Delhi gangrape: Why we should remember the victim for more than her courage

The Delhi gangrape case of 2012, often dubbed as the ‘Nirbhaya’ case, was one unfortunate incident that brought tens of thousands on the streets in protest and soon turned into a wave against issues of sexual violence. From setting up of the Justice Verma Committee and the rapid enactments of the Criminal Amendment Act (2013) and the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act (2013) to new youth movements like “Hyderabad for feminism”, “why loiter” groups and Delhi colleges’ Pinjra Tod movement, a lot has happened in the past five years. But how have these affected, if at all, our consciousness about women’s issues? Mary E John explores in this BS Special piece.


It was just five years ago that a young student was gangraped in a moving bus in Delhi. She died within a week, and by then she had become an icon for tens of thousands who spent days and nights on the streets protesting the brutality that had befallen her. Are five years enough time for us to take stock of what difference it has made? Has anything changed in our understanding of sexual violence to make that tragic event and her death somehow more meaningful?

These questions cannot be answered directly. Some would say that what made the rape so eminently newsworthy, and for days on end, was that it came close to being a ‘perfect’ rape. By this is meant that it was the kind of crime that invited the greatest identification with the victim and next to none with the perpetrators. The national and international outcry that followed set many wheels into motion, including the state’s response in instituting the Justice Verma Committee and the rapid enactments of the Criminal Amendment Act (2013) and the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act (2013). It certainly brought issues of sexual violence into public discourse in a way that prior decades of agitation by women’s groups had not been able to achieve.
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Way we tell the story of Hollywood sexual assault and harassment matters

Reporter Paula Froelich claims she once observed Harvey Weinstein assault a woman at a book party. Her editor responded with, “Maybe it’s not really a story.”

As it turns out, Weinstein and others are becoming a never-ending story, as more women reveal experiences with powerful men – not just in Hollywood, but across multiple industries. This story typically has two acts. First come the women’s reports – followed by the inevitable dismissal and undermining of them.

As a scholar who has studied violence against women for more than 20 years and watched public outrage over harassment and assault wax and wane, my question is: Could this time be different?
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New poll shows 60% of US women have been 'sexually harassed'

Sixty per cent of US women voters say they have experienced sexual harassment and more than two-thirds of them said it happened at work, a nationwide poll has revealed.

The findings come as the United States grapples with sexual assault and harassment scandals that have rocked the world of entertainment, business and politics.

Only 20 per cent of men voters said they had experienced sexual harassment, of whom 60 per cent also said it happened at work, according to the Quinnipiac University survey.

Of those women who said they had experienced harassment, 69 per cent said it happened at work, 43 per cent in social settings, 45 per cent on the street and 14 per cent at home, the poll found.

Eighty-nine per cent of respondents classified sexual harassment of women as a "serious problem" and 55 per cent said media coverage of the flood of recent allegations had led to a better understanding of sexual harassment, the poll found.

Sixty-two per cent said they thought people were more likely to be held accountable for sexual harassment following the recent allegations.

"A vast majority of American men and women are deeply troubled by sexual harassment and the numbers underscore why. A stunning six in ten women say they have been victimised," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

The survey was based on interviews with 1,415 voters between November 15-20 and carried a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, Quinnipiac said.
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Harassment of women can't be tolerated, says Ivanka Trump in Japan

US President Donald Trump's daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump said here on Friday that sexual harassment of women should "never be tolerated".

Ivanka Trump's visit came just two days before the US President's scheduled arrival in Japan on the first stop of an Asia tour.

At a World Assembly for Women, she spoke about boosting equal participation in "traditionally male-dominated sectors of our economy" but there were many empty seats that officials blamed on tight security restrictions, the BBC reported.

Ivanka Trump's father had been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and assault, all of which his representatives denied.

Accusations of groping, forced kissing and walking unannounced into changing areas at beauty pageants were made against Trump when he was running for President.

Past weeks brought heightened focus on sexual harassment around the world, which was sparked by the accusations against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, continued in the #metoo movement where victims shared stories online, and already claimed the job of a UK Cabinet Minister, Michael Fallon.

When asked last week about the claims against Trump, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said all the women who made the accusations were lying.

At the Tokyo conference, Ivanka Trump said: "All too often, our workplace culture fails to treat women with appropriate respect. This takes many forms, including harassment, which can never be tolerated."
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