According to Foreign Policy Magazine, the rape culture of India isn't being reduced by public calls for castration, mob violence and harsher anti-rape laws. The problem might be getting worse.
“The obsession with punishment “deflects attention from the accountability shared by the state” — its failure to address social norms that lead to sex crimes against women. These norms often emerge from legal and educational institutions that place little to no premium on gender equality. India’s preoccupation with capital punishment gives “individuals a way to distance themselves from potentially sexist beliefs they may themselves hold.”
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The problem isn't limited to India or our present issues with police brutality in America, pseudo religious extremism in Europe or mass murder in Nigeria. Governments can pass laws and crackdown on segments of the population, but our problems will continue until we change our individual perspectives and attitudes.
“The Holocaust was legal. Slavery was legal. Segregation was legal. If you use the state as a metric for ethics, you’ll end up disappointed.”
Consider the ongoing experience America is having with the LGBT community. Prior to the Stonewall Riots, homosexuality was a lifestyle shunned, attacked and rejected by mainstream society. They were blamed for HIV and accused of undermining the fabric of American society. In 2014, challenges still exist, but gay marriage is legal in a majority of states, same sex relationships in entertainment and advertising is on the rise and the mainstream has watered down gay culture in order to absorb it.
This didn't happen because laws were changed to compel people to change their views. Views changed when anti-gay people understood some of their friends, family and colleagues were gay. Views changed when the two groups looked past the labels and started dealing with the people. Once the views were altered, the door to progress could open and then the laws changed. Of course, there are some people still fighting progress and other parts of the world are just as bad as they ever were. But change is happening among people first. Changing the law comes second.
If we want change, then we have to change. We can't just call for laws to be passed, demand people be fired, and wait for other people to change around us. Rape culture, racism and religious extremism are all macro level problems we can begin to reduce on an individual level. We won't be able to eradicate any of these problems, but changing individual attitudes can create a cultural shift and that kind of change can have more impact than passing a random law.
Have fun.
Gamal