Why rape cases are rampant in Nepal?

Recent cases of rape covered by various Medias have stunned the entire nation. When newspaper headlines stories of grandfather raping his granddaughter, the homecoming of doomed barbaric age threats our civilized society. Almost every day we are habituate to gulp news of depression along with morning tea; nine years old raped by grandfather in Gorkha, 74 years women raped in Doti district and unsolved case of Nirmala Panta. Such incidents indicate dark fact that any kind of vulnerable female body are prone to rape. These days female are being treated like featureless object to fulfil the desire of some sick voyeurs. Whether she is beautiful, ordinary or ugly? Her age, under 9 or over 70? It doesn’t matter. Each sexual assault cases are more disturbing than earlier one. Only some of them get media coverage but many unreported cases vanish with time and all are happening in a country which has always celebrated women as demigoddess. Coupled with this our country is also doomed by the contexts where ‘rule of law’ often act as private militia of those in power or economic centre or who possess other means of influence. After witnessing political turmoil during Nirmala panta’s case, many people earlier have felt that they were too unimportant for system to care. When system itself has conspired to prevent the perpetrator of nine years old rape victim, it induces many other sick minds to commit similar crimes. But thanks to media and women activist group which re-encouraged many victims to file complaint against sexual crime.

So what can theorize this series of sexual violence against Nepali females stirring almost on daily basic? In 1982, two social scientists, George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson proposed the ‘broken windows theory’ to clarify the way social disorders spread and how it continues to boom like normal in society. Broken window insight is a crime analysis model which views that visible signs of anti-social behaviours and civil disorder will create an environment that encourage further criminality and disorder, ultimately leading to big crimes. Take a building with one broken windows. If that window is not repaired, the vandals will breed tendency to break few more windows and people walking by assumes that no one cares. Sooner or later, they may even break into the building and sense of anarchy will blowout from building to street. This model further advocate’s strong policing methods to target trivial crimes such as vandalism, female teasing, minor sexual harassment and other overlooked misconducts to help create an atmosphere of order, thereby preventing more serious crimes like rape. In short, verbal teasing, unwanted touching and cyber sexual harassment are fetus stage of rape. If government adopt broken window policing measures to curb such minor anti-social behaviours, it will never get chance to develop as rape and murder.

Similarly violence nowadays is counted under the category of contagious social disease as one violent act often leads to another and people copy each other’s behaviour until violence becomes normal. For people familiar with social psychology this tragic phenomenon is not new. There exists reason why religious panic mainly occurs in developing Islamic countries, most cases of mass shootings takes place in USA and these days mostly brutal sexual crimes are repeatedly happening in Nepal. It’s because the ill-minds with irrepressible inclination to commit similar crimes gets stimulated by previous sexual crimes in the region. There have been many brain researches showing that violent behaviours are transmitted and copied so it grows like a virus unless you restrain it at early phase. Imitation of sexually abusive behaviours gets triggered even from virtual realities like pornography.

However this theory alone is not sufficient to comprehend the psychology behind rape. For broader understanding one must accept the undertone assumption that recent episodes of ‘rapes in Nepal is not a sex crime rather it’s gender crime’. Past experience can shape brain in such a way that neurophysiology (nurture and nature) form unified webs of interconnected behavioural pattern. As children exposed to family violence are more likely to show violent behaviour during adolescent. In same way, male nurtured under patriarchal values to see female as inferior and submissive being, internally develop a kind of complex to exploit female.

When we think of rape crime and ways to control it, often the first thing strike in our mind is strong punishment. But contemporary scientific community no longer sees violence prevention through monochrome lens of criminal justice and policing. Lately some advance societies has begun to view sexual violence as public health issue of modern world. United states’ surgeon general Everett Koop in 1992 declared all forms of violence as public health emergency.

Human beings deliberately practice various risky behaviours like overeating, smoking, unsafe sex and others that can lead to serious health conditions. In medical practice doctors usually encourage patients to change such unhealthy behaviour through dieting, using contractive and quitting smoking — rather than wait to cure obesity, cancer or AIDs. But when it comes to sexual violence the dialogue is often undertone by hypothesis that it’s innate behaviour and can only be answered with tougher punishment.

However, apart from old methods, this innovative public health intervention model endeavours to prevent possible sexual crimes by identifying and minimizing “risk factors” that may contribute to foster likely context of sexual assault. It also recognizes and improves the “protective factors” to avoid further growth of sexually abusive behaviour in potential perpetrator and reduce vulnerability in possible victims. Minimizing risk factors for avoiding sexual assault against women may include addressing weak rule of law, parenting deficits, uncivil gender perspectives, negative peer influences, community living conditions and abusive porn contents in digital platforms.

As immediate intervention some policy level changes are required, like rape and other sexual assault cases need to be fast-tracked in distinctive courts specially set up for women violence cases. There should be tougher penalty for such crime, without easy-out privilege of compensation. And for achieving sustainable goals the government should experiment with public health intervention model to deal sexual violence cases. Instead of keeping one sided focus on ‘post rape’ punishment the government should seek to restraint ‘pre rape’ phenomena to minimize circumstance of rape assault. Recently Nepal government has taken very rational step by banning porn sites.

Likewise the law enforcement authorities must be practical on how to deal with rape cases, with involvement of more policewomen and authorized members from women activist group to avoid possible legal foul-plays. The ruthless crime like child rape — destroying physical and emotional core of her naïve being — is a gruesome illness, an inhuman tumour in civil society. And alike medical approach, prevention should be given more priority than cure to uproot this social tumour.