DO RAPISTS THINK RAPE IS NORMAL?
Rape is one of the most hideous act of crime done across the world in many countries. Not just the most hideous, but the largest recurring crime at many places. It’s a cruel world we live in, and in such dark moments of our lives, we tend to wonder- are these rapists even human? What do these rapists even think rape is?
Most rapists are not people who suffer from a major psychological illness. The act that they have committed is disgusting and they should be condemned for it, but it’s not because they were not in the right state of mind when they did it. A rapist cannot be given an apology for the act that he/she committed because what has been done, is wrong and is punishable by law. But that’s what I feel, along with millions of people across the world. But what about a rapist? Do they find faults in what they did? In an interview with Mukhesh Singh, in the December rape case of a 23 year old girl living in Delhi, he has been recorded saying that he (along with his mates) raped the girl because it was HER fault. That it was her mistake. Now, as horrid as that may sound, it also arises a question- does a non-rapist also feel the same way? For us to actually understand what a rapist thinks or feels about rape, we must compare it to what a non-rapist thinks of it too. In various psychological studies, it has been found that most non-rapists agree with the view that it’s mostly the victim’s fault. In fact, there was a survey conducted amongst citizens, rapists and police officers and the result showed no significant difference in the attitude towards the normality of rape. Normality can be subjective but in a case of a crime such as rape where the victims lie defenseless and have to live a life with a shattered sense of hope and survival, it is only obvious to see rape as something that cannot be tolerated and must be heavily condoned for. But the world is constantly seeing reports of rape coming out from various countries. And these are the cases that have been reported. There are thousands of people who live their lives without reporting an incident where they got raped. Roadies, the reality show takes place in India, and in this show there is a round where contestants are personally interviewed by the judges. Now, there was a season in which a question was asked to the contestants- “Is it the girl’s fault if she is raped?” And many answered- ‘Yes’. And mind you, these are contestants who have never raped anyone in their life and held strong views against it. But they submitted that rape is sometimes the victim’s fault.
This is the problem. Sometimes what we know, we may not understand. When a rape takes place, who really bothers to understand its normality? Or its abnormality rather? People can hurl all sorts of insults at the rapist, but for all you, there may be many people who share the same mindset as that of the rapist they are going against. Let this not go unnoticed-fight the rape culture!
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About the Author: This article is contributed by Joshua Moses, our intern.