Pain of the heart is much more than the pain of the body. Rape is outrageous. Gang-rape is devastating. Being gang raped in front of your children is unimaginable and unbearable. The recent Motorway gang-rape has enraged the whole country. Media and social media are monitoring each move of the government and people. The police are under radar. Fortunately, one rape suspect has been caught. There are protests and demands for exemplary punishment. All these are absolutely necessary to get immediate hold of culprits and punish them. However, the rape victim is actually going through further agony of reliving this case as it becomes the most talked about incident in the country. What the victim is going through and what she will go through is what nobody is really paying attention to in this race for breaking news in talk shows, drawing room discourses and chat group debates.
Rape incidents in Pakistan have been on constant rise. The international NGO Human Rights Watch had revealed that a rape incident occurred once every two hours in Pakistan, and a gang rape is mutilating the honour of a Pakistani woman every single hour. Even if statistically difficult to be proven it is shocking. It reveals two things. The lack of government seriousness in dealing with this issue in decades despite Mukhtaran Mai's case in 2002 and the deterioration of institutions like police and criminal justice system to address it properly. Women and children are raped daily in villages and small towns. Some are reported some not so. This incident on the Motorway happening to a big city, well-off family has made the civil society and the people come out and raise their voices as it is too close to home to be comfortably numb. This raising of voice is about crime and punishment. For a sustainable solution we need to have actionable strategies for both penalizing the criminals and for supporting and healing the victims.
To prevent a crime from happening the offenders have to be curtailed with a combination of strict laws, diligent law enforcement and exemplary punishment. All three need a lot of work in the country. Laws are antique. The police system is from the 19th century legacy of the British. The whole focus of the system was to rule over the underprivileged. The world has changed dramatically while laws have been updated very slowly with an intent to preserve the discretion of the powerful. A sad example of this combination of weak laws and a distorted judicial system is the fact that the rapists of this incident are repeat offenders since 2013 caught many times and still at large on bails etc. This is where the encouragement to crime lies. This is where police corruption flourishes. This is where the judge can bail them despite their crimes. This is where politicians collude to make laws that are toothless. This is where the common man gets oppressed. This is where the middle class feels shame and hides; and this is where the criminals feel pride and roam scot-free for their next prey.
Laws and Law enforcement are topics discussed infinitely. Much has been written about the poor state of affairs in police and how their capacity needs a total overhaul. However, very little is written about the victims and their post-event situation. It is a trauma that never leaves you and can actually destroy not only the life of the victim but the family too. Mukhtaran Mai has been a brave example of a woman speaking out but rarely have other victims come out. There is so much stigma attached to it that many such victims become socially averse and emotionally unstable. That is why it is necessary to plan about the reintegration of the victim in society and family. The legal lawlessness will be addressed by filling in the gaps in laws but emotional and psychological gaps in the way the victim is treated by law enforcers and by society need even more attention and focus. There is a dire need to enable an environment for social reintegration by:
Social and Family Support- The first nest to heal or feel is the home. Rape is considered a taboo in this society and victim is treated as tainted and damaged material. There need to be social and community welfare officers in the Social Welfare Departments specially trained for counselling the family to deal with a trauma they are going through. Their counselling should be on dealing with shock, shame, and resentment towards the victim and society. Some parents are in such shock that they are not able to support their child thus making her feel abandoned and guilty. Parents need to be counselled to handle their own shock and then how to help reduce the trauma of the victim through family support. Husbands are key players in this tragedy. The victim in our society feels the pressure that either he will divorce her or treat her badly. Proper counselors who are trained to win over resistant family members are important to provide an environment that the victims return to a normal life. In a similar case recently the girl committed suicide as she could not face a shocked and upset father.
Post Traumatic Followups- Even if the children are small and seemingly unaffected they will be affected by the post-traumatic stress inwardly. If not dealt with, either they will become offenders themselves or have huge interpersonal problems with relationships at home or at work. Psycho therapists who monitor things like sleep patterns, nightmares, flashbacks anxiety attacks are needed to treat the problem. This requires follow-ups on the progress of victims and their families to ensure resettlement and normality.
Legislation and Code of Conduct- The legislation should not just address the increase in severity of punishment but strict prohibition on language used in police stations, court appearances, investigative methods, etc, so that the victim does not feel further exposed and violated. The whole process is so embarrassing and torturous that 80% victims refuse to proceed and either give up or do out-of-court forced settlements.
Rapists are physical offenders of the body. Callous investigators are psychological offenders of the mind. Non-supportive family members are emotional offenders of the heart. Any programme, policy or reform that does not address all these human elements will be treating the victim as heartless or mindless objects of scorn while what we need to do is to give them the due dignity, trust and honour by not only protecting but respecting their body, mind, heart and soul.
(The writer can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020