While it is accepted universally that rape is one of the worst crimes a human being can commit against another, politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have been quite cavalier in giving ludicrous interpretations to the offence.
While British MP George Galloway, speaking on the Julian Assange case, suggested that to have sex with someone who is sleeping is not rape but merely “bad sexual etiquette”, Republican representative for Missouri Todd Akin states that he opposes abortion even when a woman has been raped. Adding fuel to the fire, Akin suggested that pregnancy rarely results from rape because “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down”.
At home we heard Ms Kiran Bedi, who spoke of media sensationalising “small rape rather than pursuing the big fish in crime”. Too many voices are being heard trivialising such a terrible crime against a person’s basic human right. The airing of such thoughts are bound to encourage those with vile intentions while also inhibiting rape victims from coming forward to register the crime and expose its perpetrator. All such outrageous thoughts that people in public life are airing on rape should be treated with due opprobrium.
On the other hand, Republican candidate for US President Mitt Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, said with a definitive simplicity that must be admired: “Rape is rape, period. End of story.” Right thinking people must always support the view that no human being should be forced to lose their dignity regardless of the circumstances they sometimes find themselves in.