Tough sanctions needed against rape

Jan 09, 2013 Letters

---

 

 

Dear Editor,
Regarding letter exchanges on rape by several notable personalities, the victim should never be blamed.  We must dispense with the male chauvinistic view that the female invited the rape on herself by the way she dresses. More modest clothing would not deter rape.
Every society condemns rape but few societies take measures to counter rape by providing for quick justice – punish the rapists expeditiously even with capital penalty.
Mr. Abu Bakr had stated stated that Islam is clear on the penalties of rape even if occurred in a home and justice to the victim — monetary compensation and punishment for the rapist that may include the death penalty. As such, he concluded, Islamic law is even tougher than the anti-rape legislation in most countries.
I feel western countries are tougher on rape than traditional societies as in Islamic countries. No faith condones rape but few religious leaders or leaders of Islamic countries advocate for tough penalties. In some (Third World) societies, religious leaders are mum on rape. What is penned on paper or the religious text and the reality (as it relates to justice for the victims) is often completely different.
There are numerous reports of rape in Islamic countries (governed by Islamic law) and in other traditional societies and virtually none of the victims ever receive compensation.
In addition, very few of the rapists are punished for their transgressions and when they were punished it is just a slap in the wrist.  Very few Islamic societies carried out capital punishment for rape and very often the victim was the one to be punished or executed (stoned to death) and not the rapist.
I have been a regular reader of Asian ethnic newspapers in NY (like India Abroad, India Post, News India, Jakarta Post, Filipino Weekly, Filipino Express, etc.) since the 1970s and have come across countless reports of rape in Middle Eastern societies. Publications in Asia also reported on rape of immigrant workers in the Middle East.
The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, etc. all featured cases of rape in the Middle East.  Newspapers in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia have reported regularly on rape of domestic servants in the Gulf countries.  In virtually all of the cases, justice was not served.  The victims were not compensated and the rapists went scot free.
In some cases, the victims were executed because the rapists claimed the victim molested him, or the victims were blamed for the rape.
In Middle Eastern societies (wealthy Gulf countries in particular), as is the norm also in Asian countries, rape victims are stigmatized. The rape victims (most of them South Asian, Indonesians, Filipinos, Kenyans, are often accused of being the aggressor and they are beaten and deported.
They are ashamed of being raped and they almost never file reports. If the rapist is from a wealthy family or has political connection, nothing happens to him.  And in some countries like Pakistan or Bangladesh, for example, rape victims often commit suicide to protect the honour of their families.  Many are forced to commit suicide.
Reports note that in Gulf Cooperation Council countries rape is common. I visited several Islamic countries and quietly spoke with immigrant workers from South Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Conditions they work under are intolerable.  All of them (especially domestic servants) complained of abuses including sexual transgressions by their employers and or the children of the employers.
Most of the domestic servants have become sex slaves. I listened to countless cries of sexual abuses and physical violence from so many victims and none of them were ever compensated. They were forced to endure abuses because they did not want to return to a life of poverty if they were to be returned to their home country. A complaint to the authority would result in their deportation and they would get no compensation, not even outstanding salary. For example, in 2008, according to one report, in the United Arab Emirates, a woman who was gang-raped by a group of Arab men was imprisoned for eight months for adultery after reporting the crime to the police.
So the victim is blamed for the rape and punished, often beheaded.  In cases where the victims took revenge against the aggressor, the victims were quickly tried and got the death penalty or deported. That is not justice, not in any faith and we need to condemn such behavior whether it happens in Islamic countries or in others like India or Kenya or Pakistan.
I have read too many reports about how rape victims are treated in Islamic countries and in Africa and Asia.  Their ill-treatment would hardly be allowed in the West.  Victims have a better chance of justice in the West and not in an Islamic country or a secular nation like India. We need to express outrage at rape irrespective of where it is committed.  One rape is too many.
Governments around the world and International Agencies need to exert pressure on those countries that have taken virtually no action against perpetrators of rape – which only serves as an encouragement for more rape.  In particular, immigrant workers like domestic servants should be protected from rape carried out by their masters especially in societies where rape is prevalent.
Tough sanctions (like death penalty) are necessary as a deterrence against rape not just modest clothing.
Vishnu Bisram

---

---