The rape and horrific injuries leading to death of Nirbhaya shocked the nation’s conscience. In a reactionary stance, an inquiry committee submitted its findings and recommendations within a month. The government agreed to only a few recommendations and dismissed others to come up with a new law that allowed rapists to receive the death penalty. The society felt relieved. Collective conscience was cleansed notwithstanding a few dissenting voices. Four years on, 4 of the 5 culprits have been sentenced to death by Supreme Court. India is at the dawn of a new epoch of safety for women. Who dare rape one if he has to pay with his life. Right? Wrong. Blaming and punishing the perpetrator alone will not address the underlying belief systems, based in a patriarchal culture that gives rise to various myths that trigger, promote and sustain sexual assaults and rape on women. Myth #1: Law is the only solution The biggest myth is that by tightening the law and invoking harsh punishments, the rape rate will do down. In fact the Nirbhaya case is misleading as very few victims of rape actually report it and even fewer get justice as Figure 1 tells us. The truth is that for a small minority of victims actually go to police they find exclusion and persecution galore. From a refusal to write a complaint, focussing on victim’s caste, character and occasionally taking sexual advantage, the police make life more hellish. If a report is made, she goes for a medical exam where the doctor inserts two fingers into her vagina to determine if she is ‘habituated to sex’; an euphemism for ‘I think she is of “loose” character; hence her account cannot be relied upon.’ There is no medical basis to this ‘test’, but it’s still done. Once she crosses this ‘test’, samples send off for analysis will often be sent in an incorrect manner rendering them unsuitable for analysis. They are simply thrown away. At this point the prosecution’s case will fail. If it does reach the courts, the poor rape victim’s private life will be disrobed for public scrutiny and titillation, completing a cycle of victimisation by shunning, mocking or blaming her for the abuse. Myth #2: Rape is men lusting for sex Does anyone think that the Nirbhaya rape and killing was simply a case of lust? No, it was butchery of a defenceless woman by a pack of men who were enraged that she attempted to fight for her safety. Their sense of entitlement to her body was challenged and they avenged that ignominy, by behaving like predators. The rape of women whose faces are melted down with acid with permanent disfigurement, when they turn down advances by unsavoury characters, are not acts driven by love and lust. Similarly rapes by upper caste men on lower caste women, by police on tribal women, by senior upon junior officers in armed forces, media bosses upon interns, corporate barons upon secretaries and so on, are rarely due to love or lust. It is a primate display of power and control and naked entitled male chauvinism. Myth #3: Rape is society’s problem, not mine ‘Rape cannot be prevented even if one deployed a cop in each home’, hurled Maharashtra’s ex-Home Minister R R Patil. Quite right too. In fact 42% of rapes in India are committed by people known to the victims, of which over 12% is by relatives like brothers, fathers and uncles, and by others on the promise of marriage. Rapists are notoriously common-place. One of the biggest misconceptions about rapists is that ‘they are not like us at all’. By saying this, the society’s men distance and absolve themselves of any responsibility since doing so helps them deny their own inherent violent sexual fantasies. Myth #4: Rape is not part of our culture A survey of more than 10,000 men carried out in six Asian countries revealed that more than 1 in 10 men admitted to forcing sex on a woman who was not their partner. Asked why, 73% said it was “entitlement” and 59% said “entertainment”. Five men convicted in the Shakti Mills gang-rape case of a photo-journalist in Mumbai in 2013 were conspicuous by how ‘common’ they were: swarthy, slight men with ordinary faces; the kind one might see at any bus stop or tea stall. The police said the men had committed at least five gang-rapes previously at the same spot because they were “bored” and wanted to “have fun”. Rape is now a common-place offence where ‘bored’ men, aroused by streaming porn videos in their palms , who after getting drunk, go out looking for deviant fun for free. Myth #5: It is just a few misguided ‘boys’ Sample a range of quotes from political leaders across all party lines. Note how they fall over themselves in justifying, rationalizing and effectively condoning the act of rapists. “Lingerie mannequins promote rapes. Skimpily-clad mannequins can pollute young minds.