Rape: A psychological perspective

India’s recent gang-rape tragedy is said to be a “tipping point” in the battle against sexual violence. The rape of the girl and the resultant trauma she experienced is not something new and this is not the first and last of such horrendous events.

After the tragedy, New Delhi has been dubbed the “rape capital” in India where a rape is reported on average every eight hours. Police reports indicate that gang rapes are frequent in India and victims are usually deterred from reporting such attacks for fear of bringing shame on their families. However, Bela Rana, a Delhi-based lawyer said there is a sea change after the recent gang-rape and the death of the victim at a Singapore hospital. The unnamed victim was a 23-year-old medical student who was picked up by six men who raped her mercilessly. According to Aakar Kamath, a college professor, the gang-rape smacks of misogyny.

According to two well-known psychologists - Wayne Weiten of Santa Clara University and Margaret A. Lloyd of Georgia Southern University - rape is not an expression of sexuality, but rather an act of aggression. They say that sex is the means by which the rapist expresses his power and hostility. Many people still believe that rape occurs only when a stranger leaps out of the bushes and attacks a woman sexually.

Date rape

Although we do not discuss date rape openly, it can happen anytime anywhere. Many people still believe that when two people in love have sex, it is seduction. However, seduction occurs when a woman is persuaded and agrees to have sex with a man. In date rape the man forces the woman to have sex with him using various strategies. Very often the woman is coerced into having sex through verbal persuasion or ignoring her protests. Sometimes the man uses physical restraint or threats of physical aggression.

Indians protest against the death of the gang-rape victim in New Delhi

Accurate statistics are not available because about 90 percent of rapes are not reported to the police. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of women are raped by men known to them.

Although almost all rape victims are women, about five percent of men have been rape victims. In prisons, male rape is said to be predominant. In very rare cases, women have raped men! Regardless of gender, sexual aggression is traumatic. In the case of a woman, rape is particularly traumatic when she is raped by someone known to her. This is because most women tend to trust their male friends.

Three stages

According to psychologists, most rape victims go through three stages of suffering. The first is trauma which generates fear of men, depression, anger and helplessness followed by mental and physical pain. In the second stage, the rape victims try to lead a normal life. However, they fail to sustain that positive spirit for long. In the third stage, the victim goes beyond the experience by talking about it with someone she trusts. Although she may succeed in repressing her traumatic feelings for some time, she is sure to be taunted by the tragic experience.

Other problems connected with rape is that the victim will have to cope with the possibility of pregnancy and contracting sexually transmitted diseases. If the rape victim happens to be a college student, she will have to give up her studies abruptly for lack of support from her family. On the other hand, the victim and the attacker will not succeed in their studies due to emotional disturbances. If the victim takes legal action against the attacker, it will be another blow to contend with. What is more, the victim and the attacker will find it difficult to shake off the social stigma easily.

Motivation

What motivates men to commit rape? Psychologists have identified certain factors that lead men to commit rape. They say that easy access to aggressive pornography tends to elevate men’s tendency to behave violently towards women. Films with sexually violent scenes also have the same effect. Those who view violent pornography regularly tend to foster a callous attitude towards women. They begin to regard women as sex objects.

The biggest tragedy in the Internet Age is that we still have double standards when it comes to sexual behaviour. What men read and see encourage them to develop sexual feelings and to act on them. Beautiful women are used in sophisticated advertisements to lure customers to buy various products ranging from toilet soap to expensive cars. However, women are discouraged to entertain sexual feelings until marriage. Another myth is that men should initiate sex and women should resist it. Such gender-based standards are sure to promote sex-related conflicts in society.