Sexual Violence in India: The Discourses of Rape and the Discourses of Justice

Rachel Simon-Kumar
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Rachel Simon-Kumar: Rachel Simon-Kumar is Senior Lecturer in The School of Social Sciences, The University of Waikato, Pvt Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. E-mail: rachelsk@waikato.ac.nz

Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 2014, vol. 21, issue 3, 451-460

Abstract: In the wake of the 2012 Delhi rape incident, there has been intense public introspection into the nature of Indian society and the current structures of governance that have failed to keep women safe. Politicians, academics, social commentators, rape survivors, activists, bloggers, and television talk show hosts have all contributed views—right across the conservative-liberal spectrum—on the causes of rape and sexual violence in the country and measures to remedy them. In this article, I summarise some of the writings that were published in influential international and local media in late 2012 and early 2013 as reflective of the contemporary discourses of rape that are deployed in the public space in India, and that inform ideas of just recourse in cases of violence against women. The commentary pays particular attention to the emerging discourse of socio-economic inequality in perpetuating gender violence and the possibilities of redistribution as the basis for gender justice.

Keywords: Rape; sexual violence; discourse; justice; inequality; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indgen:v:21:y:2014:i:3:p:451-460

DOI: 10.1177/0971521514540711

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