Essay on Controlling Sexual Offences in India !
It may be stated that like any other crime, sex crime cannot be eradicated completely. The modern changes in living style have contributed to stimulate sex crime in varying degrees. It is, therefore, necessary that apart from the legal provisions various other effective measures should also be utilised for repressing sex delinquency.
It may be suggested that the State Department of Family Planning be assigned the additional responsibility of warning the public about the evil consequences of illicit sex-indulgence and mobilise public opinion against this menace through intensive propaganda. If sincere efforts are made to appraise people of the various venereal diseases which the spouses are likely to contact as a result of excessive sex indulgence and the miseries of loss of health and wealth involved in undesirable sex-behaviour, there is no reason why sex-crime cannot be eliminated from society.
Educational institutions should also play an active role in mitigating this social evil by educating the youngsters to refrain from undesirable sex involvement because of the seriousness of consequence ensuing there from. Adolescents must be made to know the realities of life and choose for themselves the rightful path which can make them a useful member of society.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Dissemination of correct knowledge about sex, establishing Marriage Council Bureaus for proper help and guidance of sex psychopaths and creating healthy conditions in which innate sex desire of men and women can be satisfied without any fear of reprobation, may also help in reducing sex crime.
The role of law enforcement agencies such as the police, the lawyers, the magistracy, the rehabilitation centres as also the voluntary social organisations in combating sex criminality hardly needs to be emphasised. Law is only an instrument through which crimes can be prevented provided the law-enforcement machinery implements the provisions of law efficiently.
This is possible only with the active co-operation and support of concerned agencies. Unfortunately, general lack of understanding and coordination among the police, the prosecutors and other agencies and a tendency to criticise each other’s performance is hampering the suppression of sex crime and conviction of sex offenders.
Since crimes against women are partly the result of social system and partly the outcome of individual pathologies, a reformatory attitude towards female victims may be helpful in achieving the desired results. The rehabilitation has to be four-fold viz. physical, mental, psychological and social.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Physical rehabilitation involves creating proper living and working conditions to the victimised female. Mentally, she needs help to restore her lost esteem. Psychologically she needs help to overcome her depression and insecurity; and socially, she needs help to be accepted back in the social fold.
The pertinent question which needs to be answered is whether the sex deviates should be “punished” or “treated”. It must be reiterated that punishment implies elimination of criminals so that society is protected from contamination. Undoubtedly, sex offenders are a potential danger to society and therefore they should be kept at arms length. But the question arises as to how long are we going to hold them in cells or prisons?
That apart, most of the sex offenders are psychologically or physiologically abnormal persons and suffer from weakness of mind which deprives them of the vitality which could have saved them from falling a prey to sex tension. It would, therefore, be proper that effective treatment methods be employed to cure the sex offenders rather than subjecting them to rigours of punishment.
This, however, does not mean that sex offenders should be kept in bare custodial confinement like “patients” but some sort of psycho-therapic treatment should be given to them so that they are helped to be more discreet in overcoming their guilt.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
It is significant to note that majority of the sex-deviants are passive or non-aggressive by nature and therefore they are not difficult to handle. Under the circumstances “treatment” appears to be the only appropriate method of handling sexual offenders. The institution of marriage and religion should also be occasionally used to inculcate the values of morality and mutual respect among sex deviants.
It must be remembered that the very fact of being identified and labelled as ‘sexual offender’ makes it more likely that they will persist in crime. It would, therefore, be beneficial to extend helpful support to these offenders by treating them humanly rather than penalising them. It is heartening to note that Indian woman, by and large, is retaining her ancestral virtue of self-sacrifice.
Though she is fast imbibing the western ideals and mode of living, she has not yet lost her moorings. Particularly, in villages and rural areas, the influence of conventional morality in women-folk is still great. The need of the hour is to retain the traditional institutions of marriage and family and protect them from degeneration and destruction.
Social awakening alone may help in attaining this purpose through mass communication. The National Women Commission and other voluntary women organisations can play a significant role in this direction.
The emerging human rights jurisprudence at home and abroad requires all public authorities to act not merely compatible with the global perception of the right to live with human dignity but to resort to all possible means and strategies to strengthen and ensure the fundamental right to life and liberty of a woman who is a victim of rape.
In State of Maharashtra v. Madhukar Narayan, the Supreme Court, without referring to Article 21, has held that even a woman of easy virtue is entitled to privacy and that no one can invade her privacy as and when he likes. In another case i.e., Neera v. Life Insurance Corporation, the Apex Court held that the right to privacy of women would preclude such questions to be put to female candidates as modesty and self-respect may preclude an answer.
In the instant case, the petitioner, a probationer Assistant in LIC gave a false declaration regarding the last menstruation period, during her medical examination. The Court held that such clauses in the declaration intended from the candidates were embarrassing if not humiliating, like the regularity of menstrual cycle as it violates the privacy of the lady employees and, therefore, ordered the deletion of such columns in the declaration.
The Supreme Court in its decision in the case of State of Himachal Pradesh v. Asha Ram, recorded its displeasure and dismay at the accused father having raped his minor daughter and observed that there can never be a graver and heinous crime than the father being charged of raping his own daughter.
He not only “delicts the law but it is a betrayal of trust. The father is fortress and refuge of his daughter in whom the daughter trusts.” Quoting from its earlier judgment pronounced in State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh, the Apex Court observed:
“Rape is not merely a physical assault; it is often destructive of the whole personality of the victim. A murderer destroys the physical body of his victim; a rapist degrades the very soul of the helpless female. The court should, therefore, shoulder greater responsibility while trying an accused on charges of rape and sexual molestations.”
Disposing of the appeal in Asha Ram’s case who was convicted of raping his own minor daughter the Supreme Court enhanced the sentence from 5 years rigorous imprisonment to imprisonment for life and also enhanced the fine amount of Rs. 1,000/- to Rs. 25,000/-. The fine amount was to be paid to the prosecutrix. The State’s appeal was thus allowed and the accused was directed to be taken back to the custody forthwith.
Mrs. Shere Hite, the noted writer on women’s sexuality, has expressed a view in the United Nation’s International Conference held in Beijing in Chinas from September 4 to 15, 1995, that the problem of women’s sexuality covers a large area of violation of human rights. It is a blatant violation of women’s bodily integrity.
Double standards seeing women’s bodies and especially sexuality as shameful and glorification of males over females has to be stopped forthwith. Citing an example she says, “Boys and men, women and girls, learn that menstruation must be kept secret, and that girls should not be as sexual or expressive of sexual desires as boys. A boy must express sexual desire to “be a man”, but it is something immoral or indecent in case of a girl. This disparity must go and women’s sense of self-worth be identified.
In the ultimate analysis, it may be concluded that sex itself can be a cause of crime, or it may also provide a soothing ground for generating other crimes. Some of the offences which the sex offenders generally commit or generate include swindling their customers or blackmailing them, transmitting venereal disease, disturb family relationships, expose youngsters to deviant life styles, encourage alcoholism, disorderly conduct, smoking and demoralise the society. Obviously, law alone cannot deal with these types of crime or deviance without active support from the public, especially the social activists.