[gnufied]

There are two problems:

1. Crime against women is specially high. Why is it high? Because - wheels of justice turn really slowly here and perpetrator has a good chance of escaping without punishment. From what I hear, Justice (or sometimes lack of it) is swift in China. That itself is a great deterrent.

2.If you go through all the recent rape cases reported in media, perpetrators are almost always - mostly uneducated and poor. For some it was just entertainment(The Delhi case) and in others just an idea that they can get away with it. There is also sad fact that for many Indian males - women are objects [of pleasure]. An stereotype often reinforced by B and C grade movies (guess who watches those movies).

[sid6376]

What you forget are the rape cases that are not reported in the media or do not get the same attention in the international press - The rape of poor dalit(lower caste) women by upper caste men. In some cases its used as a tool for handing out punishment to the unfortunate girl's husband, brother or father.

India's middle class or upper class cannot be so easily exonerated. There are equally horrific stories of women being exploited by well connected and well educated individuals. Please look at [1] and [2]

A slight detour and some anecdotal evidence. I was once at a party in the Film Institute of India, Pune. Pune is one of the more metropolitan cities in India and the environment and the outlook inside FTII is more progressive than the rest of India or so you would think. A guy kept coming to my female Caucasian friends and offered them drugs. We ignored him for a while and now hurt by this he started calling all white women as whores who destroy the sanctity of the college and the nation. The worst part was the group of people around him who supported him.

The problem is at a much deeper level and its present in all stratas of our society.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suryanelli_rape_case [2]http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?205638

[jpatokal]

Thanks for posting -- that second link is considerably more depressing than the original article.

[jacalata]

And isn't it possible that the rich rapists actually can get away with it, and that's why you don't see their names in the media?

[hankcharles]

Everything you mention in problem 2 is likely true, but these are generally true in most countries around the world, regardless of phase of development: in any country most crime results from the poor or uneducated because they have an impetus for wanting to do it, and ultimately believing they can get away with it.

Regarding problem 1 this might make sense if crime (violent, in particular) was notably higher in India than in other countries with similar income levels, but I do not think that is the case - in fact I would guess it is on the whole on the lower end. Yet women do seem to be heavily objectified ( as pleasure). This is what I found so surprising and upsetting while I was in India.