You can’t shake hands with a closed fist
(Aversion of rape victims towards rehabilitation ? )
A victim of sexual assault, while recalling the horrific incident said, “when I go to sleep, the assault comes back to haunt me.” In a step to promote restorative justice, the NALSA formulated Compensation Scheme for victims/survivors of sexual assault, inter alia, other crimes, 2018.
However, a major hindrance that obstructs the scheme from reaching its complete potential is the aversion of rape victims towards rehabilitation. As is believed in the judicial parlance, justice should not only be done but also be seen to be done, rehabilitation becomes the spine of complete justice for a rape victim. It is true that the scars of a rape victim are indelible and that they cannot be diluted, nonetheless, life can be made live-able by overshadowing the traces of the past and developing a gleam of hope for the future.
In this backdrop, it becomes significant to state the factors that result in the indifference of rape victims towards rehabilitation and the necessary steps required to ameliorate the same.
While addressing the aspect of aversion and rehabilitation, two questions needs to be critically analyzed-
the first is the extent to which a victim depicts aversion viz. if she is absolutely reluctant to move from the status quo and believes it is impossible for things to normalize, or if she is partially reluctant which could mean she personally wants to change but the society holds her back.
The second question is, what is the extent to which rehabilitation has the potential to uplift the victims of sexual assault.
The first question may be analyzed by defining the dynamics of rape and its varying subjective consequences on the victims.
There are three dimensions of rape according to World Health Organization’s report on “Sexual Violence: Prevalence, Dynamics and Consequences” –
First, sexual crime is an aggressive act, it is rarely a crime of passion. The underlying factors in many cases are power, dominion and control, not as is widely percieved as a craving for satisfaction of carnal desires. Interpreting from this, the victims need to be brought out of this loop of male domination. When women are not able to come out of this vicious muddle of domination, and are reminded of the horrifying act, they are caged, become dormant and hence, are reluctant to change. Such an attitude may be a result of the society’s lack of apathy, social stigma attached to the crime, familial helplessness, dearth of administrative support etc.
Another aspect is non sexual feelings such as anger and hostility towards women. For a victim, this can inculcate fear making them restrain from any kind of social activity. This can be countered by the establishment of safe homes that promote engaging and vocational activities which could help victims see the optimistic side of life.
Thirdly, a sexual offence might be an offenders act to reassure himself of his sexual competency, assertion of his identity and a means to achieve sexual gratification.
In this backdrop, the possible causes of aversion of rape victims towards rehabilitation may be noted as-
1. Societal (mis)conceptions –
Patriarchy is a system of male dominance in which men dominate women through the control of female sexuality with the intent of passing property to male heirs. Women’s sexuality when considered as the property of men is thought to be something that needs to be preserved as such violation to it is the victim who suffers victim-blaming and stigmatization becomes the obvious consequence of rape.
2. Criminal justice system-
Multiple harassment of the rape victim by revisiting the details of the horrific incident at the investigation and the trial stage often takes a toll on the already vulnerable mind of the victim.
3. Physical and psychological state of a rape victim-
As the saying goes, “better the devil you know than the devil you dont know”, victims often prefer to remain mired in misery than to head towards an unknown. Also, the health consequences of sexual violence are varied and include physical and psychological effects, both short term and long term.
4. Offender rehabilitation-
The vedic literature which is deeply rooted in the Indian ethos and civilization has always shed light on the important aspect of redemption. The absence of redemption is adverse for both the offender and the victim, the victim fears the society when she realizes the lack of remorse from the offender which develops a fear mechanism that can constantly haunt the victim. The absence of remorse in the offender creates a fear in the victim’s mind which results in the isolation of the victim or migration of the victim’s family to a different place.
Rehabilitation –
Under the NALSA Scheme of 2018, one of the factors required to be considered while awarding compensation includes ‘expenditure incurred or likely to be incurred on the medical treatment for physical and/or mental health including counselling of the victim’. It cannot be ignored that compensation is an effective immediate help to the rape victims, but cannot be treated as an effective tool for their rehabilitation. However, even the novel scheme of 2018 talks only of providing compensation and does not elaborate on the mechanism of providing counselling to rape victims. A lot of rape victims in-spite of relentless efforts by the Courts feel that the State did not do justice to them. This thought may come from the idea of retributive justice. Lack of timely administrative aid may result in lack of trust. A holistic approach to cater to the needs of victims of sexual assault is required to overhaul their negative attitude towards rehabilitation.
At present, there is hardly any institutional mechanism to provide psychological counselling to victims of sexual assault. Most of the Indian laws are restricted to awarding monetary compensation only.
In such circumstances, there seems a systemic need to emulate a much desired counselling program on the lines of British Columbia’s Crime Victim Assistance Program Counselling Guidelines 2018. The program includes establishment of counselling services (to respond to the psychological or counselling needs) or expenses as a benefit that may be available not only to victims but also to their immediate family members and some witnesses. It provides for maximum number of hours of counselling up-to 48 hours for rape victims, 36 hours for immediate family members and 12 hours for witnesses. However, if the claimant is a minor, the maximum limit of hours of counselling may exceed on approval. In most cases, the provision is to make payment of fees for counselling directly to the service provider and the fee rate payment is determined on the basis of counselor’s work experience, academic and professional accreditation. Further, the choice of counselor is entirely that of the claimant.
To conclude the above analysis, it can be safely asserted that the State is duty bound to provide compensation if it fails to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens. In furtherance of this duty, the State also has a duty to ensure true rehabilitation of survivors by providing them institutional support and counselling.
Summing up this article with the following words penned down by me-
Compensation is not all, it is not a glory gain,
nor a roof against the rain,
nor yet a floating spar to the victims that sink
And rise and sink and rise and sink again
Money cannot fill my thickened lungs with breath,
nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone,
Oh how easy it is consorting death,
Well, it maybe that in a difficult hour
pinned down by pain
Or nagged by disdain
I might be driven to barter your money for peace,
Or trade that night’s memory for cerebral release..
It well maybe, I do not think I would..
Let my name be covered in pity and remorse,
For, my justice remains locked in discourse…