Capital Punishment and Rape Culture

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Capital Punishment and Rape Culture Rape is and never was solely about sex. Rape is an act of violence with the intent of domination of an individual. A discourse on rape or rape culture must recognize it as a constituent of a larger ‘Culture of Violence’. Such a culture would be divided other differentia such as economic strata, skin color, caste, religion or region. However we will restrict ourselves to the Male/female binary and consider its impact on society. Furthermore we will consider the behavioral and structural constructs that uphold rape culture and consider the impact of the death penalty on rape culture. Rape culture is the validation, naturalization and perpetuation of rape culture. Its essence lies in accepting rape as the norm and fails to recognize it a severe societal problem that needs to be addressed. Furthermore it may even purport rape as an inevitable evil of society; which cannot be eradicated. The naturalization of rape in India can be seen in its frequency of reported crimes in the media. Seldom has anyone made it through a week without hearing about a rape committed against women. It is prevalent and depicted in the movies. Author Arunadhati Roy noted depiction in the Malayam movies were so prevalent that she feared it would happen to her (“rape is an entertainer for people”) Rape is validated in a rape culture. Societal values legitimate the domination of women by men. It’s in our history, the movies and one does not need to look beyond our street. The legitimacy of male domination is the fertile ground upon which the rationale for victim blaming emerges, wherein the ‘desires of men’ are established as involuntary so it’s up-to-women to not get raped leading naturally to the conclusion that women engender their own rape; reasons for which include a lack of clothing, lack of a male companion or the wrong place at

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