Mindset of a rapist

India is going through an epidemic of rapes at the moment. We regularly keep on hearing about rapes being committed on girls and women of almost all ages.

Whether the cases of rapes have actually increased or we are seeing more women coming out of the closet and filing complaints is a matter of another discussion. Any which way women coming out to register complaints against rapist is a good sign that will have positive impact on a lot of other women who had not yet mustered the courage to come out in the open about crimes committed on them. As Linor Abargil said that every reporting of rape helps in catching the criminal and saving another woman.

The most appalling thing, apart from the huge number of rapes taking place in India, are the type of comments from various quarters predominantly males, that females themselves were also responsible. Some of the most common comments are –

• The girl was dressed improperly.
• The girl was wearing small/revealing/western dress.
• The girl was behaving improperly with the other males
• The girl was going alone late in the night or was going alone into a secluded place
• Movies and western culture have affected the minds of the young generation

If any of these comments had any value in them then many more women would have been raped and many more men would have easily turned rapists. But that is not the case and facts prove otherwise.

People giving such comments are simply trying to put the blame on the victim when the need of the hour is to catch and punish the criminal. Most of these comments or rather justifications for rape are not given by some random person but mostly by people in various leadership positions of the society be it political or religious.

These people seem to understand the mindset of a rapist very well. I would like to ask them if they have ever felt the urge to rape a girl because of whatever reasons. If they have they should be put behind bars or castrated as a preventive measure so that they don’t commit the crime in the future. If they have never felt the urge to rape a girl because of any reasons just how can they give such comments or justifications? How can they justify their comments if they have not raped someone? I believe that only a rapist (or potential rapists) can understand the mindset of another rapist.

We like to give reasons and justifications for a lot of things happening around us. We are hard wired to comment on various issues. At-least we can give a little thought before commenting on crimes and criminals and specially rapist.

I believe the main reason why some men rape women is because of their lack of respect for women in general and the disrespect of law in particular. It is the same lack of respect for women which leads people to give such comments about women.