I have often wondered why - those who willingly accept suggestions for taking any number of precautions in order to avoid theft of car; those who are open to any discussion to find ways to prevent stealing of valuables from house; those who never ignore any suggestion for how to keep all information of cash transactions secret from others; those who also take pains in ensuring safety of their child while commuting to and fro from school; relentlessly keeps on reminding their spouse how can they avoid accident while driving, suddenly turn non-receptive to any suggestion for observing precautions in order to avoid becoming a victim of a rape incident. All the cases mentioned above are crimes and undoubtedly neither the offender should be left unpunished nor the police can be spared for any laxity on their part, but does this mean that we should not be told how to take prohibitive measures. Can we become complacent merely by putting all blames on the government and the police? We know that no amount of precaution can be considered as adequate enough to make anyone feel relaxed in this regard. Yes, we alone will never be sufficient but then, don’t we know that even efficient policing will have its own limitations. Since losing a car can never be compared to that of losing one’s dignity and peace of mind, is it not fair to expect a matching level of effort from those who are vulnerable to these crimes?
To me, it appears that any suggestion for observing precautions in these cases generally offends the potential victims not only because it, in a way, helps in justifying the crime but more because it is considered as an advice directly emanating from an offender’s mind-set. These advices are also considered as originating from another outright offending assumption that the victims were not serious about their own safety. And it hurts them more when these suggestions come from those who have the responsibility to ensure their safety. With this view, it is often argued that instead of subjecting the potential victims to pass through these sessions of preaching there is an urgent need to change the mind-set of those who preach. However I feel that sometimes even genuine suggestions go waste in this regard due to the light in which these suggestions are generally scanned.
Any suggestion to the potential victims for observing precautions and that too just after a Dhaula-Kuan-rape kind of crime is indeed blatantly insensitive but I find even the reactions to this absurdity equally insensitive when it is made to appear as if they do not want to share any responsibility of their own safety.
To me, it appears that any suggestion for observing precautions in these cases generally offends the potential victims not only because it, in a way, helps in justifying the crime but more because it is considered as an advice directly emanating from an offender’s mind-set. These advices are also considered as originating from another outright offending assumption that the victims were not serious about their own safety. And it hurts them more when these suggestions come from those who have the responsibility to ensure their safety. With this view, it is often argued that instead of subjecting the potential victims to pass through these sessions of preaching there is an urgent need to change the mind-set of those who preach. However I feel that sometimes even genuine suggestions go waste in this regard due to the light in which these suggestions are generally scanned.
Any suggestion to the potential victims for observing precautions and that too just after a Dhaula-Kuan-rape kind of crime is indeed blatantly insensitive but I find even the reactions to this absurdity equally insensitive when it is made to appear as if they do not want to share any responsibility of their own safety.
