Why Male And Trans Rape Victims Don’t Exist - Socio Feminist Analysis And Ideas On Rape Laws In India
Kashish Michael, Symbiosis Law School, Pune
In Legal sense, Rape is defined in India as the act of introducing a penile or other foreign object into the vagina without the consent of a girl or woman. In accordance with Section 3751 of the IPC, rape is defined as "sexual intercourse with a woman against her will, without her consent, by coercion, misrepresentation, or fraud, or at a time when she is intoxicated, duped, or of unsound mental health, and in any case, if she is under the age of 18." If we examine the definition, we discover that it draws two obvious, if indirect, conclusions:
A man must be the perpetrator of rape.
A woman must always be the victim of rape.
This definition of rape establishes in summary that sex without obtaining consent of the woman is rape. This is so due to the cultural and societal view of ‘sexual intercourse’ and gender.
In a Sociological sense ‘status’ is an institutionalized role. It is a role that has become standardized and formalized in the society. A role is the dynamic or behavioural aspect of the Status. Roles are played because Status is occupied.
Being a man or a woman is ‘Ascribed Status’ as opposed to achieved status. Queer theory distinguishes between sex and gender on these foundations. ‘Man’ is the sex while, ‘masculine’ is a gender characteristic and the society has culturally established some characteristics as inherently ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.
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