{"id":3754,"date":"2013-12-25T14:00:10","date_gmt":"2013-12-25T08:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=3754"},"modified":"2013-12-25T14:00:10","modified_gmt":"2013-12-25T08:30:10","slug":"why-do-we-indians-blame-the-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2013\/rights-and-freedoms\/why-do-we-indians-blame-the-victim.html\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do We Indians Blame the Victim?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Khobragade episode has exposed our priorities. In our eagerness to defend the so-called “honor of our nation”<\/a>, most people seem to have forgotten that Devyani’s arrest was not due to a victimless crime. If there is to be any focus on this case, in my opinion it should be centered on getting justice for the maid who was promised a salary and then deprived of it. Protestations that she couldn’t afford to pay her $4500 etc are utterly hollow. If you can’t afford a maid, don’t\u00a0keep<\/em> a maid. And if you promise to pay someone, don’t follow up on that contract and get caught doing so, don’t come crying to the people of India to protect you.<\/p>\n

Or maybe she should. Devyani might have realized that we love to blame the victim<\/a>. The existence of the phenomenon is not in doubt. What is interesting is\u00a0why<\/em> do people think like this? It’s not logical, not rational. There’s no provision in our legal code to lay blame and no provision of law says that we have to dissect the reasons that led up to a particular crime (unless of course, the crime itself<\/i> is defined in such terms). A rape is a rape. It doesn’t matter why. Underpaying a maid is underpaying a maid. It doesn’t matter why. Keep your reasons and justifications to yourself. The law is blind.<\/p>\n

One can make a compelling exception in the case of victimless crimes. Where no one is hurt and no one is worse off for the “crime” being committed. In which case, the law itself needs to be brought in line<\/strong>. Just like Section 377 needs to be knocked off<\/a>. But what about when someone is hurt?<\/p>\n

Break Law => Jail<\/p>\n

Does this simple equation need any further explanation? Any amendment? Any intervention? No. So what’s the reason behind victim blaming?<\/p>\n

In my opinion, people blame the victim because it gives them an illusion that things are in their control. A world where the victim is not at fault is a world where\u00a0anything<\/em>\u00a0can happen for\u00a0no reason<\/em>. There’s nothing you can do about it. No action you can take to protect yourself. No cause, no one to blame. Just random events. And that’s a world out of control. A terrifying universe where bad things happen to innocent people. How can “god” allow it to happen? It opens up a whole can of worms which religion and civilization have kept shut for most of our lives.<\/p>\n

Much easier to put the blame on the victim and say that bad things happening to them is their\u00a0own<\/em> fault. Because the alternative is too scary to contemplate.<\/p>\n

This probably resonates even more strongly in the Indian psyche with the concept of karma<\/em>. If bad stuff happens to an obviously blameless victim (like a baby), they must have done something wrong in their\u00a0previous<\/em> life! What a wonderful concept! In one stroke it resolves all existential issues and gives a nice basis for explaining the unexplained. A perfect substitute for random chance. Of course, one that is completely unverifiable. But that’s actually a strength since it can’t be\u00a0disproved<\/em> either.<\/p>\n

Plus of course it ties in nicely with the soothing notion of reincarnation that is tailor made to reassure us about our impending death. It’s actually quite an ingenious construct. No wonder the idea of victim blaming is found throughout the world, and not just in India. Even in the Christianity we have examples of god cursing (or blessing) not just the sinner, but their future generations as well. Divine justice it seems is hardly “just” at all. But that’s no obstacle when god is a priori<\/em>\u00a0“good”.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately this particular illusion impedes the course of justice – particularly when judges themselves are affected by their own illusions. Isn’t it time we moved past this to a more mature outlook? Let’s start by placing the blame for a crime squarely on the person responsible – the criminal. Leave the victim alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Khobragade episode has exposed our priorities. In our eagerness to defend the so-called “honor of our nation”, most people seem to have forgotten that Devyani’s arrest was not due to a victimless crime. If there is to be any focus on this case, in my opinion it should be centered on getting justice for … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rights-and-freedoms"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Do We Indians Blame the Victim?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blaming the victim gives us the illusion that stuff isn't random. 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