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The Legal System Of Second Sexisim In India By : Mudra Bhayje & Sadqa Shams
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THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF SECOND SEXISIM IN INDIA
Authored By : Mudra Bhayje
Co- Authore: Sadqa Shams
Alliance School Of Law, Bangolre
ABSTRACT
If we take a moment and think about a
rapist, we picture a man. We have an inbuilt thought system that makes us
believeve that sexual predator will always be a man .Why do we always blame it
on men? The act of being a sexual predator or sexual offender is not
gender-based. It is the custom and the stereotypical belief engrossed with the
social stigma that sexual predators will always be a man. Both men and women can be victims of
incarcerated crime. Like all crimes, raping someone is also one of the biggest
offenses, it does not matter who is the victim. We have to understand both
sides of the coin as in if men can rape women so can a man rape a man and a
woman can also rape a man. The world is blindsided by the sexual atrocities
faced by men. When men face sexual violence they have the same emotions as the
females but they don’t come out and say that in the world out loud because of
the stereotype of masculinity and social ridicule they would face.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION:
JURISPRUDENCE which IS THE STUDY OF
THE SCIENCE OF LAW deals with law in general and not just any specific statute
or a rule. It covers the philosophies , the concepts and the principles. It
reveals the true identity of the legislature. The jurisprudential aspect of
Indian Penal code started with the first draft of Indian penal code which was
givenby First Law Commission, chaired by Thomas Babington Macaulay in the year
1837 and it took around two decades accommodating various revisions and
amendments . This led to the final drafting in 1850 and presented to
legislative council in 1856.Since that time IPC has witnessed 104 amendments
till the year 2021 with that the most recent amendment is the Criminal Law
Amendment Act, 2018 which introduced section 376AB, section 376BA and section
376 DA which strengthened the severity of rape laws in India but nothing came
near to defining the punishments given to the perpetrators of male assault
cases In this article we will be covering the jurisdiction of the
criminalization against the “ second sexism “ in India. The Second Sexism was a
book written by Simone De Beauvoir which is a scholarly and a passionate plea
for the abolition of the myth of eternal feminine. The second sexism is the
neglected sexism which is not taken very seriously. This poses threat for the
males because it brings about a great deal of male disadvantage in the society.
Here the disadvantage is the discrimination faced by males due to their gender.
The sex of the person becomes a background in the minds of people to not get
into the realization that they can also be subjected to sexual assault. The
mere mention of sexual assault of males becomes a matter of laughable content.
It is not something which is done willingly it comes as a byproduct of the
laws, conventions and customs which has been prevalent for very long time. In a
country like India which is an elusive haven to the peaceful coexistence of
various dynamics of culture, heritage , values , beliefs and growing
technological advantage why is the sexual assault of men still a subject in
which not enough light have been shed upon . The rape law in India as defined
under section 375 is wide and covers all aspects of scrutiny when it comes to
the rape on women.
Whoever voluntarily has carnal
intercourse against order of nature with any man , woman or animal, shall be
punished with imprisonement for life or with imprisonement of either
description for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable
to fine. Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse
necessary to the offence described in this section.It is not necessary that
there should be a full penetration even the slightest bit can be rape. So in
this purview when a woman forcefully causes the penetration of a man can be
deemed as rape but nowhere in section 375 it talks about the penis being forcefully getting penetrated into the vagina
, anus and mouth by a woman. The section 377 which mentions “against the order
of nature” brings a little perspective to the rape on males because when
anything is done without consent and with coercion takes the form of sexual
assault. The entire disparity on this issue is to be blamed on the sociological
conventions in India . Both men and women commit crimes but men are seen that they are more subjectedto capital punishments
for women. Not only this but the domestic violence against husbands are also
increasing in number but very few near to none reach the jurisdiction of court.
Therefore this paper will be covering the issues of second sexism.
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
This
paper critically examines male rape in India. It says that to protect women and
girls we have enacted numerous laws in society but why are we not taking
similar steps for men as well? Why don’t we have laws to protect them? There is
a stereotype in society that men can't be raped which is the biggest barrier in
this case. When we analyze section 375 thoroughly we get that a victim of rape
is always a woman and the rape offender is always a man. The 174th law commission of India in March 2000 recommended that rape
laws in India should be made gender–neutral to protect male victims too. The
underlying principle behind it is a presumption that the offense of rape will
be desexualized and the stigma attached to it will vanish. However, the
government did not act to implement the suggestions. We have to consider both
sides of the coin where males are not the predators but rather the victims.
There is a dire need to have gender-neutral laws or else these cases will go
unreported as so has been happening.
[2]This
article on Sexual violence against men in India written by Jahnvi Mehta briefly
looks into the sexual violence faced by males. It tells how rape has become
more of a gendered crime and it is considered it is physically impossible for a
female to rape a man. Section 377 only talks about sodomy. Their sexual
harassment of women in the workplace places act but there is no act on
men. The pseudonyms in society are not
capable of recognizing that men can also be victims of the gendered specific
crime. We have brought about gender-neutral laws which are equivalent to males
as well as females.
[3]Turchik,
J. A., & Edwards, K. M. (2012). Myths about male rape: A literature
review. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 13(2),
211.
Male
Rape myths are spread extravagantly all across western society. This article reviews
the historical origins, development, and current manifestations of male rape
myths prevalent in Western society. Their origin is in the field of medicine,
media, law, and incarcerated settings. It tries to find remedies to remove
these myths institutionally and individually.
[4]Javaid,
A. (2015). Male rape myths: Understanding and explaining social attitudes
surrounding male rape. Masculinities and social change, 4(3),
270-294.
There
are a lot of myths surrounding us about male rape victims. These myths somehow
form barriers that prevent the victims from reporting the cases. It has a
diverse effect on society. This them to not seek treatment and help in society. This
paper will examine male rape myths in the areas of media, incarcerated
settings, and the wider community, focusing on England and Wales, UK. Male rape
myths are related to various belief systems like racism, sexism, homophobia,
and ageism. There needs to be a proper examination of these links with
well-formulated research in this regard. The roots of the problem lie in these
belief unethical belief systems. There need to be various rape awareness
programs where everyone is made aware of reports like these. The male rape
victims due to societal norms cannot come out in a nutshell to talk about this
but when they do they are going to need medical practitioners and counselors to
help them guide through this.
[5]Doherty,
K., & Anderson, I. (2004). Making sense of male rape: Constructions of
gender, sexuality, and experience of rape victims. Journal of Community
& Applied Social Psychology, 14(2), 85-103. The
investigation consisted of 30 males and females which took place separately.
They were asked to give their idea and thinking about male rape victims. To
this experience, they are subjected to majorly important things – the
experience of rape acts and victims of male rape. Compapred to gays and women
rape on a heterosexual male is considered to be more traumatic. They also said
that heterosexual male victims are more subjected to ridicule because if they
are going and reporting cases society sees them as if they departing from
hegemonic masculinity.
[6]In the
article, Second Sexism is written David Baltar we understand that To this day
men and women face extreme discrimination. One of the most underlying causes is
male patriarchy. The male patriarchy is so strong that women themselves divulge
into it and serves its ends. This somehow paves the way for some problems in
society because males start thinking that they are a superior breed and for
them to face problems is completely inevitable. Due to this society also build
on this platform and the second sexism starts to get further ignored. We have
to take second sexism very seriously because males also face various kinds of
disadvantages which does not get highlighted quite often. Since it is a topic
that is not spoken out loud in the world so does not mean it does not need well
examination. A few years back even child sex abuse was a vague concept to the
world but now its recognition has gained dominance in the world.
CHAPTER 3.1 Research problem:
Since that time IPC has witnessed 104
amendments till the year 2021 with that the most recent amendment is the Criminal
Law Amendment Act, 2018 which introduced section 376AB, section 376BA and
section 376 DA which strengthened the severity of rape laws in India but
nothing came near to defining the punishments given to the perpetrators of male
assault cases In this article we will be covering the jurisdiction of the
criminalization against the “ second sexism “ in India. There are many laws
under jurisdiction that helps every other person to get justice, there are so
many cases regarding rape, sexual assault, and
molestation these cases are about
females as well as males, as we know that males are also victims in many of
these case and they have also got raped or sexually assault.
CHAPTER 3.2 Scope of study :
The scope of the paper is limited to
the criminalization against the “ second sexism “ in India. The second sexism
is the neglected sexism which is not taken very seriously. This poses threat
for the males because it brings about a great deal of male disadvantage in the
society. Here the disadvantage is the discrimination faced by males due to
their gender.
CHAPTER 3.3 Objectives :
1. To analyses why there is no law in
India for men
2. To examine section 375 and 377 of
Indian penal code (IPC).
3. To understand the perspective of
the jurisdiction towards the male victim.
4. To study the difference of Rape on
adult male and female.
CHAPTER 3.4 Research question:
1 Is Rape on adult male is different
from female?
2 why does there is no enough
awareness regarding sexual violence against male?
3 what are the laws regarding Rape in
India as well as in other countries?
CHAPTER 4 Methodology:
The method is followed throughout the paper is non doctrinal.
The study is based on Primary and Secondary Data. Primary sources referred to
in this paper include Statutes, Cases and Books. Secondary sources include
various articles and journals that have been referred to for the purposes of
this paper. All the information so gathered has been studied analytically to
deal with the Research Questions. The non-doctrinal method is used to obtain
information concerning the current scenario with respect to the research
problem. Analytical research is followed in this paper for the purposes of
critically analysing the research problem. All the necessary and relevant
materials which form a part of the study are collected from a wide range of
sources that include books, articles, journals, newspapers, reports and various
seminars. The present study is basically a theoretical one and as such no field
study is conducted.
How often do women rape men?
The question above might sound
irrelevant but the implication is diverse and hidden. Consider a scenario where
a man gets raped and a woman gets raped. The woman has various resources where
she can seek help but all man can do is be dead inside. Men getting raped is in
itself a very taboo issue.
[7]The Refugee Law Project which is a
partner organization of Christian Aid projects a horrifying report by Will Storr who travels
to Uganda to meet traumatized survivors, and projects that male rape victims
and their perpetrators both should be bought to justice. Eunice Owiny was
employed by Markere University’s Refugee law project to look into the traumas
faced by displaced men during the war from all over Africa. This one who had
escaped from the civil wars in Congo and then later taken by rebels was being
raped over 3 times a day for 3 years continuously.
In Uganda being gay is a crime in 38
out of 53 African Nations. So for me to come out and report the crime meant
that they would be ostracized by friends, family, and police authorises. They
would be subject to mass shame and humility. He met Jean Paul who was one of
the rebels in the civil war who was ganged up by the enemies and raped multiple
times. With almost trembling lips he narrated his painful story. He was asked
to remove his clothes and take the position of a Muslim man. He assaulted and
raped continuously and was made to do work of the most inhume nature. He was
beaten black and blue every day while 11 rebels waited in a queue to rape him.
Jean Paul till today experiences pain and bleeds whenever he walks. Men like
these not only go through physical pain but also mental suffering from their
wives leaving them behind with their kids. They are left alone and despised. It
is believed that men should be strong, powerful, and dominant they have no
place to be weak and vulnerable in the world. They are the sole bread owner of
the family. If they turn out to be weak then how would he protect his family
and children?
Men aren't simply raped, they are
forced to penetrate holes in banana trees that run with acidic sap, to sit with
their genitals over a fire, to drag rocks tied to their penis, to give oral sex
to queues of soldiers, to be penetrated with screwdrivers and sticks.
The researcher Lara Stemple at the
University of California reports that male sexual violence is one of the
components of wars. There are around 4076 NGOs that talk about wartime sexual
violence but very few of them talk about the experience of men.
Margot Wallström who is the UN
special representative of the secretary-general for sexual violence in
conflict, tells us in a statement that the UNHCR extends its services to
refugees of both genders. Since there is a great stigma that men face so there
are more cases than are reported. Wallström says that women are mostly the
victims but she has seen cases of men and boys getting raped too.
Let's understand that even if male
assault victims are not well known but various statistics prove otherwise. [8]Looking
at ‘The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey’
brief survey
Nearly a quarter of men (24.8% or
27.6 million) in the U.S. experienced some form of contact sexual violence in
their lifetime (Figure 2), with 3.5% of men experiencing contact sexual
violence in the 12 months preceding the survey (Table 2).
• About 1 in 14 men (7.1% or nearly
7.9 million) in the U.S. was made to penetrate someone else (attempted or
completed) at some point in their lifetime. o Approximately 1.6% of men were
made to penetrate through completed forced penetration, 1.4% experienced
situations where attempts were made to make them penetrate someone else through
the use of force, and 5.5% were made to penetrate someone else through
completed alcohol/drug facilitation at some point in their lifetime.
• In the U.S., 0.7% of men (an
estimated 827,000 men) reported being made to penetrate (attempted or
completed) in the 12 months preceding the survey.
• About 2.6% of U.S. men (an
estimated 2.8 million) experienced completed or attempted rape victimization in
their lifetime.
• Approximately 1 in 10 men (9.6% or an
estimated 10.6 million men) experienced sexual coercion (e.g., being worn down
by someone who repeatedly asked for sex, or sexual pressure due to someone
using their influence or authority) in their lifetime.
• Almost one-fifth of men (17.9% or
approximately 19.9 million men) reported unwanted sexual contact (e.g.,
groping) at some point in their lifetime.
·
1
in 3 women and 1 in 4 men experience sexual violence during their lifetime.
·
1
in 5 women and 1 in 38 men have experienced attempted rape.
·
1
in 14 men was made to penetrate someone.
[10]The Save Indian Family Foundation says that as of May 2020, there were
at least 1700 men who reported that they have been victims of domestic violence
by their spouses. There are no laws about men being victims of domestic
violence but the harsh reality is that even husbands are victims of such
atrocities. This foundation aims as recognizing men’s rights as a part of human
rights. Society considers men to be expendables even though most suicide,
homicide, and homeless victims are all males.
- 34.3% of
men were affected by economic violence
- 28.6% of
men were affected by physical violence
- 27.5% of
men were affected by emotional violence
- 20.4% of
men were affected by sexual violence
- The
lowest violence that all the men surveyed faced was verbal abuse
[11]RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest
National Network ) is one such anti-sexual violence organization that aims to provide
justice to perpetrators, help survivors and prevent sexual violence. Millions
of men in the United States have been victims of rape.
- As of 1998, 2.78 million men in the U.S. had been
victims of attempted or completed rape.5
- About 3% of American men—or 1 in 33—have
experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.5
- 1 out of every 10 rape victims is male
2. why there is no enough awareness regarding
sexual violence against men?
The silence in India needs
to break, and we need to spread awareness regarding the sexual violence Sexual violence against men is a serious issue that
often goes unnoticed and unaddressed. Men are often reluctant to come forward
and report incidents of sexual violence due to fear of being stigmatized or not
being believed. It is important to raise awareness about this issue and create
safe spaces for men to speak out and seek support. Sexual violence can have
severe physical and psychological effects on male survivors, and it is
important to provide them with access to counseling and other resources. It is
also crucial to challenge societal norms and stereotypes that perpetuate the
idea that men cannot be victims of sexual violence. By acknowledging and
addressing this issue, we can work towards creating a safer and more inclusive
society for all.
Sexual violence against
men is a topic that is often ignored or minimized in our society, even though
it is a serious issue that affects a significant number of men. Men can be
victims of sexual violence in various forms, including rape, sexual assault,
and sexual harassment. However, many people still hold the misconception that
men cannot be raped or sexually assaulted, or that such experiences are not as
traumatic for men as they are for women. Sexual violence can have a devastating
impact on men, both physically and emotionally. It can cause a range of
psychological issues, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts. Men who have experienced sexual
violence may feel shame, guilt, and fear, and may be reluctant to seek help due
to the stigma and shame associated with being a male victim of sexual violence
CONCLUSION:
Justice Krishna
Iyer said, “When a woman is raped, what is inflicted is not mere physical
injury but a deep sense of some deathless shame. Most of the countries have
succeeded in making gender neutral laws for rape. The Indian Legislature too
has to come forward and make such laws. We are living in the 21st
Century where we believe solemnly in Article 21 i.e right to equality. If our
Constitution has already adopted the fundamentals of right to equality in
various sphere then it also has to adopt in the basis of sexual abuse and rape
happening on men all across India. The legislature makes laws suiting to the
emergency of the crisis in the country, rape happening on men doesn’t make the
headlines everyday since men fear the stigma which comes along with it. This
social stigma has to breakthrough in order for men to come up and address this
issue. It is time the citizens acknowledge this fact and support the male
victims of sexual violence when they report the cases and both men and women
perpetrators of sexual violence should be punished equally under law for this
brutal crime
RFERENCES:
[1]
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.ijlmh.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Silent-Male-Rape-Victims-in-India.pdf
[1]
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[2]
https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-4685-sexual-violence-against-men-in-india.html
[3]
https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0023207
[4]
https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/1854/
[5]
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/casp.765
[6]
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23559072
[7]
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men
[8]https://www.nsvrc.org/resource/2500/national-intimate-partner-and-sexual-violence-survey-2015-data-brief-updated-release
[9]
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/index.html
[10]
https://www.saveindianfamily.org/when-laws-say-mens-rights-are-not-human-rights/
[11]
https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence
Article Information
The Legal System Of Second Sexisim In India By : Mudra Bhayje & Sadqa Shams
Authors: Mudra Bhayje, Sadqa Shams
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/03/25
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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