Rape and rage: A time for hope?- The Malaysian Insider
January 3, 2013 — A visitor to India this week would have been greeted with the spectacle of civil society across all walks of life all over the country in a state of uproar over the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in the capital New Delhi.
Following on the mass protests over corruption in politics earlier this year, it is clear that this is a country in transition. On the one hand are centuries of seemingly unchangeable social, religious and cultural values that have led to deep internal divisions around the idea of paternalism, and on the other is an increasingly vocal minority of educated ambitious and nationalistic young Indians keen for their country to occupy global newspaper headlines for all the right reasons.
That the two India's live in parallel universes is apparent from the fact that The Hindustan Times reported that despite the national outrage and hysteria that followed the rape and murder incident, “more than 20 women were raped, including a three-year-old playschool student, in Delhi after December 16 — the day on which the physiotherapist was brutalised by six men on board a moving bus.”
A quick look back into the Canny Ong incident a few years ago and the uproar it generated, to the recent brouhaha over two young men getting away with the lightest of punishments for statutory rape, and it is hard to miss the similarities between the two countries and the eventual cynicism these cases engender.
Every time something like this occurs, there is much hand wringing and discussions on gender equality, female safety and amendments to the laws asking for harsher punishments for the offenders, only for things to remain largely unchanged after a decent interval. That may not quite be the case. Despite regular cases of teenage abortions, incest and child marriages, there is increasing awareness and exposure of Malaysians to the secular nature of these social crimes. There is introspection too within the respective faiths as to the boundaries of social conduct that should be deemed permissible within their religions.
There is an emerging consensus that these crimes are abhorrent no matter what socio-economic strata they occur in, and therefore need to be dealt with at a more holistic level. There is also a realisation among a majority of social conservatives and liberals alike that no matter their differences on a host of issues, certain things cannot be countenanced in a country with aspirations to developed country status.
So there is more exposure by the media, more pressure by civil society on the government and the judiciary and more education at home to sensitise boys and girls alike on such crimes, the need for stricter penalties and speedy delivery of justice, gender equality and the need for mutual respect.
There will always be radicals anywhere in the world, but civil society is beginning to realise that silence only emboldens those with a perverted agenda. That when women are empowered there is hope for society as a whole to progress on these issues comes from Bangladesh, where despite endemic poverty significant strides have been made beyond microfinance towards gender parity in high school enrolment, lowered maternal and infant mortality and rising female employment rates, leading to a marked decline in extremist attitudes and high economic growth rates.
The Malaysian national discourse needs to move beyond the usual staple of race and religion to a more substantial debate on how to create a more inclusive society where the rights of all are protected and the potential of all is given a chance to fully develop.
In incidents of this kind, it is easy to see the situation as bleak, and indeed there is a long way to go, but what is needed is more focus on our treatment of women, more discussions on providing equality of opportunity, more outrage at gender-based crime, more ridicule of the Obedient Wives Club and more encouragement to women to be more assertive within their families on these issues.
Social change is slow, but given enough desire, inevitable. Happy New Year.
Following on the mass protests over corruption in politics earlier this year, it is clear that this is a country in transition. On the one hand are centuries of seemingly unchangeable social, religious and cultural values that have led to deep internal divisions around the idea of paternalism, and on the other is an increasingly vocal minority of educated ambitious and nationalistic young Indians keen for their country to occupy global newspaper headlines for all the right reasons.
That the two India's live in parallel universes is apparent from the fact that The Hindustan Times reported that despite the national outrage and hysteria that followed the rape and murder incident, “more than 20 women were raped, including a three-year-old playschool student, in Delhi after December 16 — the day on which the physiotherapist was brutalised by six men on board a moving bus.”
A quick look back into the Canny Ong incident a few years ago and the uproar it generated, to the recent brouhaha over two young men getting away with the lightest of punishments for statutory rape, and it is hard to miss the similarities between the two countries and the eventual cynicism these cases engender.
Every time something like this occurs, there is much hand wringing and discussions on gender equality, female safety and amendments to the laws asking for harsher punishments for the offenders, only for things to remain largely unchanged after a decent interval. That may not quite be the case. Despite regular cases of teenage abortions, incest and child marriages, there is increasing awareness and exposure of Malaysians to the secular nature of these social crimes. There is introspection too within the respective faiths as to the boundaries of social conduct that should be deemed permissible within their religions.
There is an emerging consensus that these crimes are abhorrent no matter what socio-economic strata they occur in, and therefore need to be dealt with at a more holistic level. There is also a realisation among a majority of social conservatives and liberals alike that no matter their differences on a host of issues, certain things cannot be countenanced in a country with aspirations to developed country status.
So there is more exposure by the media, more pressure by civil society on the government and the judiciary and more education at home to sensitise boys and girls alike on such crimes, the need for stricter penalties and speedy delivery of justice, gender equality and the need for mutual respect.
There will always be radicals anywhere in the world, but civil society is beginning to realise that silence only emboldens those with a perverted agenda. That when women are empowered there is hope for society as a whole to progress on these issues comes from Bangladesh, where despite endemic poverty significant strides have been made beyond microfinance towards gender parity in high school enrolment, lowered maternal and infant mortality and rising female employment rates, leading to a marked decline in extremist attitudes and high economic growth rates.
The Malaysian national discourse needs to move beyond the usual staple of race and religion to a more substantial debate on how to create a more inclusive society where the rights of all are protected and the potential of all is given a chance to fully develop.
In incidents of this kind, it is easy to see the situation as bleak, and indeed there is a long way to go, but what is needed is more focus on our treatment of women, more discussions on providing equality of opportunity, more outrage at gender-based crime, more ridicule of the Obedient Wives Club and more encouragement to women to be more assertive within their families on these issues.
Social change is slow, but given enough desire, inevitable. Happy New Year.
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