
depicted as prostitutes, porn stars, etc. which devalues their sexuality giving
a negative indication of inferiority towards their body. The objectification
theory entails that female bodies are scrutinized and assessed to a greater
degree than male bodies. The objectifying gaze and media representatives are
broad examples of that.
The margin of acceptability is judged
based on the provocative clothing deviating the normal modesty norms. Sexually
charged content showcases via the dress up of provocative clothes highlights objectification
questioning the level at which our vision lies. A focus on appearance rather
than personality demonstrates an objectifying gaze by accelerating the eye
movements towards women’s chests and waists compared to that of boys. This
shallow attitude of sexually objectifying humans lacks emotions, warmth,
individuality and originality.[14]
3.COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS ABOUT
WOMEN:
Predominantly men have a misbelief
that both the genders are not equal. This misogynistic outlook vigours them to
overpower by demonstrating their manliness via rape. Rapists assume a woman’s
desire to have sex or not based on the attire she dressed in. This delusion far
from reality creates a platform where women can be marked as a sex object. She
is deduced based on her body language and appearance contrary to her
personality.[15]
It is asserted to be an acceptance
when her mouths seal, unfortunately rarely someone cares about the enraging
roar she depicts by her reserved silence. The male entitlement always governs a
woman like a nightmare to throttle her freedom. But the biased approach towards
valuing a male’s stand point over a woman is alarming in a society of
egalitarianism.
4.ATTACHMENT AND INTIMACY PROBLEMS:
Building a relationship takes into
accordance several factors which truly influence the way you deal with people
around. A lot of studies examined the early lives of rapists which undoubtedly
came up to be a mixture of sexual abuse, repression, dysfunctional family
relations which as a result create an aetiological imprint in them. Stuck in
the pattern of past traumas and feeding it with via escapism creates an
antisocial person who is aloof in the world. The battle to accept the reality
and adopt a teleological approach is missing. Lost without confronting to their
repressed emotions, an unempathetic and callous attitude acts as the stepping
stone for a horrific event.[16]
5.LACK OF MOTIVATIONAL
INTERVIEWING:
An outcome is a result of many phases
in one’s life. To create a non-judgementalism methodology in order to cultivate
a need for reduction of defensiveness, hostility and anxiety in a
self-protective interviewee is the need of the hour. The inclusion of stages of
precontemplation, contemplation, determination and finally actions to tackle it
is the series of process we need to go through.[17]To
understand the actual reason behind the whole choreography of the scenario, we
need to create a zone of acceptance. Pinning the culprit’s responses is a
crucial part to get to the root cause behind the scene.
Conclusion
A culture where everyone can live
without fear and uncertainty is a basic responsibility that each one of owes
towards the society. Valuing the differences and uniqueness of opinions in
order to create an enthusiastic and progressive environment is a need. To aim
towards a better world which breathes oxygen by exhaling all the carbon dioxide
in the form of negativity and insecurities, we need to create a platform to
speak about the root causes. Nay preoccupied definitions need to be redefined
to restore the liveliness.[18]A
new vision to take charge of the things without blaming the circumstance will
help create an equal level between women and men. Understanding the true causes
instead of escaping from the deadly encounters needs to be implemented.
Educating the whole society regarding their emotional, psychological, social,
physical health will be a game changer to turn the battle upside down. Creating
a more aware and responsible human capital where living is a matter of
enthusiasm and joy is our destiny.
Article Information
EXAMINING RAPE FROM THE LENS OF UNCONVENTIONAL COGNITIVE FACTORS (By-Nistha Sahoo)
Authors: Nistha Sahoo
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2022/08/30
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Access Open Access
- License CC 4.0
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