More rapes,ICSSR wants to know why

They will study the role of region,class and castes,urbanisation and migration,the impact of new technology and social media on aspirations of the young and poor,inter-generational transmission of violence against women and construction of masculinity in urban and rural India,according to officials.

Picking up from recent incidents,the studies will look at issues like the attitude of the police to sexual violence and the oft-quoted dominant myths about why women get raped or ask to be raped through their clothes,make-up,use of cellphones,going out alone among other things.

ICSSR Chairman Prof S K Thorat said while the whole discourse on recent rape cases has been dominated largely by the need for more stringent laws,what needs to be probed is the change in sexual behaviour. Sexual behaviour is an outcome of certain social,cultural,economic and demographic changes. We hope that these studies to be conducted over two years can place these recent incidents in a socio-cultural context and help in more informed policy making, Thorat said.

The studies will involve conducting comprehensive regional surveys to create an all-India demographic picture of victims,perpetrators,public attitude,police attitude,aspects like under-reporting of sexual violence and rehabilitation of victims. Distinction would be made between regions,conflict zones,rural and urban areas.

These surveys will also examine the various forms of sexual violence against women at home and in family in the forms of incest and marital rape,in public spaces,at the work place,on college campuses,as domestic workers,as members of a caste,community and religion.

The surveys will also assess the efficacy of the National and State Womens Commissions and womens movement in India in relation to sexual violence,existing laws like the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and Vishakha case guidelines.

Attempting to understand the recent rise in rape cases,the ICSSR also wants the studies to examine aspects like the increasing participation of women in economic activity and their vulnerability to sexual violence,the lack of public support structures,and the increasing visibility of sexuality and sexual violence in media.

Academics Sanghamitra S Acharya and Sunita Reddy from JNU for instance will be conducting a study on sexual violence in relation to women through her life cycle as she steps from school into college and then a workplace.

While lots has been done on issues like domestic violence,not much research has been conducted on the threat of sexual violence in different spheres. Our study will examine perceptions of attitude towards and experience of violence among school- and college-going population,workers and professionals and residents of vulnerable spaces like slums, Acharya said.