日志
Social sin by interview of 100 rapists in India 是社会的罪过
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'When I went to research, I was convinced these men are monsters. But when you talk to them, you realize these are not extraordinary men, they are really ordinary'
NEW DELHI – In India, many consider them “monsters.”
Madhumita Pandey was only 22 when she first went to Tihar Jail in New Delhi to meet and interview convicted rapists in India. Over the past three years, she has interviewed 100 of them for her doctoral thesis at the criminology department of Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom.
It all started in 2013, first as a pilot project, months after the highly publicized gang rape and murder of a woman now known as “Nirbhaya” meaning “Fearless One.” The details of the case — a young, aspirational medical student who was attacked on the way home with a friend after watching the movie Life of Pi — struck a chord in India, where according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 34,651 women reported being raped in 2015, the most recent year on record.
Nirbhaya brought thousands of Indians to the streets to protest the widespread culture of rape and violence against women in 2012. That year, gender specialists ranked India the worst place among G20 countries to be a woman, worse even than Saudi Arabia where women have to live under the supervision of a male guardian.
“Everyone was thinking the same thing,” said Pandey, who at the time was on the other side of the world, in England, finishing off her master’s. “Why do these men do what they do? We think of them as monsters, we think no human being could do something like that.”
The protests forced a national conversation about rape, a topic which still carries huge stigma in India. Pandey, who grew up in New Delhi, and saw her city in a new light after the Nirbhaya case, said: “I thought, what prompts these men? What are the circumstances which produce men like this? I thought, ask the source.”
Since then, she has spent weeks talking to rapists in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Most of the men she met there were uneducated, only a handful had graduated high school. Many were third- or fourth-grade dropouts. “When I went to research, I was convinced these men are monsters. But when you talk to them, you realize these are not extraordinary men, they are really ordinary. What they’ve done because of upbringing and thought process.”
In Indian households, even in more educated families, women are often bound to traditional roles, Pandey said. Many women won’t even use their husbands’ first names, she pointed out. “As an experiment, I phoned a few friends and asked: what does your mom call your dad? The answers I got were things like ‘are you listening,’ ‘listen,’ or ‘father of Ronak’ (the child’s name).’”
“Men are learning to have false ideas about masculinity, and women are also learning to be submissive. It is happening in the same household, Pandey said. “Everyone’s out to make it look like there’s something inherently wrong with [rapists]. But they are a part of our own society. They are not aliens who’ve been brought in from another world.”
Pandey said that hearing some of the rapists talk reminded her of commonly held beliefs that were often parroted even in her own household. “After you speak to [the rapists], it shocks you — these men have the power to make you feel sorry for them. As a woman that’s not how you expect to feel. I would almost forget that these men have been convicted of raping a woman. In my experience a lot of these men don’t realize that what they’ve done is rape. They don’t understand what consent is.”
“Then you ask yourself, is it just these men? Or is the vast majority of men?” she said.
In India, social attitudes are highly conservative. Sex education is left out of most school curriculums; legislators feel such topics could “corrupt” youth and offend traditional values. “Parents won’t even say the words like penis, vagina, rape or sex. If they can’t get over that, how can they educate young boys?” Pandey asked.
In the interviews, many men made excuses or gave justifications for their actions. Many denied rape happened at all. “There were only three or four who said we are repenting. Others had found a way to put their actions into some justification, neutralize, or blame action onto the victim.”
One case in particular, participant 49, sent Pandey on an unexpected journey. He expressed remorse for raping a five-year-old girl. “He said ‘yes I feel bad, I ruined her life.’ Now she is no longer a virgin, no one would marry her. Then he said, ‘I would accept her, I will marry her when I come out of jail.’”
The response shocked Pandey so much that she felt compelled to find out about the victim. The man had revealed details of the girl’s whereabouts in the interview. When she found the girl’s mother, she learned that the family had not even been told that their daughter’s rapist was in jail.
Pandey hopes to publish her research in the coming months but said she faces hostility for her work. “They think, here comes another feminist. They assume a woman doing research like this will misrepresent men’s ideas. Where do you begin with someone like that?” she said.
What this woman found after interviewing 100 rapists
THIS woman interviewed 100 convicted rapists, one of which sexually abused a five-year-old girl. Here’s what she learnt. Warning: Graphic.
ANYONE interviewing 100 convicted rapists would no doubt have a few things to say.
But what Madhumita Pandey, an Indian PhD student, has to say might surprise you.
When Pandey was just 22 she visited Tihar Jail in the Indian city of New Delhi to work on her thesis for Anglia Ruskin University, a school in the UK.
With over 10,000 inmates, it is the largest prison system in South Asia.
Madhumita Pandey has interviewed 100 convicted rapists in India. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied
It was after the highly publicised and brutal gang rape of a woman referred to as Nirbhaya (meaning “the fearless one”) in 2012 when Pandey was inspired to better understand the attitudes of men that commit rape.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Pandey discussed what she’s learnt so far and how some of the men even had her feeling sorry for them.
“After you speak to [the rapists], it shocks you — these men have the power to make you feel sorry for them. As a woman that’s not how you expect to feel. I would almost forget that these men have been convicted of raping a woman. In my experience a lot of these men don’t realise that what they’ve done is rape. They don’t understand what consent is,” she said.
Not only do the men not understand what consent is, the majority of the prisoners she spoke to were largely uneducated — most hadn’t even completed three years of schooling.
Some were so unaware that what they were doing was wrong that Pandey revealed less than five per cent had expressed remorse.
Even when they were remorseful, their attempts at repenting often made matters worse.
One rapist, referred to by Padney as participant 49, particularly stuck in the now-26-year-old’s mind.
After raping a five-year-old girl for “provoking” him, the 23-year-old prisoner told Pandey he would fix the situation by marrying the child when he got out of prison.
It’s only been five years since the rape, meaning the child is only 10. The man is due for release in five years.
Recounting the story to The Washington Post, Pandey asked the man if he felt bad.
“Yes, I feel bad, I ruined her life. Now she is no longer a virgin, no one would marry her,” he said.
“I would accept her, I will marry her when I come out of jail,” he told her.
Indian students protest the rape of Nirbhaya. Picture: Narinder NanuSource:AFP
After the rape of Nirbhaya in 2012, Pandey, like most of the world, believed the men involved and rapists in general, were monsters.
“When I went to research, I was convinced these men are monsters. But when you talk to them, you realise these are not extraordinary men, they are really ordinary. What they’ve done because of upbringing and thought process,” she said.
Studies show in India more than 90 per cent of rape cases go unreported meaning, the figure of 35,000 rapes in 2015 is actually much worse.
Just yesterday, a 32-week-old baby removed from the womb of a 13-year-old Indian girl died after she was granted permission by the court to terminate the pregnancy to save her own life.
The girl had been raped by her father’s colleague and the pregnancy only came to light because her parents had taken her to the doctor thinking she was obese.
According to the BBC, a child under 16 is raped every 155 minutes in India while a child under 10 is raped every 13 hours.
“Everyone’s out to make it look like there’s something inherently wrong with [rapists]. But they are a part of our own society. They are not aliens who’ve been brought in from another world,” Pandey said.
Indian rapist claims five-year-old victim 'provoked him' in interview with academic studying sexual violence
Imprisoned offender, 23, says he was seeking to 'teach child a lesson' in conversation with leading researcher investigating root cause of problem
Imprisoned offender, 23, says he was seeking to 'teach child a lesson' in conversation with leading researcher investigating root cause of problem
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-rapist-blames-five-year-old-victim-sexual-violence-study-madhumita-pandey-research-interviews-a7881826.html
A ten-year-old girl was recently denied an abortion by the Supreme Court of India. She was a victim of rape, which she alleges was perpetrated by her uncle several times over a period of seven months. Her pregnancy was discovered after she complained of stomach ache and was taken to the hospital, but in late July the court decided it was too late in the pregnancy for her to have an abortion.
Such cases of sexual violence in India have been a key topic of discussion since the brutal gang rape of a student on a bus in Delhi made headlines around the world in 2012. Popularly referred to as Nirbhaya (meaning “fearless one” in Hindi), the victim didn’t survive her internal injuries caused during the attack. In May 2017, India’s Supreme Court upheld the verdict of capital punishment for the four men convicted of rape in this case.
Following this incident in December 2012, I got the opportunity to conduct research in Tihar Central Jail at New Delhi which later developed into my PhD research. As one of the first studies to take into account the perspectives of convicted rapists in India, my aim was to understand the attitudes these men have towards their victims and how this thinking contributes to the endemic sexual violence that women experience in the country.
Over the course of the last three years, I have been able to talk with more than 100 convicted sex offenders. There is one particular story – participant 49 – that I have decided to share.
One girl’s horror
This 23-year-old convict had not completed primary school and was working as a temple cleaner. He was imprisoned in 2010 for raping a five-year-old girl. He described his victim as a small beggar girl who provoked him while he was busy with his duties. When I asked him to elaborate on how she “provoked” him, he said, “she was touching me inappropriately so I thought I’ll teach her a lesson”. He added: “Her mother is also like this, she too has a questionable character.” Victim blaming is a commonly found phenomenon in the narratives of sex offenders and this case was not any different.
What disturbed me more than the vivid details of his description of the attack was the fact that he thought he could make up for his crime by marrying the girl after his release.
Results of two questionnaires he completed before I spoke to him also showed his attitudes towards women. He completed the Attitude Towards Women Questionnaire and scored lowly, indicating conservative or traditional attitudes towards women. His results for the Multicultural Masculinity Ideology Scalehighlighted lack of sexual responsibility along with low sensitivity. He also ranked high on the toughness factor, indicating he had internalised cultural norms on how men should act and what defines a “man or manliness”.
At the end of the interview, I was compelled to find the other side of the story – the victim’s side. Considering he had already served five years in prison, I was not sure if I would be able to find the victim and her family. Luckily, based on his directions it didn’t take long to locate the temple. The priest there confirmed the incident had taken place and also told me that the victim’s mother is a beggar who comes to the temple regularly.
The following week, I was introduced to the mother of the victim. I informed her that I had interacted with her daughter’s attacker in Tihar Jail and that upon my probing he provided the details of the place of the attack and her family. At first she was absolutely shocked as she couldn’t believe that he had actually been sentenced. “I thought he had fled, gone to some other city,” she told me.
She recalled her daughter being rescued by the priest and then being rushed to the nearest government clinic where she was treated for three days. Since she could not afford further care, she brought her daughter back to the house. Her family knew the perpetrator well, which gives support to the widely known fact that most rapes are committed by aquaintances. She told me that when her husband found out about the attacks, “he had a total mental breakdown and abandoned the family”. She filed the charges and did all the paperwork on her own but didn’t hope for much. She also didn’t have any permanent contact details through which the police could inform her of what happened next.
She said she’d be happy to introduce me to her daughter, provided I didn’t ask her to recall anything. After waiting a few days, I finally got the opportunity to meet this endearing little girl who was very excited to see me and was now almost ten. She told me that she was doing well in school and really enjoyed painting. Completely unfazed by her past, she appeared to have no recollection of the horrific event. For her mother though, it had been nothing short of a nightmare. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that her daughter’s perpetrator thinks he can make amends by marrying her daughter.
Questions over justice
In a country where almost 90% of the rape cases go unreported, the perseverance and will of this mother in fighting for justice for her daughter is a story with deep resonance. Almost 34,651 casesof rape were reported in India in 2015, out of which only a select few made the headlines. India’s record of sexual assaults on minors is grim: in 2015, 10,854 rape cases of minors were reported and 14,913 other cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The mother asked me why her daughter’s attacker was only serving ten years in jail instead of being hanged: “Doesn’t she deserve the same justice as the Nirbhaya case? Those men are being hanged for their crime”. Since I did not have a fitting response to her question, I thanked her for sharing her story and we said goodbye.
Debates are continuing in India about punishment for rapists, particularly whether punitive methods or retributive and restorative justice are most effective. Sex offender treatment programmes have also been suggested as an alternative strategy. But what India needs most is to overhaul society’s collective conscience to promote and protect women’s rights and gender equality.
The Conversation
采访了100位强奸犯后，这是她得出的深刻结论
印度蒂哈尔监狱是南亚最大的监狱，22岁时，马德胡米塔·潘迪第一次来到这里，她来采访一些被关在这里的强奸犯。用了三年时间，她和他们当中100来人进行了详细的交谈。
（马德胡米塔·潘迪↑）
潘迪开始这个采访项目是在2013年，当时，印度一名女医学实习生乔蒂·辛格·潘迪，在看电影回家的街头，遭到了殴打和轮奸，事后13天便在新加坡过世了。（值得一说的是，当时这位女学生身边是有一位男同学陪着的，但依然没能阻挡悲剧的发生，这帮匪徒真的是胆大包天。）而这件事，就是印度著名的“黑公交轮奸案”，当时在印度引发了巨大轰动。而正是这件事刺激了潘迪开始进行采访。
（当时的四名暴力分子↑）
2015年时，印度国家犯罪记录局统计，光那一年，印度就有34651位女性遭到了性侵犯。而这还只是被统计在案的，没被统计到的估计比这还要多。
2012年，有相关研究把印度评为“G20国家中最不适合女性居住的国家”。
潘迪表示，在印度，每个人都在思考着这样一个问题：为什么这些强奸犯们会做出这样的事？“大家都觉得他们是魔鬼禽兽，因为没有哪个人类能做出这样的事来。”
潘迪想得更多，她想知道，这些人之所以变成这样，真正刺激他们的根源到底是什么？
那之后，她大多数时间都花在了蒂哈尔监狱中，主要用来和被关在那里的强奸犯们聊天。她接触到的强奸犯，大多数都没有受过教育，其中只有很少的人从高中毕了业，更多的是一些三四年级的辍学生。
“我刚开始去做这项调查的时候，也觉得这些男的都是禽兽。但是当我和他们聊过之后，发现他们其实并没有什么‘特别’，不过也是一些普通人而已。他们所做的事，和他们的成长环境和思想教育有着很大的关系。”
在印度，即便是在一些教育程度很高的家庭中，女性也一直被传统的性别角色束缚着。潘迪表示，在家中，很多印度女性甚至不会直接称呼她们丈夫的名字。“我问过几个朋友：你妈妈在家时都怎么叫你爸爸的？我听到最多的答案是这样的：‘你在听吗’，‘听着’，或者，‘罗纳（孩子的名字）的父亲’。”
“男性一直被灌输着一种错误的“阳刚之气”概念，而女性也一直被教导着要顺从。”这在印度是一种普遍现象，潘迪表示：“每个人都觉得强奸犯是个人出了问题。但实际上他们也是我们社会的一部分，他们不是凭空而来的外星人。”
和这些人聊天时，潘迪发现，这些强奸犯们和人们对他们的普遍印象并不太一样。“当你和这些强奸犯们聊过之后，你真的会很震惊——这些人有一种让你同情他们的能力。作为一个女人，这并不是你想有的感觉。我有时甚至差点忘了这些人曾经是性侵过女性的。在我的采访中，很多男性都没意识到，他们犯下的罪行就是强奸。因为他们根本搞不懂什么叫做‘同意’。”
“这时你就想知道，这些男性只是特例吗？还是大多数男性都是这样的？”
印度的社会观念一直都相当保守，大多数学校中都没有性教育课程。政府觉得，类似的课题会“教坏”年轻人并颠覆传统。潘迪表示：“父母们甚至都不会使用‘性’，‘强奸’等字眼，如果他们都不能接受的话，他们又怎么管教年轻的男孩们呢？”
在采访中，很多男性都会为自己的罪行找借口，有些甚至还完全否认了自己的罪行。“他们当中只有三到四个人表示了忏悔。而其他人总能找到各种各样的理由来为自己开脱，他们有的甚至还会把过错推到受害者的身上。”
其中一位49岁的罪犯表示了悔恨，他性侵了一个5岁的小女孩，他是这么和潘迪说的：“没错，我觉得很抱歉，我毁了她的生活。她现在不再是个处女，就没人愿意娶她了。但我会接受她的，等我出狱后我就娶她。”
这样的“忏悔”让潘迪感到非常震惊，她去找了受害的那一家人，却发现，他们竟然连强奸自己女儿的罪犯是否已经入狱这件事都毫不知情。
潘迪想在印度发表自己调查的研究结果，但是她遇到了很多敌意和困境，“人们会觉得，看，又来了个女权主义者。他们觉得，一个女人搞这样的研究，目的就是为了曲解破坏男性形象。对于这样的人，你能拿他们怎么办呢？”
最后一句
强奸犯不是天生的，他们也是我们社会的一部分。
既是林伽崇拜的宗教，又是札格纳特的宗教；
既是和尚的宗教，又是舞女的宗教。难怪会有这么多强奸犯。
印度人把男人的生殖器叫做林伽，把女人的生殖器叫做瑜尼。林伽和瑜尼的交合，便是瑜伽。
印度人不满足于正常的交合姿势，就发明出来各式各样千奇百怪的非正常人类交媾姿势，这些性交体操，就变成了后来传遍全世界都市白领圈的健康教育和身心教育的神功瑜伽。
最高超的瑜伽技巧，掌握在印度的庙妓们的手里。
他们是专门为了供和尚淫乐而生的女性。
印度人管他们叫圣女，她们自己也认为自己是圣女。
不知道见了杀人犯，你也会感觉他们很可怜。可他们宰你时一点都不手软。
还有可能先奸后杀。
