How To Explain India's Rape Culture

When the majority of the nation was celebrating the sentencing of the four accused in the brutal gang rape and murder of a young physiotherapist in Delhi, one of the defense lawyers of the accused, in response to the verdict given to the four men, comes out and tells the media -" Why don't people control their daughters first ? If my daughter was having pre-marital sex and moving around at night with her boyfriend, I would have burnt her alive."

When we have such embedded misogynist attitude of shaming and victim blaming, harsher punishments and stricter laws would never be sufficient to end crimes against women.

Until there is a general consensus that recognizes women as not only equal but deserving of dignity and respect, there is little to cheer about the verdict of the Delhi gang rape case.

We are in a situation where every single woman is in danger. We live in a country where the popular notion of the general public remains that preventing a rape is somehow always the victims' duty.

I am scared. What if Nirbhaya 's ( one of the names given to the 23 year-old brave heart) story is repeated again? I am scared. What if the victim is blamed again?

I hope that the sentencing of the four accused in the Delhi gang rape do not distract people from questioning the more important part of why Indian girls and women are so vulnerable to sexual violence?

The solution lies in shaking up and challenging the old and cruel patriarchal mindset, which glorifies and even accepts violence against its women as normal. The solution lies when women's safety is priority not just for the state but for each individual of that country, who condemns and challenges the second class status of women in their society.