*Trigger warning: This article is focused on gender-based violence and crimes against women, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
Rape happens every day in India. Did I say every day? I meant every hour, approximately three times every 60 minutes. So say the numbers from 2022 (the most recent data on crimes against women in India), a year in which 31,000 rapes were reported. As we are all aware, these numbers are an underestimate, as scores of incidents go unreported due to victims’ fear of retaliation, sociocultural stigmas, and low rates of convictions (according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, conviction rates for rape ranged between 27%-28% from 2018-2022).
Rape, and more broadly crimes against women, is an issue that pervades not just India but every country. From time to time I will hear about a recent case through news sites or social media. I will pore through articles outlining the details of the case, driven by an urgency to understand how it could have happened, what she felt in the moment, what she felt afterward, whether there has been any fallout.
Sometimes, after reading every article there is on the case, I’m able to put it out of my mind. But other times, anger, sorrow, and revulsion lead me to reread articles on the cases that do stay with me: from Nirbhaya in Delhi to the R. G. Kar Medical College case in Kolkata to Bilkis Bano to the Pune bus depot case, from Chanel Miller at Stanford to 10-, 12-, 13-year-old survivors in Gujarat, Ohio, Orissa, Mississippi, Mumbai. I reread Miller’s 2016 piercing statement to her assaulter; I pore through accounts of how Bano’s convicted rapists were released on Independence Day 2022 to be met with crowds of well-wishers carrying garlands and mithai; I peruse research articles that question why courts forgive self-defense taken in the moment of an attack but not victims’ defensive actions taken against repeated threats of murder from domestic violence abusers.
It was this interest in understanding crimes against women that motivated me to visit two Indian organizations that address this issue. Through the Professional Development Grant (PDG) I received from AIF, I first visited My Choices Foundation (MCF) in Hyderabad, which offers counseling sessions to victims of domestic violence and runs preventative programs for sex trafficking in villages. I then visited Project Unlearn in Delhi and Dehradun, which provides gender equality workshops to male prisoners charged with gender-based violence and adolescent boys in slums.
*Note: Many of the prisoners Unlearn works with are held on charges of violating Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, which encompasses sexual acts with individuals under the age of consent (defined in India as 18 years old), the Dowry Prohibition Act, or charges of varying types of abuse. Fewer are charged with rape.
While writing my PDG report, I wanted to research some of the causes of crimes against women in India, the ways in which these crimes manifest, and the populations of women who are most vulnerable. Below is a compilation of my findings on the issues that these NGOs address, some research-backed methods to address both sides of the issue, and a personal reflection on the work I observed.
What the Numbers Tell Us
Violence Against Women
Violence against women remains an insidious and persistent problem worldwide. As per the World Health Organization, at least a third of women across the world have experienced physical or sexual violence, and almost a tenth of women have experienced forced sexual acts.
These issues are prevalent in India, a patriarchal country where gender bias remains entrenched in communities. According to the 2023 index on women’s security across the world released by Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, India ranks 128 out of 177 countries in women’s inclusion, justice, and security. In fact, reported crimes against women have been rising steadily in India over the past several years, from 338,954 cases in 2016 to 428,278 cases in 2022, the equivalent of over 50 FIRs (first information reports) every hour. Despite India’s enactment of the 2005 Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, created to protect women from physical, sexual, economic, verbal or emotional abuse, 31.4% of those crimes were cruelty by husband or his relatives. The second-highest category of crime (19.2%) was kidnapping and abduction of women.
Certain localities have recorded higher rates of gender-based crimes. Per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2022, Delhi had the highest recorded rates of crime against women (144.4 crimes in 100,000 women) out of all states and union territories in India, followed by Telangana in third (117). For comparison, the national average is 66.4. These statistics highlight the importance of the work undertaken by My Choices Foundation and Project Unlearn to address male-perpetrated violence against women and sex trafficking within Hyderabad and Delhi respectively.
Sex Trafficking
Sex trafficking poses another danger to women in India, as the country is both an international supplier of trafficked victims to the Middle East and Southeast Asia and a destination for trafficked victims from neighboring Bangladesh and Nepal. This issue disproportionately affects women and girls: Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) that 96% of rescued sex trafficking victims were female. The victims targeted usually come from severely underprivileged backgrounds, with factors including poverty and being a member of a scheduled caste or tribe. According to a 2006 study of 160 victims in Mumbai, one of India’s biggest domestic destinations for sex trafficking, all came from impoverished families. For 38% of the victims, sexual or physical violence frequently occurred within their families, often from their husbands (15.2%). A large majority (59.7%) were trafficked by people previously known to them, such as relatives or other members of their tribe. Because victims come from difficult circumstances, traffickers most commonly lure them with promises of financial opportunity. The women and girls are then brought to “placement agencies,” a euphemistic term for organized trafficking groups that then send the victims to different locations for sexual exploitation or domestic slavery.
Addressing the Issue from Both Sides
Laying the Foundation: Victim and Perpetrator Evaluations
When working with victims and perpetrators, there are several assessment types that can be used to judge baseline attitudes, domestic violence risk, and the chance of recidivism, among other factors. Some of the most common such assessments are outlined below.
GEM (Gender-Equitable Men) Assessment
The most widely-used evaluation framework in gender equality work is the GEM Assessment. This test is used primarily to assess male subjects’ beliefs about women, gender, and sexuality. Project Unlearn uses their own version of the GEM assessment to evaluate their two categories of students: prisoners charged with gender-based violence, and adolescent boys in slum areas.
The GEM Assessment was created in 2008 by two researchers at Horizons, a Population Council NGO funded by USAID, and Equimundo, a Washington DC-based organization that promotes gender-equitable masculinity. The researchers differentiate between gender norms and masculine ideologies, defining the former as social expectations for appropriate male vs. female behavior, and the latter as how men define themselves as men. The 24-item GEM scale focuses primarily on gender norms, including beliefs about intimate relationships, domestic violence, sexual and reproductive health, domestic work, and homosexuality. For each of the statements in the assessment, participants are asked to mark “agree,” “partially agree,” or “disagree.”
The assessment is founded on a few key pillars:
- The concept of gender is rooted in power dynamics.
- Gender norms are spread by families, peers, and institutions, and internalized by boys.
- Gender norms can and do change over time.
Given point 1, a Gender-Equitable Man is considered one who seeks relationships with women based on equality, respect, and intimacy rather than sexual conquest. This includes believing that men and women have equal rights and that women have as much “right” to sexual agency as do men. A GEM would also willingly participate in domestic work and childcare, take on shared responsibility of reproductive and sexual health, and oppose homophobia. (The last point is included in the assessment because in the study’s formative research, participants used the word “nonhomosexual” as one way to define themselves as “real” men.)
The pilot study found that higher GEM scores, which are indicative of more gender-equitable beliefs, were positively related to education level. This is likely because young men who attain higher levels of education are more exposed to peers and teachers with equitable beliefs, while school develops critical thinking skills that are used to question preconceived beliefs and traditions. Importantly, GEM scores varied substantially among men from the same neighborhoods, schools, and even households, suggesting that the opportunity for change exists and that gender norms are not inevitably cemented by social circles.
Perhaps contrary to expectation, subsequent uses of the GEM assessment in studies around the world have unveiled the need to work with both men and women. For instance, one 2015 study conducted in Tanzania found that men consistently reported more positive gender-equitable norms than women in 21 out of the 24 items in the GEM assessment. Similarly, in a 2013 study of Bangladeshi Muslim women, participants attitudes ranged from the most favorable on statements like “A man should know what his partner likes during sex” to the least favorable (39.7%) for “It is important to have a male friend that you can talk to about your problems,” with an average score of 16 out of a total of 21 points.
Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI)
This inventory is unique in its differentiation between hostile and benevolent sexism. While hostile sexism is blatantly derogatory, benevolent sexism may be construed as positive toward women. One 1996 paper defines benevolent sexism as “a set of interrelated attitudes toward women that are sexist in terms of viewing women stereotypically and in restricted roles but that are subjectively positive in feeling tone (for the perceiver)… despite the positive feelings it may indicate for the perceiver, its underpinnings lie in traditional stereotyping and masculine dominance (e.g., the man as the provider and woman as his dependent), and its consequences are often damaging. Benevolent sexism is not necessarily experienced as benevolent by the recipient.” Similar to the GEM assessment, the ASI has a 22-item scale in which participants mark the extent to which they agree with given statements.
Below are some examples of “hostile sexism” items in the ASI:
- Most women interpret innocent remarks as being sexist.
- Women seek power by getting control over men.
Compared with examples of “benevolent sexism” items:
- Women should be cherished and protected by men.
- Many women have a quality of purity that few men possess.
Domestic Violence Survivor Assessment (DVSA)
The Domestic Violence Survivor Assessment, first developed in 2002, is used to track victims’ mindset through the process of addressing their situation. MCF utilizes this framework to assess victims of abuse before, during, and after the counseling sessions they provide. The DVSA is founded on Karen Landenburger’s 1989 theory of entrapment and recovery, which identifies 3 stages: binding (the beginnings of the relationship and the abuse), enduring (the victim recognizes the abuse but is committed to the relationship), disengaging (the victim begins to seek help), and recovering (the victim permanently leaves).
The DVSA builds upon this framework by proposing 5 stages: committed to continuing, committed but questioning, considering and preparing for change, breaks away or partner changes, and establishes a new life (apart or together). There are some key changes from Landenburger: first, the assessment is only focused on the period after abuse begins. Second, it creates a new category for the period between enduring and disengaging (considering and preparing for change), to recognize the mental and logistical changes that are needed for the victim to fully pull away or for the perpetrator to change. Lastly, and most important, it recognizes that resolution is possible either through the victim leaving or through the partner changing.
Working with all Parties: Sex Education
One driver of the persistence of gender-related issues in India is sociocultural pushback to sex education in schools, with teachers and religious leaders often arguing that discussion of the topic with adolescents will lead to premature sexual exploration. Some states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Chattisgarh, have even gone so far as to ban sex education in schools altogether. Many also associate sex education with the idea of a hedonistic Western society that is in direct conflict with Indian culture. This cultural taboo is perpetuated within the home as well, as Indian parents often feel uncomfortable discussing healthy sex practices openly with their children because their own parents never broached the topic with them.
Combined, the dearth of knowledge about sexuality and gender leads Indian youth to search for information from inaccurate sources, including friend circles and social media. The Ministry of Human Resource Development and Health and Family Welfare tried to combat this issue by developing an adolescent sex education program in 2020, but the program faced significant backlash even though the words “sex” and “sexuality” were not mentioned. In a similar vein, a teacher training manual on transgender education created by the National Council of Educational Research and Training in 2021 had to be taken down from its website due to intense criticism.
Contrary to prevalent concerns in India, studies have shown that education on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) actually curbs premature sexual activity by helping adolescents understand about healthy practices, consent, and potential legal ramifications. The reverse is equally true: according to a study of over 900 adolescents in Maharashtra, those not exposed to educational or scientific literature on SRH were more likely to engage in early sexual activity. The Indian Supreme Court pushed these points in a 2024 landmark judgement related to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by the Indian Supreme Court, arguing in their 200-page verdict that the government has an obligation to provide sex education in schools not only on reproduction but also on consent, healthy relationships, and gender equality, in order to curb sexual violence and increase gender equity in India.
Conclusion: From a Logical and Emotional Standpoint
Collectively, the above statistics highlight the importance of several aspects of the work undertaken by MCF and Project Unlearn. Firstly, their focus on Hyderabad and Delhi is crucial given the high rates of crimes against women in these cities. Second, these statistics prove the need for education on gender, sexuality, and gender-based crimes in underprivileged communities, which includes rural and tribal villages as well as city slums. Finally (and most importantly), this review of the status of gender-based crimes in India clearly demonstrates the need to work with perpetrators on gender equality, as both MCF and Unlearn do. In doing so, communities can ensure sustainable behavioral change and reduce the perpetuity of the factors that make women more vulnerable to abuse and sex trafficking.
Aside from the statistics, it’s equally important to acknowledge the emotions involved when working on such a pervasive and sensitive topic. Rage against feelings of powerlessness, inequity and perpetrators’ frequent impunity is perhaps one of the seminal components of womanhood. As Project Unlearn co-founder Eleena George herself said in a Times of India interview, “I was around 22 years old [when I started working on Unlearn], and like most girls my age, felt intense anger at the sex crimes women face daily. But after interviewing these inmates, my anger gave way to something more profound: a realization that unless we challenge these deeply ingrained stereotypes by engaging with men, nothing will change.”
As a 23-year-old woman, I have long carried with me the same feelings of anger, horror, repulsion, and grief. But these feelings can only be the first step in the process of acknowledging and addressing crimes against women. My visits to MCF and Unlearn showed me that understanding and empathy, rather than punitive emotions, must be the next steps forward if we want to create deep-rooted and long-lasting change. Both Unlearn and MCF encompass this by working with perpetrators.
Unlearn does so by directly educating prisoners charged with GBV on gender equality and organizing preventative gender education workshops for adolescents in slum areas. Whether prisoner or not, all of Unlearn’s students come from marginalized communities in which they did not have access to information on gender and sex, and due to social norms, were highly discouraged from discussing emotions and thoughts related to these topics. Meanwhile, MCF offers counseling sessions for husbands and other family members, also from slum areas and marginalized demographics, and engages in dialogue with them in informal settings to maximize their receptivity. My site visits to these NGOs surprised me by demonstrating to me that at the very least, I have the capacity to have understanding for perpetrators who were not exposed to more equitable ways of thinking about gender.
What’s more, the above evidence proves that we cannot view this issue as binary: instead, education on gender equality is crucial for both men and women. The Tanzania and Bangladesh studies are a few examples of the need to educate women on what gender equality truly looks like.
At first glance, it’s easy to believe that the best action we can undertake to address crimes against women is to support victims and impose harsh consequences for perpetrators. These are also necessary steps, and I would never posit that women should not, or cannot, feel anger at the status of gender-related crimes worldwide. Nor would I argue that anger is entirely unproductive: every emotion has its usage. But punitive action alone is not an all-encompassing solution. To truly attack the root of the problem, the statistical and anecdotal evidence above evinces an urgent need to work with parties on both sides from a place of understanding at the minimum–and from there, perhaps even a place of empathy.
References
Adak, B. (2018, March 8). Over 8,000 human trafficking cases in 2016, according to government data. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/over-8-000-human-trafficking-cases-in-2016-according-to-government-data-1185018-2018-03-08?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Ansari, B., & Rajaram, S. (2023, March 8). It’s Women’s Day, but on ground, little has changed. ISDM. https://www.isdm.org.in/blog/its-womens-day-but-on-ground-little-has-changed#:~:text=The%20latest%20data%20from%20the%20National%20Crime,2022%2C%20in%20comparison%20with%2058.8%20in%202018.
Dasgupta, A., Silverman, J. G., Saggurti, N., Ghule, M., Donta, B., Battala, M., Nair, S., Gajanan, V., & Raj, A. (2018). Understanding men’s elevated alcohol use, gender equity ideologies, and intimate partner violence among married couples in rural India. American Journal of Men’s Health, 12(4), 1084–1093. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988318775844
Kazaura, M., Ezekiel, M., Chitama, D., & Mlang’a, E. (2015). Gender equitable men’s attitudes and beliefs to reduce HIV risk and gender-based violence in Tanzania. Tanzania Journal of Health Research, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.4314/thrb.v17i1.8
My Choices Foundation. (n.d.). Homepage. https://www.mychoicesfoundation.org/
ORF. (2023, September 6). Navigating comprehensive sexuality education in India: Cultural sensitivities and implementation challenges. Observer Research Foundation. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/navigating-comprehensive-sexuality-education-in-india-cultural-sensitivities-and-implementation-challenges
Pandey, G. (2022, September 9). India’s rape problem: Why the crime is deeply rooted in society. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62830634
Patel, Shivam. (2024, August 15). India’s struggles with high rape cases, low conviction rates. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-struggles-with-high-rape-cases-low-conviction-rates-2024-08-15/
Project Unlearn. (n.d.). Homepage. https://www.projectunlearn.in/
Pulerwitz, J., & Barker, G. (2008). Measuring attitudes toward gender norms among young men in Brazil: Development and psychometric evaluation of the GEM scale. Men and Masculinities, 10(3), 322–338.
Rahman, M., Hoque, M. E., & Sarker, S. (2013). An assessment of attitude towards equitable gender norms among Muslim women in Bangladesh. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(8), 540–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.05.001
Silverman, J. G., Decker, M. R., Gupta, J., Maheshwari, A., Patel, V., & Raj, A. (2007). Experiences of sex trafficking victims in Mumbai, India. International Center for Missing & Exploited Children. https://cdn.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Experiences-of-sex-trafficking-victims-in-Mumbai-Silverman-2007.pdf
Sinha, S., & Gupta, R. (2023). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding sexual health education among Indian adolescents: A cross-sectional study. Indian Journal of Adolescent Health, 5(1). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/26318318231155993
Supreme Court advocates comprehensive sex education to reduce sexual crimes and misconceptions. (2023, October 25). India Today Education. https://bestcolleges.indiatoday.in/news-detail/supreme-court-advocates-comprehensive-sex-education-to-reduce-sexual-crimes-and-misconceptions
Tandon, S. (2023, August 8). In India, human traffickers target tribal women and girls. Voice of America (VOA). https://www.voanews.com/a/in-india-human-traffickers-target-tribal-women-and-girls/7235083.html
Wadhawan, S., & Agrawal, A. (2023). Comprehensive sexuality education in India: Bridging the gap between policy and practice. Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science, 36(1), 11–20. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10159571/
