Daily Times

In a bid to restore the honour of their tribe, two men in the Bhong area of Rahim Yar Khan murdered two sisters after they had been abducted and subjected to rape by some influential landlords. According to local police, the deceased sisters were first abducted and raped by a group of men and later fell victim to their own relatives’ wrath when they returned home. When they came home following the ordeal, their father said, their uncle and another relative strung a noose around necks and dragged them to nearby fields. The father said, by the time he reached the crime scene, the girls had already been murdered. The killers of these sisters had been arrested but the rapists are still at large.

This grim news story amply reveals how the woman of our land is caught up between the rapists and honour killers; and how in this twisted waste land no one knows when a rapists becomes an honour killer and vice versa. Here the status of a woman is reflected and reinforced by the social and legal perceptions of rape. Rape laws and their enforcement appear to protect a man’s property interests in a woman. It has created a political economy of conflict related sexual violence, in which rape as a weapon of war becomes simply a commodity for consumption.

The term rape originates from Latin “rapere” (supine stem raptum); “to snatch, to grab, to carry off”. Since the 14th century the term has come to mean “to seize and to take away by force”. In Roman law, the carrying of a woman by force, with or without intercourse, constituted ‘raptus’. In Medieval English the same term could refer to either kidnapping or rape in the modern sense of “sexual violation”. The original meaning of ‘carrying by force’ is still found in some phrases, such as ‘rape and pillage’, or in titles, such as the stories of the ‘Rape of the Sabine Women’ and ‘The Rape of Europa’ or the poem ‘The Rape of the Lock’ which is about the theft of the lock of hair. Here we find the relation between rape and colonisation as colonising a land connotes the same sense.

This grim news story amply reveals how the woman of our land is caught up between the rapists and honour killers; and how in this twisted waste land no one knows when a rapists becomes an honour killer and vice versa. Here the status of a woman is reflected and reinforced by the social and legal perceptions of rape

The definition of rape, as with other forms of sexual violence, has always been and still is controversial. It varies according to gender, culture and period of history. Essentially rape is the act of sexual intercourse with an individual without her or his explicit consent, through violence or the threat of violence. Rape has more to do with the assertion of power over the victim than with sexual passion. In the late 20th century, the definition of rape broadened to include other forms of sexual assault. Some countries, such as Germany, include psychological coercion (we here go through it as a business usual).

It is now recognised that the rapist and victim can be of either sex, although rape is more often committed by a male against a female. A number of countries recognise marital rape. In the United States, spousal rape is illegal in all 50 states. Some countries or areas, particularly with regard to criminal law, do not use the term rape, but instead use the terms such as sexual assault and sexual battery. Many people think of rape as an attack by a stranger in a dark alley or lonely place; in fact, surveys have shown that about 80 percent of victims are raped by someone they know.

Although prostitution and pornography are usually considered as distinct and are generally seen as unrelated, but as we notice from the recent incidents, both should be seen as a part of increasingly profitable and interlinked global sex industry. (In some countries prostitution is also considered a kind of rape) The growth of corporate strip-club chains is evidence that there is a large market for goods and services of an erotic and sexual kind. War, poverty and the resultant refugees are other catalysts. Domestic violence like rape is a dehumanising experience that can lead to psychological and physical damage. It can be described as a range of behaviours that attempts to exercise coercive control over a partner. These behaviours may be sexual, psychological or verbal. Physical violence may include hitting, pushing or shoving; sexual abuse may include humiliation, stalking, isolating the partner from friends and family, and withholding access to money; verbal abuse may include threats. Domestic violence often occurs alongside rape, within a marriage or a relationship, in the cycle of violence.

Rape is not solely a personal problem, it affects society and culture at large. If there can be a shift in understanding, there will be fewer victims in the future. Education, particularly about rape myths and appropriate gender roles, is of continuing importance for both the sexes. Rape prevention programs are needed to explore the issue and publicise their findings and knowledge on as broad a basis as possible; including in classrooms, worship places, nursing homes and hospitals. In general marital counselling, there is little formal help for victims of rape. When abuse exists within a marriage, there is a need for education and counselling for both spouses. The attitude of people, police, doctors and the courts towards rape victims must change.

“Ek Gunah Aur Sahi” (1975) was a Pakistani film inspired from a controversial short story “Mummy”, written by Saadat Hassan Manto. This story revolves around sexploitation of women. This movie was also sent to represent Pakistan in the Moscow Film Festival. Saif Uddin Saif penned the song for it that better sums up this write-up.

“Aa dekh Mohenjo-Daro mein ye bigdi hui tasveer meri

Iss aas pe ab tak zinda hoon kab badle gi tasveer meri”

(Just look at my stigmatised feminine image in the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro

I, the woman, still waits for gaining a respect that I deserve).

The writer is a freelancer