BANGALORE: No other act of rape raised as many questions about the psyche of the rapist as the December 16, 2012 tragedy. The nation reacted with disbelief as details of the brutal gang rape were reported. Especially horrifying was the statement of the victim, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, recorded at the Safdarjung Hospital. Among the many things the young woman recalled was how after hitting her friend, who fell unconscious, the driver of the bus, Ram Singh, was the first in the group to force himself on her.
What was wrong with these men? This question is asked almost every time we read about a rape. As a matter of fact, researchers across the globe have been trying to find an answer to this but the mind of a rapist continues to remain one of the darkest and most complex zones of criminality.
About a decade ago, the world saw rape as an act of ‘overwhelming sexual urge’, more often than not, invited by women through provocative dressing or behaviour. In a country like ours, perceived violation of a traditional norm, for instance walking alone in the night, automatically makes a female vulnerable.
However, in recent times researchers suggest that only a minority of the rapists commit the heinous crime to satisfy their sexual urge; for the majority, rape is an act of violence rather than eroticism. These researchers warn that no single line of research is conclusive but their work does help one understand these irrational minds to some extent.
“For some men, rape is like ‘stealing’,” says Dr Neil Malamuth, professor of psychology and communication at University of California, Los Angeles. “I wouldn’t necessarily use the term sexual perversion for most rapists. Many are ‘anti-social’ individuals who would ‘steal’ sex just as they would steal other things,” he adds.
In a survey conducted by Dr Malamuth of 2,652 men, it was found that the men who forced their wives or girlfriends to have sex felt that they needed to be in control of the relationship and that women are meant to be subjugated. “There are some for whom sex and power have become intertwined in unusually high levels, and as our research indicates, high levels of hostility towards women are involved,” he says.
His research paper - Confluence Mediation Model of Sexual Aggression - defines the personality of a rapist: narcissist, insecure, defensive, hostile, distrustful (mostly towards women) and one who gets sexual gratification from controlling a woman.
This idea is also popularised in Susan Browmiller’s Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape — one of the most influential books written about rape. She was among the first people to suggest that rape is an act of subjugation.
Most of these men, according to the researchers, are angry. Angry towards the world or just women and they channelise their anger towards women sexually; in an act where humiliation and fear are the dominant emotions for a woman.
Dr Malamuth’s survey also suggests that a majority of these rapists were likely to have experienced an atmosphere of sexual violence in their childhood. Similar is the finding of a 1988 study by Ann Burgess, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. A 2011 survey stated that alcohol use was found to be one of the major risk factors contributing to sexual aggression, states Prof Malamuth’s research, which he wrote with Professor Gert Martin Hald of University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
And what about gang rapes?
A gang provides the empowerment and the 'disinhibition' that such a violent act requires, says Dr Malamuth. Take the Delhi gang rape for instance. The violence with which the minor pulled the victim's intestines out after raping her is ‘demonic’.
Dr Jamuna Rajan, neuropsychologist at NIMHANS, Bangalore, says, “He did it probably because he wanted to assert himself as a sexually capable, mature male with power; calling for respect among the group (through the act).”
Another research by Israeli criminologist Dr Menachem Amir in Philadelphia found that most rapists were unmarried with an average age of 23. Similar is the case in India with 58 per cent of the rapists being between the ages of 18 and 30 years, according to National Crime Records Bureau data.
Amir also found that more than half of the rapes took place on weekends, between 8 pm and 2 am and 71 per cent of rapes were planned.
These conclusions were also supported by the more recent research by The National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.
What the latter also found was that a majority of the rapists were of the belief that the prevention or avoidance of rape was the woman’s responsibility. They advised women not to go out alone, not to hitchhike, not to drink alone and to learn self-defense. Citing our country as an example, one can say that rape is nothing but the product of the inbuilt patriarchal mindset, says psychologist Dr Rajat Mitra, who has spent years of his life studying at least 200 rapists in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
On the website of Asian Human Rights Commission, Dr Mitra says that rapists seldom show remorse. “If they say they are sorry, it is because they are sorry that they got caught.” He also says that the notion that most of the victims know the perpetrators is false.
Dr Mitra adds that what needs to change in India is victim blaming - saying that it was the girl’s fault that she was raped. That she should not have gone out alone or with a man at night. Saying that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong clothes. That she asked for it.
Saying any of this is the same as saying that sexual attacks are acceptable. Many experts agree that punishment is the biggest deterrent for these perpetrators.
While the women in India are finally coming out in the open for justice, the media has appropriately highlighted the dogmas in the society in the recent times, bringing people together for the victim’s cause. “However, some sexual offenders take great pride in their heinous acts and enjoy fame that media discussions bring. Thus a sensible approach would be to highlight the crime’s obscenity,” says Dr Jamuna.
And despite the hullabaloo over sex education, it is the only thing that can sensitise future generations, says Dr Shyam Bhat, psychiatrist and physician, Mind and Body Clinic, Bangalore.
“Education would lessen sexual curiosity among youngsters and help them streamline it in a healthy way. It would also teach boys the changing gender dynamics,” he adds.
“Any sexual offence, even the so-called ‘eve-teasing’ should be taken seriously. The need of the hour is an efficient criminal justice system and a police force that is sensitive to these issues,” adds Dr Bhat.