She doesn’t have to be a relative.

A few weeks ago, I received a video that was forwarded to my Whatsapp account by a Whatsapp contact. A well circulated video doing the rounds on the internet, I believe. It depicts a woman being followed around by a group of men, who intend on molesting her. They direct some crude and sexually harassing comments towards her while the woman, petrified, tries to escape from the scoundrels.

They continue following her and then they manage to grasp her hand and pull her towards them, potentially trying to rape her. One amongst the group of miscreants, identifies the girl, screams and asks the men to let go of her; she is his sister.

The video ends there with the man crying and a message running on a black screen. It goes something like: Do not harass women, she could be someone’s sister.

While I appreciate the well meant purpose of the video, it struck me as real odd. Is it absolutely imperative for a woman/girl/female to be someone’s sister, or someone’s daughter, or someone’s wife in order for you to not rape her? Is it a must for her to be related to some man to remind you of her worth as a human? Does her existence as human, magically get recognized and verified if she were someone’s, more specifically, a man’s sister?

Here is what I do not get. Why do we have to guilt people by reminding them that their female relations could also be met with the same fate as they inflict upon a female? Honestly, if that is what our society has reduced to, then we have dismally failed. I firmly believe that a human, any human, irrespective of their sex, is entitled to freedom. They shouldn’t have to fear rape. The rapists shouldn’t have to curb their carnal desires because the potential victims are related to someone (a man) and that their abuse could lead to their relatives being abused in turn because, hey, hey, hey, karma is a bitch! This is distorted. I would shut up if it did affect the number of rape cases. Guess what? A guilt-trip hardly makes the difference.

A woman is not devalued if she isn’t related to anyone, if she isn’t related to a man. It still does not make it okay for anyone to rape her. She is still to be respected, she still is a human with her rights, her basic human rights intact.

The rapists, the culprits should rather curb their carnal desires because they should realize that this person is an Individual, who is free, who has rights and who is, in no way obligated to them. They are to realize that exploiting this individual is an offence, that should they breach propriety, they would be punished. They are to realize the basic fact that raping an individual is wrong, not because she is someone’s sister but because she is a human who does not want to engage in sexual activities with you. Rapists impose themselves on the victims, thereby depriving them of their basic rights. Rape is a violation of human rights and rapists should refrain from committing this barbaric act because  it is WRONG.

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