I was born in America, but the rest of my family was born in India. Despite that, India holds a special place in my heart because it is the culture that I come from, and I am proud to be from such a colorful country. I've visited India many times, and I will always be proud to be apart of its culture. However, India's social climate can be upsetting. Especially for women. Recently I learned that India has been named the most dangerous country for women. As a long time feminist, this was upsetting to hear. Why are women still being treated as lower class citizens? That's when I started learning that India has been going through a longtime, devastating rape crisis. This issue is important to me as a woman and as someone who is from India. I then realized this is the topic I wanted to research which led to me refining my questions about the rape crisis. I knew I wanted to research what contributed to the rape crisis in India. Women have always been seen lower in Indian society, but I didn't want to base my research off of just women. I figured there are more factors that contribute to the ongoing rape crisis in India than just gender roles. Then I realized people of a lower social class or people of different religions are treated lesser. This led to my research question: to what extent has social hierarchy contributed to the ongoing rape crisis in India?
I expected to learn that women are treated terribly in India. However, I wasn't aware of the ridiculous standards women are forced to uphold, such as learning to stay silent. I also didn't know that women are victim blamed for men's actions. On another note, I expected to learn that people who aren't Hindu are treated differently. Despite that, I was shocked to find out the role a Hindu nationalist government plays in India's rape crisis. Hindu politicians are put on a pedestal, and it surprised me to find out that many of them have been accused of rape. Of course I encountered many difficulties during my research. I found that most articles only discussed statistics rather than the root cause behind the issue. As much as these statistics were interesting and helpful, I really just wanted to focus on how social hierarchy contributed to the rape crisis. I've also had trouble finding articles about a women's role in Indian society that are very current. Despite this setback, I was able find articles that actually focuses on why the issue shows no signs of abating which ties into the the position of women in India. Through all this research, I was able to come up with hypothesis: social hierarchy has contributed to the ongoing rape crisis in India because women are considered lower in society, there are higher expectations in how women should behave, and a Hindu nationalist government has created a division in society. I knew this hypothesis was able to accommodate three causes behind India's rape crisis, and it leads me to discuss potential solutions to the issue. My revised thesis was only made more parallel and concise.
Unfortunately, I have not seen any improvements on India's rape crisis since my research. However, the issue is becoming more televised and is receiving the attention that it deserves. The rights of women is something that is still being fought for in India, and more people are getting involved every day. Through the widespread attention the issue is receiving, I do hope that the rapes in India will decrease.
Header Borrowed from "Cntraveller" https://www.cntraveller.in/story/drone-captures-stunning-aerial-photos-of-mumbai/