Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
The latest Buzzfeed video depicts how non consensual porn is thriving in India owing to the age old norm of victim-blaming along with the absence of proper laws to curb it.
One of the biggest reasons for rape culture to thrive in our country is our society’s attitude of victim blaming. Instead of shaming the perpetrators, most of us are eager to question and raise our doubts about the victims of sexual harassment or assault.
‘What were you wearing?’
‘Why were you out so late?’
‘Why were you so friendly with the opposite sex?’
These are common questions raised by Indians to a woman who has undergone sexual harassment.
Now imagine the kind of questions a woman whose intimate videos are released on the internet might have to face!
‘You were having sex??’
‘You even agreed to record the act??? What were you expecting!’
Buzzfeed’s latest video on non consensual porn highlights this aspect of victim blaming and the subsequent problems with it. Now, there are three aspects to consider here:
Even if both the man and the woman agrees to (1 ) and (2), in case (3) is done without the consent of BOTH the individuals, then it falls under the category of non consensual porn. The leaked MMS clip of two students of Delhi Public School was a prime example of non consensual porn. In fact, if recordings are made of women changing clothes in trial rooms etc. and those are released online, they also fall under the category of non consensual porn. The problem of non consensual porn is widespread in India and the biggest reason for this is:
When sex videos or other intimate videos of women are released online, the first reaction of most people is victim blaming. In fact, this is the most important reason why most women who go through this stigma do not file legal complaints.
Now, here are the things to consider – there is absolutely nothing wrong with consensual sex or the mutual agreement to record such acts. However, in case they get released on the internet without the consent of both the parties involved in the act, that is what should be defined as a crime and deserve suitable punishments.
The weirdest thing about our country is that the same laws that criminalize consent violation also criminalize the voluntary creation and sharing of sexy photos and videos, under the grounds of obscenity!
Until and unless this law changes, even hapless victims would be taken to task by our legal authorities on the mere grounds of them engaging in sex and recording it and that is simply ridiculous.
Needless to say non consensual porn videos cause unimaginable suffering to the lives of their victims. People are forced to change their entire identities because of such leaked videos. In some cases they even lose their jobs, they are forced to leave their places of residence, or go through surgeries to alter physical attributes. In extreme cases, they even commit suicide.
It comes as no surprise that women are mostly the biggest sufferers in such incidents. Victim blaming is the most common reaction to such videos. Comments like why she took her clothes off, or even agreed to record are quite common ways to shame a woman and term her as a ‘bad woman’ and as ‘someone who had called this upon herself’.
Richa Padte, the author of the recently released book, Cyber Sexy: Rethinking Pornography hits the nail on the head when she says, “If a man violates your consent, people will find a way to say that you were asking for it.”
Though things are changing for the better yet much more needs to be done. In 2015, websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Reddit banned the posting of revenge porn on their websites. Naming and shaming the perpetrators instead of the victims might be one of the most effective ways to curb such acts. However, for that to happen, our country requires a collective change of mindset wherein a girl wearing short dresses or engaging in consensual sexual acts or even agreeing to record it for her and her partner’s pleasure are not termed as BAD by our society. It does seem like a distant dream in the India of today, but one can always hope.
Watch Buzzfeed’s video below:
Image Source is the video.
Kasturi’s debut novel, forthcoming in early 2021, had won the novel pitch competition by Half Baked Beans Publishers. She won the Runner Up Position in the Orange Flower Awards 2021 for Short Fiction. Her read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
Please enter your email address