Wednesday 15 July 2009

Is there something seriously wrong with the way we bring up boys?

Is there something seriously wrong with the way we bring up our boys? Why are there so many cases of men who rape children? And what does this say of us? This shocker of a story really saddened me - a child raped every other day in Tamil Nadu! Think of the poor little girls and the trauma they would have to carry with them all through their lives. Just why do we do this to our children?
And shouldn't there be some very stiff time-bound action against men who rape children?
At Blogcatalog, I had asked a group of female bloggers from around the world, what they thought should be the punishment for rape? Women from different parts of the world had one verdict - yes, we all think alike- and the punishment sought is life imprisonment. Some even said castration. It sure seems to be an apt punishment for men who rape children.
Remember what Lorena Bobbit did to her husband who raped her? It happened long ago. Watch as she tells Oprah. I am sure many girls who have been through the trauma would wish they could do that to the rapist.

Earlier posts -
The vile men of religion

2 comments:

Eurasian Sensation said...

I work in the field of sexual assault prevention and I agree that in many cases the punishments are too low.

HOWEVER... the problem with advocating severe punishments like castration or life imprisonment, is that there can be many shades of grey in rape cases.

For example - a man who wilfully molests a small child vs. a man who has sex with a 15 y.o. who appears to be willing (but is not old enough to legally consent). Both are wrong and deserving of punishment, but the degree is very different.

Or another example - here in Australia there is a culture of drunkenness amongst young people. At parties, drunk males might have sex with drunk females who have no idea what is going on because of their state of mind; yet the male assumed that she was willing because she did not clearly say no.

This is also rape, yet it is at a very different end of the spectrum from pack-rape, or rape that occurs when the victim is clearly not consenting.

I'm not trying to defend rapists at all, just pointing out that sentencing rape is more complicated than you may have considered.

Unknown said...

@Eurasian Sensation,

I get your point. But that is where the judiciary comes in. And after exercising its wisdom takes action.

I wished to share what women in different parts of the world feel the punishment for rape should be. There is a great schism between how women view rape and how the state reacts – in most countries in a very patriarchal fashion.
Raping a child should be considered more serious than raping a woman. Unfortunately, I do not know of any country in the world which holds this view and punishes the rapist accordingly.

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