Modi: Parents, Take Responsibility for Your Sons
New Delhi, India—On August 15th, India celebrated its 67th Independence Day since severing its ties with the British Empire. However, rape victims and supporters throughout India weren’t just celebrating India’s Independence, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address as well. “Our Heads Hang in Shame”
Breaking his silence on the rising number of rape cases in India, Modi voiced his concern Friday over the lack of proper upbringing in sons. He asked parents to take responsibility for their sons. “Today, as we hear about the incidents of rape, our heads hang in shame” Modi said. “After all, the person committing the [rape] crime is also someone else’s son.”
India’s Rape Culture
Rape in India is the fourth most common crime against women in India. After the gruesome gang rape of a young student on a bus in 2012, India’s sexual assault culture has received worldwide criticism. In response, new laws were introduced to prevent more incidents from occurring. Unfortunately, the laws fell short of fixing the problem. Only last May, two 14 and 15 year old girls were found hanging from a tree after being gang raped in a village in Uttar Pradesh.
“We are in the 21st century and yet there is still no dignity for women as they have to go out in the open to defecate and they have to wait for darkness to fall,” the PM lamented. India, despite being one of the fastest growing nations in the world, continues to struggle against guarding its women against its male dominated and socially stratified culture. Two women are reportedly raped every hour. Rape victims who come forward are often punished due to India’s high values placed on their virginity. Rape victims are seen as the provokers, not their attackers.
Striking Against Rape Culture
Nearly three months since Modi, 63, first took office, his popularity amongst citizens has not waned. His speech, which also touched upon India’s deeply skewed gender ratio towards men and India’s industrialization, was widely praised for its progressiveness. Since taking office in April, Modi has stayed silent on India’s rape issues. Hopefully, with his new speech, Prime Minister Modi has spearheaded much-needed international dialogue on changing rape culture.
In the meantime, “The law will take its own course but as a society every parent has a responsibility to teach their sons the difference between right and wrong.”
Stricter laws are only effective prevention techniques to a certain extent, but it is India’s culture that has to be changed in the long run.