Written by: Alisha Tripathi - 21128, Grade XII
Posted on: 29 November, 2020
I am Alisha and I'm the youngest of siblings in my family. My grandmother tells me stories about the desperate attempt of my family at content after finding out the sex of their child. They have definitely come a very long way now and do not make me feel less than who I am, in any possible way now. Nevertheless, it still bothers me that I was not the surprise they were expecting. Was it because they could not fulfill the requirements of the society or be part of the social taboo, were they supposed to be unhappy because girls are bound to go support their husband’s life, generally, taking with them half the family’s wealth that my father was going to work all his life to earn. I hope that it was only because they feared that I have to fight for my existence every single day because that would be the case for almost every middle-class child born and will be.
I started to fall in the void of the monstrosity of Nepalese society towards women. Growing up, I always remembered being asked to cover myself knee up at least with a distance between my clothes and my skin. I also remember to not ask too many questions if I ever tried to ask why. However, recent news has given me a full fledged answer as to why girls we need to cover. If anyone were to interview the general public on why they are proud of being a Nepali, I am willing to bet that most of their answer is because Nepal is the land of the Living Goddess. I know that most males in my country are civilized and are very respectful of boundaries set by women between them and him. However, the audacity of the ones that are left to be proud of Nepal for being the land of the Living Goddess will always antagonize me. Why do I have to be scared every time I get out of the house, and why do I have to be so conscious of who's looking.
Can men live happily if they feared being constantly followed by a goon who they owed money to and would get beat up with the first ever encounter with the goon. Furthermore, this is so much worse than that because this beating is as invasive as a hysterectomy can get.
I live in the most developed place in my country where the education statistics is impeccable compared to the rest of Nepal. Even so, Once when I was walking to school, wearing a skirt that my school demanded me to wear, and I’m comfortable with, I heard them passing comments about my clothes and what they’d do to me if they ever had me alone. Do all of the readers feel that it was my fault that my genitals were at risk. Is it really about the clothes? I never hear lesbians and bisexuals jumping at every girl they see wearing a skirt on the street. Once I was walking back to my home after my tuition classes, when it had started to get dark. I felt this disturbing touch on my body from a stranger I could not recognize. I got scared. I told my mom when I got back home after which instead of dealing with it using law, she stopped my tuition classes instead. I once also heard a disturbing whisper when I had gone shopping with dad. I told my dad about it to which he told me to ignore those kinds of men when in public places. I told my guy friends about it and they laughed at me and told me it’s normal and sometimes it happens and I should ignore it . So now, should I just ignore it or should I fight back which if i do, might end with acid attack or sexual assault on me to which my country ranks in the top 4 worldwide. I really do not know who would not understand that this is a bad thing but if my reader is one of those people who thinks that its good if we rank on the top even if its at rape even as a joke, SHAME ON YOU.
I get sexually harassed almost every time i go out; and i know most of the women have to go through different kinds of sexual assault. Now imagine a world without women- The world where women are not seen because they are scared to go out, the world where women are unheard because justice favors criminals over victims. Rape is a cross-cut problem that is faced by women all over the world. Now it is time to speak on how we can realistically fix it. Rapists should be sentenced to death. We see criminals easily getting away with the crime and the victims who have to go through painful slow trail processes. Because of the unserved justice and voices being unheard, women are even discouraged to report rape. Why is the government not taking strong action against rape? In most of the cases women are blamed. What was she wearing? Why was she out at night? 9 years old baby as well as 72 years old women are getting raped. Now what are your excuses for the? It had nothing to do with clothes. Blame the rapist not the victim. It doesn’t matter how drunk he was, if she rejected him, even if she is his girlfriend or wife there should be zero tolerance regarding rape. As men you need to play an important role and be responsible towards your actions and respect women. Men need to do better to make this world a better place for women. If you whistle at her on the street, slut shame girls and still post #justiceforwomen and #hangtherapist, even if you think you’re innocent you’re not. Before using any hashtags try to change the darkness within you.
There is also the necessity of proper sex education at school and home. Teach your sons when a woman says no, it means no. Teach your daughter to fight back and make them aware about their rights so they are never too scared to speak up. The world needs to be changed for the better. Rape needs to be gone because it’s the worst crime a human can do to another human. Many people think murder is the worst crime but truth is rape leaves the victim with a permanent scar for the rest of their life It kills a part of the victim forever. Humanity is being forgotten and rape is treated with indifference. No! It needs to be taken more seriously by the whole world. Today it's her story, tomorrow it can be ours. This has always been a global issue. But we have the power to start a revolution- If we only have a sense of responsibility as a member of the society.
I call on all of us to come together and make this issue to be in the mouths and ears of the whole world. We need to be the voice for unheard. If we are together in this we can make a real change; because no one in this world deserves to be raped. Its time for the people to stand united against rape.
