It seems to me that the world has indeed gone mad as we sit behind our screens, jaded by the logorrhoea that accompanies shock and panic, swamped by videos and photographs we never asked to watch or see.
Behind all this is real, crude gut-wrenching pain that only the victims of crime feel and endlessly suffer or to which they have become numb.
In March, a 15-year-old girl was raped and set on fire outside New Delhi. Last week, an Indian rape survivor was reportedly raped again – by some of the same men, presumably in an effort to silence her.
A 16-year-old girl was gang-raped by three men last week in Lebanon. This is an unusual occurrence in a society that claims openness but adheres stringently to its traditions and customs. Or, so I thought – a simple online search revealed details of various cases of rape, so recent and yet long forgotten.
Unfortunately, the span of media attention is short and in Lebanon rape is often hushed up because victims are pressured into silence by a society that still considers the subject taboo – an unspeakable truth to be buried.
What of the victims and the scars they will carry throughout their lives? What of outdated laws that could need an overhaul because they are in violation of the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women?
That is what it all comes down to: discrimination. Because what Simone de Beauvoir termed the “second sex” is still considered the weaker sex in societies where might is right.
Because hypocrisy runs so deep that, if a woman is raped “she was looking for it” or “she probably led them on”. These are the retorts that we often hear, even among the most cultured and the educated elite.
There is no excuse for rape – be it gang rape, individual rape, incestuous rape, extramarital rape, marital rape or organised human trafficking. There is no excuse at all for violence.
But there is such thing as violence fed by gender inequality in all societies and that goes beyond the borders of just one country.
Social amnesia and social hypocrisy should be met with a discourse of empowerment through education, not only in educational institutions but also at home, to inculcate morals, ethics and respect.
We all have a role to play beyond affably consuming news. It is our duty towards our children, daughters and sons alike. We must show them, within our homes, that respect goes a long way.
We must empower our daughters and teach our sons to empower their sisters, for home is where it all begins.
CMirza@thenational.ae
