Is India safe?

India: An Unsafe Haven

How many times have you caught someone flashing at you or maybe masturbating at you? How many times have you averted your gaze knowing that nothing can be done about it? How many times have you seen other people watching the same scenario and not doing anything regarding the same?

In a country like ours, masturbation and other sexual acts are frowned upon. Even after multiple heated debates and extensive discussions, topics like sex education are talked about without actually using the words “penis” and “vagina”. It gives rise to issues like public masturbation, which is not given much importance.

 In a world where we are asking the women to use public transports so that they can be tracked; crimes like public masturbation has left no place unaffected whether it is public buses or cabs. Cases of public masturbation can be filed under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with “assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty”, Section 509 which deals with “gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman”, and/or Section 268, which handles cases of public nuisance.

But no particular provision in India makes public masturbation illegal.

A couple of years ago, a case came up of an Uber car driver staring at a woman  and stroking himself while driving her to the airport.Instead of feeling ashamed , he asked her “what was wrong?” as if he didn’t know anything.But what do the perpetrators get from this? According to Rashi Vidyasagar, a criminologist, picking up on strangers makes it easier for these men. She believes that there is some sort of voyeurism working in these cases.

According to Dr.Rajan Bhonsle, Head, Sexual Medicine, KEM Hospital, “A lot of public masturbators may suffer from paraphilia — a condition where one has fetishes towards unusual objects or phenomenon. Voyeurism is just one of them. It’s not a disease as much as it is an uncontrollable fetish. Everyone has fetishes but for public masturbators, their fetish harms the object of their fetish: The difference being; acting on the former is consensual, while the latter isn't.

There is a fair chance that these men perform these acts at places where they know that the victims of this victimless crime would not be able to shout or reach out for help. This is the reason why public places are the best places as no one really calls out to these acts which are not legally, but morally unacceptable.

Countries like the UK and Indonesia have made this illegal, thereby imprisoning the person for 14 and 32 days respectively.

Another huge problem faced today is Revenge Porn. Revenge porn has been defined as “the sharing of private, sexual materials; either photos or videos, of another person without their consent with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress.” Many times the name and other photographs have also been shared so that the victim can be recognised and be shamed.  The cases of revenge porn have been rising in India with the victims being both men and women. Women are particularly targeted as sexual activity on their part is still thought of as something which defines their 'honour'. This combination can leave a person feeling vulnerable and could possibly put them in danger. At minimum, it is psychologically damaging to the victim. The biggest reason behind this is the feeling of being dejected and the fear and embarrassment caused to the person who is on the receiving end of such emotional turmoil. This is usually done in order to take revenge so that the other person feels guilty about his/her actions.

In India, there are no strict laws against revenge porn although more and more people are aware of this. This usually comes under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Cyber safety is very important not only in the case of financial losses but also these things.The issue of public masturbation and revenge porn needs to be talked about at a large scale now. Many people side-line this crime by stating that this does not involve any “physical touch” or any “direct communication” with the victim. We need to acknowledge the fact that the world needs to be aware of the crimes that engulf the people and especially women of this world and work to eradicate them. There need to be stringent laws against such crimes so that the perpetrators dread them and never repeat them.

CURATED BY: KHYATI SHRESTHA (NET IMPACT MEMBER)