NIRBHAYA: “AN ISOLATED REBELLION OR A SOCIAL REVOLUTION?

ANALYZING THE ROLE OF MEDIA AND LEGISLATION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST

WOMEN IN INDIA

by

Tanya Ghai

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

in

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES

(Political Science)

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

(Vancouver)

April 2022

© Tanya Ghai, 2022

The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate

and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled:

NIRBHAYA: “AN ISOLATED REBELLION OR A SOCIAL REVOLUTION?”

ANALYZING THE ROLE OF MEDIA AND LEGISLATION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST

WOMEN IN INDIA

submitted by Tanya Ghai in partial fulfilment of the requirements

the degree of Master of Arts

in Political Science

Examining Committee:

Dr. Lisa Sundstrom, Political Science, UBC

Supervisor

Dr. Barbara Arneil, Political Science, UBC

Supervisory Committee Member

ii
Abstract

India witnessed one of its most gruesome gang rapes, of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi on

16th December 2012, which ignited angry protests around the country as well as across the world.

The barbarity of the sexual assault shook the conscience of the nation. Because the victim fought

fearlessly for her life till the end, she was called Nirbhaya, the ‘fearless one’ in Hindi. The

protests in turn, sparked a global media frenzy, drawing attention to sexual violence in India and

exposing patriarchal attitudes prevalent in its culture. The Nirbhaya case is still being addressed

in the mainstream press, a decade later, underlining the importance of the case in the discussion

of sexual assault and women's security.

In this thesis, I explore the issue of violence against women in India through the lens of

the Nirbhaya rape case. The literature reviewed unveils India’s patriarchal structures and

stigmatization of rape, as well as how its victims are treated. Further, I investigate if Nirbhaya’s

case brought about significant change in Indian society, through a media content analysis of two

renowned English newspapers using three time periods: before, immediately after, and five years

after the rape case. The results indicate that Nirbhaya’s upheaval positively changed the media

narrative regarding sexual violence to some extent. This is followed by a critical analysis of the

Criminal Law Amendment (2013), a legal reform outcome of the case. The analysis helps

uncover that a pattern of continued increase in violent crimes against women to this day can be

attributed to state negligence, in addition to a lack of sufficient implementation of the

amendment and similar laws.

iii
 Lay Summary

Violence against women remains a significant issue in India despite the passing of

stringent laws and policy initiatives over the years. This research looks at the persistent issue of

gendered sexual violence through an analysis of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape, an incident that

immediately drew global attention and caused mass protests through the media, public, activists

etc. However, despite such mobilization and legal reform, violence against women has either

been increasing or remained stagnant over the years. Nirbhaya’s influence on society, media and

a possible backlash in the aftermath has been explored. It is argued that the state’s negligence

through insufficient implementation of stringent laws such as Criminal Law Amendment 2013 is

primarily responsible for the situation of violence against women in India.

iv
Preface

This thesis is an original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Tanya Ghai.

v
Table of Contents

Abstract......................................................................................................................................... iii

Lay Summary ............................................................................................................................... iv

Preface .............................................................................................................................................v

Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... vi

List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................x

Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... xi

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1

1.1 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 4

1.2 Nirbhaya case 2012 ......................................................................................................... 5

1.3 Mass Protests & legislative reform ................................................................................. 7

1.4 Research Design............................................................................................................ 10

Chapter 2: Literature Review .....................................................................................................12

2.1 Violence against women in India .................................................................................. 12

2.2 Gender norms undergirding violence against women in India ..................................... 13

2.3 Media’s Reaction .......................................................................................................... 15

2.4 Victimology in India ..................................................................................................... 17

Chapter 3: Results & Discussion ................................................................................................19

3.1 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 19

3.2 Results ........................................................................................................................... 21

vi
 3.3 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 31

3.3.1 2013 Criminal Amendment Law Analysis ............................................................... 31

3.3.2 Nirbhaya Fund ........................................................................................................... 32

3.3.3 Persistent gender-based violence & patriarchal backlash ......................................... 34

Chapter 4: Conclusion .................................................................................................................38

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................40

vii
List of Tables

Table 3.1 Frequency based Top 10 key terms from Pre Nirbhaya, Post Nirbhaya & 2017 ..... 20

Table 3.2 NCRB Data on Dowry Deaths and Female Homicide 2012-2017 ........................... 34

viii
List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Reported rape cases in India 2005-20 (NCRB, 2021) .............................................. 8

Figure 3.1 Top 10 frequency key terms for 2012 newspaper analysis ..................................... 21

Figure 3.2 Top 10 frequency key terms for 2012-13 newspaper analysis ............................... 21

Figure 3.3 Top 10 frequency key terms for 2017 newspaper analysis ..................................... 22

Figure 3.4 Nirbhaya fund allocation (BBC, 2018) .................................................................. 31

Figure 3.5 NCRB Data on Dowry Deaths & Female Homicide 2012-2017 ............................ 34

ix
Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge and thank my advisor, Dr. Lisa Sundstrom, for her honesty,

motivation, and support. Dr. Sundstrom has been a source of inspiration through various

obstacles and challenges faced by me through my tenure as a Master’s student. Her guidance

since the beginning of my research allowed me to grasp comprehensively the nature of my work.

It is a privilege to study with Dr. Sundstrom. I owe my deepest gratitude to all members of The

University of British Columbia's Department of Political Science for guiding me and my rocky

path through the pandemic.

I am grateful for my family's unwavering encouragement, which reminds me of my roots

and humility. To my brother for always reminding me not to give up and to chase my dreams, to

my friends for their critical and honest opinions. Lastly, I am indebted to my high school

principal who taught me important values and, who ignited my passion for gender and justice.

x
Dedication

To Ms. Asha Devi, Nirbhaya’s mother

The warrior mother

xi
Chapter 1: Introduction

“People in Delhi took to the streets demanding swift justice for the deceased victim, and urgent

action to guarantee safety for women in the city. The rape victim is now remembered as

‘Nirbhaya’, meaning fearless, for her resistance against the perpetrators and the 13-day fight for

life after sustaining the injuries”- Talwar (2013)

Based on the National Crime Records Bureau, "one rape was reported every 16 minutes

in India in 2019" (NCRB, 2020). Indian society treats crimes against women such as gender-

based violence as commonplace, and through the years, some incidents have received local as

well as global scrutiny before eventually receding into silence. This is ironic, given that a

significant part of the population idolizes feminine deities who symbolize bravery, affluence, and

strength in numerous Indian cultures (Sarkar, 2016).

The United Nations officially defines violence against women as “any act of gender-

based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or

suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,

whether occurring in public or in private life” (United Nations Women Program, 2013). Over the

course of their lives, an estimated 736 million women (nearly a third of all women) experience a

form of abuse by a romantic partner, a non-sexual partner, or both, making gender-based

violence a globally ubiquitous issue (WHO, 2021).

In India, the outcry against sexual violence and rape has grown into a widespread

movement since 2012 (Ignatius, 2013). Not only has it compelled legislative reforms, but it has

1
also compelled people to re-examine sociocultural norms that denigrate women and promote

violence against them. Nonetheless, the assault cases against women continue to rise.

According to statistics a few years ago, cited by Harbishettar (2014), at least two women

were sexually abused every hour, and a married woman committed suicide every six hours in

India. Historically, Indian women have suffered from abuse in a multitude of ways, through

social alienation, income insecurity, financial difficulties, and inadequate self-protection, all of

which are perilous issues affecting their role in society (Harbishettar, 2014).

In 2012, the issue of rape was given a new meaning. A sexual assault case sparked an

unparalleled reaction amongst Indians and to some extent, the international media, drawing

attention to India as an unsafe place for women. This led to New Delhi being branded as the

world's "rape capital" through protests and discussions (Talwar, 2013). The extensive coverage

of the 2012 Nirbhaya case, along with the huge response it elicited, revealed both international

expressions of empathy as well as alarming reincarnations of misogynistic perspectives held by

many Indians. The Nirbhaya case was presented as a case peculiar to India in foreign reportage,

rather than as part of a global issue of systematic gender-based violence. The case served to

portray India as a country where sexual abuse is widespread and rooted in daily life. A decade

has passed and the Nirbhaya case is still being addressed in the mainstream press, underlining the

case’s importance in the discussion of sexual assault and women's security.

In this thesis, I investigate the issue of violence against women in India, through an

analysis of the Nirbhaya rape case and its influence on Indian society, with emphasis on media

reporting and legislative reform. Since 2012, several new sexual violence-focused media

campaigns have been established in India. However, the National Crime Records Bureau

statistics recording crimes against women reflect an upward trend since 2012. I explore the
2
reasons behind an increase in reported violence against women despite the Nirbhaya case

producing an 'almost' revolution due to the stupendous media uprising and attention it received.

This is where a deeper examination of the way Nirbhaya was portrayed becomes useful. Thus, I

have carried out a media content analysis to portray the changes in media reporting after the

Nirbhaya case and to assess its extent of influence on media portrayals in the long run.

This thesis focuses on the conversations that Nirbhaya created in the social and political

realm, following the legislative reform, the Criminal Law Amendment 2013 that was generated

in the aftermath of the incident. The first chapter provides a description of the Nirbhaya assault,

its media outbreak, and consequent public outcry in the capital city New Delhi, which unfolded

across neighboring states in a matter of days. This is followed by an exploration of counter-

intuitive statistics that reflect increasing crimes against women/ rapes against women in India

despite such a mass mobilization. While an increase in reporting can be the result of increased

awareness and progressive mobilization rather than an actual increase in incidence of rape, I

have attempted to investigate whether Indian society experienced a possible male backlash

leading to an increase in violence against women after the 2012 incident in the later sections.

The second chapter, through the range of extensive secondary materials available –

journals, books, research papers, and articles – allowed me to delve into understanding violence

against women in India through an evaluation of how gender is perceived across the country and

why women are victims to structured inequality in political and social aspects of life. I focus on

the media's reaction, followed by an outline of the common perceptions of shame and stigma,

through which sexual violence victims are viewed in India. This literature aids an understanding

of how such mobilizations may be used to reinforce or deconstruct prejudices such as Indian

women's alleged passivity or Indian men's purportedly violent and cruel tendencies, both of
3
which have a strong tradition in imperial narratives (Davidis, 1999). As a result, the media plays

a crucial role in the preservation or modification of cultural conceptions in and about India.

The third and final chapter illustrates the methodology and results which aim to unravel

the extent of Nirbhaya's influence on media portrayals of violence against women, if any,

through a media content analysis focused on how the media portrayed and questioned the case

details and state’s role respectively. The results exhibit perceptible change in media reporting

over the three time periods, which supports an argument that Nirbhaya as an exceptional case

that received amplified media attention due to the horrific nature of the gang rape. I carried out a

media analysis in 2017, five years after the incident to examine if the media reporting style

returned to its original format or if there was a significant change. Further, the discussion section

elucidates an investigation into the effectiveness of the 2013 CLA and calls attention to the

state's negligence. Additionally, the hypothesized backlash argument is addressed.

1.1 Research Questions

The focus of the thesis is the following overarching question:

Did the social upheaval catalyzed by the Nirbhaya rape case impact Indian media coverage and

state action on violence against women only temporarily, or were its impacts more significant

over the years?

1. Which aspects of Nirbhaya’s case can we attribute to gendered structures of violence

against women in Indian society?

2. Did media reporting improve and become more feminist in its approach following the

Nirbhaya rape case?

4
 3. How effective has the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013 been in implementing

legislative reform to reduce crimes against women, specifically sexual violence in India?

1.2 The 2012 Nirbhaya case

Jyoti Singh, who later came to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’, was a young university student.

After seeing the movie Life of Pi with her boyfriend, at a cinema hall in South Delhi on Saturday

night, 16th December 2012, they were waiting for a public bus to return home. When an almost

empty bus with tinted glass windows ultimately came to a halt, a young worker on the

bus convinced the couple (Nirbhaya and her boyfriend) to board with the assurance of transport

back home.

During the bus ride, “Nirbhaya was assaulted inhumanely by six men who took turns to

rape her, which included a minor, aged 17 years of age, Mohammed Afroz. It was the same

minor who forcefully pushed a rod into her genitals which almost shred her intestines.” (India

Today, December 26th, 2012). As narrated by Talwar (2013) in his book “Courting Injustice: The

Nirbhaya Case and Its Aftermath”, they were both picked up by the Police Control vehicle soon

after, from a highway as they lay sans clothing and were carried to the hospital. While they were

hospitalized, two of the suspects were apprehended on December 17. Four arrests were made on

the 18th. On December 21, the juvenile and final culprit were apprehended. On December 26,

after being in medical care in Delhi, Nirbhaya was rushed to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth

Hospital due to severe internal bleeding and a heart attack. The medical report stated that

Nirbhaya underwent “internal hemorrhage and multiple organ failure”. Three days later,

Nirbhaya was finally “pronounced dead of multiple organ failure” (Talwar, 2013) on December

5
29. Seven years later, on Friday, March 20, 2020, at 5.30 a.m., “all four death row inmates in the

2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case were executed after the Supreme Court and the trial

court both rejected their last-minute appeals”, thereby ending their effort to avoid their final fate

(Hindustan Times, January 8th, 2020). The nation had longed for this verdict since 2012.

The juvenile, who was the fifth convict, was released in 2015 after spending three years

at a reform facility while the sixth convict accused, Ram Singh, was found dead in his jail cell on

13th March, 2013. The reasons for his death were ruled as ‘suicide’ but there were speculations

regarding a possible murder as well (BBC, 2018). There was an unanticipated outcry when the

minor in Nirbhaya’s case was released after three years in a correction home. As a result, laws

concerning juveniles were changed in 2015. The government passed the Juvenile Justice (Care

and Protection of Children) Act, stating that children between the ages of 16-18 years could be

treated as adults if accused of committing heinous crimes such as sexual assault or rape.

On the announcement of the verdict, Nirbhaya's mother, Asha Devi applauded the

decision, saying, “Justice has been served to my daughter. The execution of the four prisoners

will give the country's women more authority. People's faith in the justice system will be

strengthened because of this ruling.” (TOI, January 7th, 2020). The verdict was met with

abundant acclamation and led to social media recognition that acknowledged long-awaited

justice for Nirbhaya, 'India's Daughter', as called by many media sources. Despite this, certain

political leaders emphasized how justice delayed is justice denied. Additionally, the literature on

Nirbhaya's case indisputably altered the perception of Delhi. Since then, it has been tarnished as

a dangerous city for women. Even after years, that reputation has not been altered as is evident

from the statistics shown through the increasing crime rates in Figure 1.1.

6
 1.3 Mass protests & Legislative response

Mass mobilization flared across the capital city Delhi and surrounding states as word of

the gang rape spread (Alan Taylor, 26th December 2012 retrieved from [Link]). The

highly intense public outpouring of grief at India Gate, a soldier’s memorial in New Delhi, led

authorities to use ‘lathis’ (sticks) and water cannons to disperse the gathering and control the

crowds. The media highlighted how nothing less than a death sentence would assuage the

population's collective wrath at the time.

The agitation was not restricted to street demonstrations in support of retaliatory

sanctions. Activists, ordinary citizens, and academics voiced their opposition to the state’s initial

sentence of life imprisonment for the accused, as well as their reservations about its protracted

influence on sexual assault against women (Talwar, 2013). Such a mass coverage by the media

and extensive interrogation of the state regarding women’s issues was a rare occurrence;

however, Nirbhaya’s case pushed the media to practice its democratic rights explicitly.

Therefore, such a mass mobilization unequivocally pushed the state to act promptly.

Immediate legislative action constituted the forming of two Inquiry Commissions by the

state, called the “Justice Verma Committee” and the “Usha Mehra Committee” respectively.

These were established in response to indignation over the case, with the objective of eliciting

public opinion on how current anti-rape legislation should be changed and adding additional

provisions to already existing laws (Shakil, 2013). In a meeting at UN Women, Justice Verma

stated:

“In order to ensure its success, it is important that the Act be implemented with

dedicated human and financial resources, and clarity in roles and

7
 responsibilities. A law is only as good as the systems and individuals that

implement them. Mindsets and attitudes need to change so women can truly be

respected equally and value in society” (UN Women, 2013).

Three months after the rape, the Verma Committee Report prompted the adoption of the

Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 along with an annual Nirbhaya fund meant to be used for

women’s welfare and safety.

It is argued by Shah (2019) that there had been an accumulation of societal tensions that

culminated in the response this rape case elicited. Women in India viewed "Nirbhaya's" abuse

and death on a very intimate level. Due to the involvement of the victims’ family in this quest for

justice, her real name was revealed and used in media sources, however, Indian law prevents the

public revelation of sexual assault victims' names. Thus, individuals gave the Delhi gang rape

victim other names that inspired them and communicated their sentiments about a personal

connection. For instance, “'Jagruti' (awareness), 'Amanat' (precious possession), 'Nirbhaya'

(fearless), 'Damini' (lightning), and 'India's courageous heart daughter’” ([Link],

October 20, 2020).

On the contrary, NCRB rape rates tell a different story about crimes against women.

Figure 1.1 shows an increased magnitude of rape reports after 2012 until 2016, however, it must

be considered that reporting rates can increase when awareness increases and stigma is reduced,

even if actual instances of rape do not increase (Clay & Burt, 2005). From 2016 to 2020 there

was a gradual decline in cases, however, according to latest estimates, from data released by the

Delhi Police Department & NCRB, rape cases in India increased by 29% from 2020 to 2021,

while molestation cases increased by 17%.

8
 Delhi, the capital city itself saw an increase from 1618 reported rape cases in 2020 to

1,969 cases in 2021(NCRB, 2021). This raises a question: how, despite stringent laws prompted

by the Nirbhaya case in 2012, did gendered social stigmas in Indian society (in families as well

as through the media) regarding rape continue to prevent progressive action and restrain positive

implementation of these legal reforms?

Figure 1.1-Reported rape cases in India 2005-20 (NCRB, 2021)

While gender expectations, representations, as well as attitudes regarding sexual assault

vary internally in diverse nations such as India, fundamental conventional beliefs and gender

roles that reinforce gender inequality seem to be embedded amongst a sizable section of the

population (Sharma & Sharma, 2015). Similarly, Kalra (2013) substantiates how culturally

disseminated beliefs concerning gender and assault serve as a predictor of physical violence

against women and girls. These preconceptions are frequently absorbed due to continued

exposure to a predominantly masculine sociocultural environment. Sexual violence can thus, be

understood as the outcome of a culture’s pervasive misogyny. Girls, for example, lack autonomy
9
over their sexual identity in rural India. They are forced to marry and start a family quite young,

thereby ceding control of their sexuality to a man, usually their spouse (Kaur, 2013). Thus, in

India, like in many other countries with conventional patriarchal beliefs, men assert absolute

control and authority over multiple aspects in women’s lives.

1.4 Research Design

There are several conflicting hypotheses for why, despite landmark cases such as

Nirbhaya, India's crime rates against women continue to rise or remain. Scholars such as Kalra

have predicted that because of gender-equity breakthroughs in patriarchal institutions, males may

feel a threat to their authority, which may manifest as male backlash (Kalra, 2013). Similarly,

Whaley (2001) substantiates that securing equality might unfortunately result in a reaction

against women's achievements through increased crime and violence against them. Alternatively,

however, according to intersectional feminism, “rape-supportive attitudes would become less

entrenched into the institutional structure with increasing gender equality, thereby reducing their

impact on forming unequal gender relations” (Whisnant, 2009). Considering the above, since

Indian culture/society is currently undergoing a transition from male dominance to gender

equality (Sharma & Sharma, 2015), the recent surge in cases of sexual assault, apart from being

attributed to increased rape reporting after the case due to increased awareness, can also possibly

be attributed to the negative male reaction against rising gender equality. This backlash

possibility is hypothesized and will be explored in further sections.

Regarding media portrayals of violence against women, we might expect that Nirbhaya’s

effect on Indian society would be significant and long lasting due to the upheaval it caused.

10
However, considering the persistence of gendered violence after the incident, it is equally

possible that media coverage of the Nirbhaya case was a temporary exception in its vast

portrayal of brutal details of the case and questioning of the state that it prompted, due to the

horrific nature of the gang rape and extent of available details about the incident.

I will explore the above possibilities through my research on the Nirbhaya case by

carrying out a content analysis of the media's mammoth role in shaping public and legal

discourse; followed by an investigation into whether a culture of male backlash exists in India, as

indicated by the increasing crime rates against women after the 2012 case.

Given that the objectives of this thesis are to ascertain whether and how the Nirbhaya

rape case affected Indian society and the media in a sustained and deep-rooted manner, as well as

investigating why acts of gender-based violence continue to increase- I argue that Nirbhaya's

case had a massive effect on the community, the state and the media narrative and thus led to

legal reform. However, the reform did not translate into a consequential legislative modification

regarding violence/assault rates in the aftermath due to state negligence, insufficient

implementation, and a possible backlash, as will be explored through the analysis. I also examine

whether Nirbhaya altered media reporting in the long run or not and find evidence to support its

sustained impacts. My findings reinforce existing literature that claims that it is the absence of

reformative forces and attitudes within state institutions, and an almost dereliction of duty in

implementing the 2013 CLA that accounts for persistently high and increasing levels of violence.

11
Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Violence against women in India

The most consistent predictor of opinions supportive of violence against women is found in

attitudes regarding gender roles or how a woman must behave in society. Nishi Mitra, through a

canon of research papers, has characterized India as a patriarchal society, like many other third-

world nations, where women have restricted access to various legal and financial sources; and

are subjugated by masculine forces that are based on hierarchy and authoritative control. The

situation has been amplified through the firm, restrictive and gender-biased conceptions that

frame societal structures, such as customary kinship arrangements, stratified roles, caste,

ideology, and lastly, unaccountable political systems in India (Mitra, 2013).

India has relied on the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to provide accurate statistics

regarding crimes against women such as rape since 1971. In 2012 itself, 24,923 instances were

recorded, with just 15% going to trial and only 2% leading to conviction (Lapsia, 2015). Despite

such report estimates, the aggregate incidents of rape are likely highly accurate due to

misreporting or fear of reporting. Rape has historically been a taboo that stops families from

filing police statements to sustain the “reputation” of their family, which in many Hindu

interpretations, lies with the woman of the household (Mohta, 2019).

Similarly, Kaur (2014) substantiates that "current levels of violence reported through national

and local law enforcement record represent a minimum of actual violence against women cases."

Kaur also describes how sexual abuse victims in India face stigma, exclusion, and further abuse,

that has a direct effect on their life, employment, economic independence, etc. (Kaur, 2014). This

12
points towards a structured inability of the current laws’ accessibility and responsiveness despite

the amelioration of policies tackling gendered violence in India.

Therefore, a lack of efficient execution of program regulations and legal statutes has further

translated into a skewed, sexist, and stratified political realm for women participants over the

years. This culture of sexism has been recognized through global surveys as well. The World

Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index 2021 reveals India's deteriorated performance on

‘women's representation’ placing it at 140th out of 156 nations as compared to ranking 112th in

2020, and 108th in 2015 ([Link], 2022). This failure goes beyond politics to community

attitudes. A patriarchal view persists, and disparaging remarks about female politicians, for

instance, are common on social media. An investigation published last year by Amnesty

International revealed the startling extent of harassment directed against female political leaders

in India on Twitter. Bigoted statements regarding women running for office, whether concerning

their beauty, clothes, or experience, were presented as common (Mohta, 2019). Gender

inequality's corrosive impact is still a key battleground, and thus, fostering gender equality in not

just social but political and economic in nature. These interwoven aspects are an essential

component for any effective violence prevention measures to address.

2.2 Gender norms undergirding violence against women in India

In India, gender-based violence is carried out and recorded predominantly through

incidents of dowry deaths, sexual violence, and household violence (Roy Chowdhury, 2013).

Additionally, practices such as girl-child feticide and infanticide are reinforced by social

structures that have historically been predisposing a culture of misogynistic forces that rule over

13
women with absolute authority (Rao, 2015; Chaudhari et al., 2018). Scholarship on the issue of

persistent sexual violence by Kumar (1993) provides an intricate inquiry into underlying social,

financial, and individual aspects which have made the Indian situation so intransigent. Such

scholarship has identified issues in the legal system that act as enablers, such as persistently

reduced conviction rates, disparities between law and its implementation, as well as a culture of

victim-blaming and shaming within the police and judiciary.

Barnett (2008) asserts that rape is rooted in “social, economic, and political systems that

devalue women as property, often as pawns, and usually as secondary citizens in need of control

by men.” Additionally, regarding gang rapes, Sela-Shayovitz (2015, as cited by Lewis, 2015)

noted how such incidents may be considered as a form of punishment and degradation for

women who are perceived guilty of having violated traditional gender norms (Shayovitz, 2015).

The common practice of 'eve-teasing' or sexual harassment is thus, rampant in India where

women see harassment as an everyday occurrence, and girls as young as seven years old have

reported men sexually harassing them in public (Lewis, 2015). This culture of repression exists

at multiple levels of society having a manifold effect on women’s lives.

Such disparities further escalate the probability of violence by men against women and

limit the capacity of victims to seek help. Thus, men with more traditional, rigid, and

misogynistic attitudes are unsurprisingly, more likely to practice marital violence (Chaudhari et

al., 2018). In today’s technologically inclined society, the permissiveness of such attitudes has

recently begun to be measured based on people’s beliefs regarding mass media, political

discussions, social movements, as well as criminal justice policies and legal reforms, as crucial

determinants of gender representation in society, as outlined by Flood & Pease (2009).

14
 Indian researchers such as Rao (2014), interested in examining the causes of unchanging

rape rates, have also found inherent Indian practices that ascribe women as subservient to men

and further objectify them through films, images, and other digital media platforms as

attributable factors (Rao, 2014). This points to the significant role mass media has on our lives

and opinions, especially regarding such social issues.

2.3 Media’s reaction

While the initial state response (the constitution of Justice Verma and Usha committee) to

Nirbhaya in the context of the mass mobilization and upheaval that ensued was applauded, the

state also received criticism from researchers and journalists who were unconvinced of the state's

success. Multiple stories were published, which left an imprint on the state's reputation in the

aftermath of the initial sentence (life imprisonment). Further, deficiencies of the 2013 CLA

crystallized issues of the insufficient state organization to effectively address the issue (Dube,

2014). The primary flaw in these regulations was the perpetuation of patriarchal notions that

further subjugate women for the sake of maintaining the family unit or being held accountable

for being assaulted through victim-blaming. Subsequent sections of this thesis will reflect how

state reform did not fulfill Justice Verma's outcomes and suggestions. Dube (2014) (as cited by

Lapsia, 2015) critiques the state and the “failure of the Criminal Justice Machinery in preventing

the atrocity, the lack of sensitivity on the part of the officials in responding to the situation, the

inadequacy of law to respond to rising crimes and most importantly, a societal frame with utmost

apathy and disregard for women, in general.”

15
 While we have established how important media is in informing public opinions about

violence against women, there lies a wealth of literature exploring how societal attitudes towards

women and the mass media are interwoven. Since the Nirbhaya incident, global and national

publishing houses ensured the case received extensive and incisive attention (Gopal, 2012). The

quest for justice was one of the key concerns at hand. In this aspect, the enraged public

demanded not just the most severe penalty possible, but something that would subjugate

masculine strength, which is frequently regarded to be the primary motivation for rape. There

was a popular clamor for rapists to be castrated as well (Sullivan, 2015). Renowned Indian

journalists or emigrants addressed crimes against women, the issue of rape, etc. using social

media platforms through a prismatic lens guided by the disappointment and indignation

expressed through citizens’ protests. These accounts shed light on legislative letdowns and

societal debacles that have structurally controlled women's social position and control (for

example, Gopal 2012; Singh & Kapur 2013).

Such an initial reckoning with violence usually indicates a historical pattern of its

prevalence in society (Kumar,1993). Thus, while shifts in perception can be achieved, it is

crucial to focus on altering generational norms and societal practices that encourage inequality.

Such discussions have been carried out through the media in recent decades, which play a

paramount role as they did in Nirbhaya's case. However, what is unanticipated, as explained by

Amrit Dhillon (2014), is that such media attention can lead to the disruption and disintegration of

traditional norms, roles, and institutions. Thus, in the case of Nirbhaya, the degree of social

protest that followed media reporting of the rape suggests that such change could have occurred,

but the precise nature of the impacts need to be examined.

16
 2.4 Victimology in India

While media attention is crucial, the media approach and portrayal shape the way such social

and legal battles are perceived across the country. Interviewed three years after her daughter’s

death, Jyoti Singh’s mother was critical of the disparities in treatment between men and women

and noted India's victim-blaming culture (Talwar, 2013). “Whenever there's a crime, the girl is

blamed, she should not go out, she shouldn't roam around so late or wear such clothes. It's the

boys who should be accused and asked why they do this” she said. As recently as March 2015,

Mukesh, one of Jyoti's rapists, was interviewed for a documentary on Nirbhaya called ‘India’s

Daughter’. He stated that “a girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.” He also talked

about how Nirbhaya was responsible for her rape because she fought back and was out late with

a man, which was improper of her as a woman (Sullivan, 2015). Thus, rape reporting is difficult

to analyze in India due to the country's cultural complacency and stigmatization surrounding

such issues.

Rajkhowa (2016) argues that sexual abuse victims suffer through emotions of impurity and

of being contaminated. Society’s sentiments regard raped women as unclean or "ruined goods"

that make victim rehabilitation a complex issue. There have been reports of famous legislators

criticizing rape victims for causing difficulties by going to bars, drinking, and smoking, or

asserting that "boys will be boys." In many situations, rape victims have been married off to their

assailants (Butalia, 2014). Victim blaming is not unique to India. This pattern is essentially an

exercise that sets up assumptions of the "ideal victim" (Christie, 1986 as cited by McGarry &

Walklate, 2015), who is the person who is the most readily given the status of "victim" as

compared to others. The media analysis further portrays how Nirbhaya faced character

17
assassination, despite the horrific experience she went through. Her decision to be out late at

night with her boyfriend led politicians such as Abu Azmi to question her morality as a woman

(Talwar, 2013).

Social movements have the potential to modify present cultural characteristics, particularly

when a crisis occurs. The extensive media coverage of violent sexual assaults has the power to

lure individuals to mass protests which sometimes result in a swift protest movement, rendering

the media a vital instrument in the formation of social change. Specifically, for Nirbhaya, an

almost social revolution, it is thus crucial to explore how mass media conjoins forces,

disseminates information, and constructs the discourses that emerge.

18
Chapter 3: Results

3.1 Methodology

According to Amibranjan (2000), media coverage of an event like that of Nirbhaya's

scale had the power to reach corners of global communities and develop into something more

transformative. Since 2012, researchers such as Lapsia (2015) and Jayaraj & Sasi (2015) have

used various overlapping methods of content analysis to look at media discourse in the

immediate period of the assault; assess why this case was different and how Nirbhaya influenced

Indian society. However, as shown above in Figure 1.1, a decade later, the situation regarding

violence against women seems worse off. Thus, my contribution lies in unearthing factors

responsible for this stagnancy and assessing the long-term effects of such a case on media

reporting as well as society. I conducted a small-scale media content analysis, using articles of

two major Indian newspapers: The Hindu (founded in 1878, English newspaper with a current

readership of over three million people) and Times of India (founded in 1838, oldest English

language newspaper). The online articles were accessed through UBC Factiva Library Access.

This media analysis inspects the ways such cases were reported upon, both pre and post

Nirbhaya case, as well as in 2017, five years after the incident. These time frames were

specifically chosen to scan the differences in media reporting before this case until years later, to

understand if the media narrative regarding rape evolved, and to what extent. Additionally, this

contributes to answering the main research question in measuring the significance of the impact

of the case on Indian society.

19
 The three periods that will be used for this analysis are – the pre Nirbhaya-period- 1st

October 2012- 1st December 2012, followed by the post Nirbhaya period- December 16th-

February 16th, 2013 and lastly, the 2017 period- 1st January- 1st March 2017.

The news of this rape case in Delhi spread worldwide in a matter of days through

professional media. I chose this time frame to capture the initial response culturally and analyze

which aspects dominated the discourse, that led to later discussions in the media. Using a random

sample of articles from all three periods, I looked for frequently used terminology or phrases

using the NVivo qualitative data analysis software, which helped me cumulate my data and infer

comparisons between them all.

To make my sample size manageable, I searched both newspapers under a multiple

keyword function including the following words: “sexual assault,” “rape,” “Nirbhaya,” and

“victim.” Through randomization I was able to select 30 articles from the pre Nirbhaya period,

40 articles from the post Nirbhaya period and 40 articles from the 2017 period. They were split

across the two publications equally. It must be noted that the pre-Nirbhaya period search showed

significantly fewer results. These articles were then analyzed using NVivo software via a

function that helps cumulate word frequency from the data uploaded. The words with the highest

frequency have been portrayed through pie charts below and analyzed further based on their

periods.

20
 3.2 Results

Using the Factiva system's keyword "and/or" function, I found the articles based on the 3

different periods selected. The pre Nirbhaya period input retrieved 270 and 466 articles from The

Hindu and Times of India respectively under the single keyword search function of 'rape'.

However, the post Nirbhaya period retrieved 1433 (TOI) and 1131 (The Hindu) articles

respectively under the single keyword search function of 'Rape'. More than 2000 articles were

written in a span of 2 months. These search functions were customized to eliminate any duplicate

articles as well.

Table 3.1- Frequency based Top 10 key terms from Pre Nirbhaya, Post Nirbhaya & 2017 period

21
Figure 3.1- Top 10 frequency key terms for 2012 newspaper analysis

Figure 3.2- Top 10 frequency key terms for 2012-13 newspaper analysis

22
Figure 3.3- Top 10 frequency key terms for 2017 newspaper analysis

The post Nirbhaya period included stories that primarily focused on the case and

legislative updates, the protests in and around the capital city, as well as increasing assault

complaints being reported. Articles included headlines such as “Legal outrage”, “Bill rape

revisions”, “Bury misogyny”, “Real men don't rape”, which indicated the acknowledgment of a

need for change. Description of the Nirbhaya attack brewed differences in articles from both

publishing houses. There were 9 articles out of this sample that talked about evidence and the

actions of the accused directly. Reports suggested that the accused tried to wash the bus to

prevent being traced. Additionally, the time frames provided by different articles of the incident

occurrence differed. However, such statements and claims were not all backed by sources. On

23
the other hand, the pre Nirbhaya period articles focused on more information-based reporting.

There were more factual accounts that included victim background, details of the accused –

name, age, etc. Thus, it can be deduced, from looking at the pie charts and the terminology used,

that the reporting style used to address sexual assault before and after the Nirbhaya case was

distinct as the post Nirbhaya period was more analytical, with higher number of articles written

on the issue and asserted a dominantly editorial perspective on the issue of violence against

women.

The words 'arrested’, and 'police' were most frequent in the pre Nirbhaya period sample.

This is not surprising considering most factual articles were narrating how the police handled the

rape cases and their actions, with reduced focus on the victims. In contrast, the word 'rape' and

'case'/ 'mercy' was recurringly used in the post Nirbhaya period. The keyword 'rape' itself came

up 34 times in the post Nirbhaya period and only 6 times in the pre Nirbhaya period, possibly

owing to the stigma around it before Nirbhaya's case. Similarly, words such as 'minor', 'accused',

'mercy' which had a higher frequency in the post Nirbhaya period. These words portray how

media articles increasingly delved into minute details about the cases in comparison to the

articles of the previous time frame. The 2017 sample shows a combination of ‘court’, ‘rape’,

‘sexual’, and ‘assault’ as the keywords with the highest frequency. This difference can be

understood from the following quotations from the pre Nirbhaya period and the 2017 period

where both articles are describing a rape case filed by the victim, respectively.

“Sonipat DSP Balbir Singh said medical examination of the girl indicated that

the possibility of rape could not be ruled out, however, they were unsure and

required more evidence.” (TOI, 27th November 2012)

24
 “The charge sheet of the case was filed within 20 days. Even though registration

of crimes against women dipped marginally in 2016, Delhi reported six rapes on

an average every day, indicating that much more was needed to be done to bring

the numbers further down.” (TOI, 20th February 2017).

While some of the lesser frequent terms used in pre Nirbhaya period such as ‘case,

persons’ are common words used in newspaper reports describing sexual assault, post

Nirbhaya’s lesser used key terms- ‘accused, government’ were more specific in nature. The 2017

sample, however, has completely different key terms at the bottom of the frequency table,

‘women and apology’. This inclusion sounds more victim-friendly and inclusive as compared to

the pre Nirbhaya period as it shows consideration of the women’s opinions and voices. However,

some of these differences and lack of associations can also be attributed to the limited sample

size of the articles used.

Further analysis of the post Nirbhaya period articles shows that the media discussed the

victim's story elaborately and followed up on cases more consistently as compared to before. 8

articles out of 40, after the incident occurred, were based on reporting public opinion, and

highlighted the magnitude of the protests, their rapid growth, and how social media campaigns

constantly evolved during that period. From the post Nirbhaya period, it was observed that the

victim's details were declared: residential community, age, occupation, etc., however, the name

of the woman continued to be concealed. With reference to literature by Rajkhowa (2018) &

Mitra (2013), this is attributed to stigma surrounding rape, Indian traditions and possibly,

25
persistent social attitudes that continue to view a female victim of the assault as ‘servile’ and

‘contaminated’.

From the post Nirbhaya period, two articles also shed light on the escalated juvenile

involvement in assault cases and pointed to increasing minor accusation rates as well as minor

victim estimates since 2010 (TOI, 22nd January 2013) as a daunting issue (Headlined- “Man

rapes 7-year-old, arrested”, 2012). However, the pre Nirbhaya period sample did not include any

minor accused cases. The other major focus of reports in the post Nirbhaya period was

Nirbhaya's saddening demise on December 29th, 2012. Six reports described her health, the way

it deteriorated and details about the surgeons who took care of her.

While running the search for the pre Nirbhaya period, there were fewer articles that

appeared, making this a smaller sample through randomization. There was increased reporting

after the 2012 rape case. A point of divergence emerged in the qualitative assessment of the

reports between the two periods. For instance, the pre Nirbhaya period included a report where

the victim 'failed to identify suspects', and was later scrutinized/ questioned, which is emblematic

of the victim-blaming culture. The report seemed to birth skepticism in the readers' minds about

the victims' allegations. Reports of known perpetrators were high in number and included

headlines- ‘Father raped daughter’ or ‘Woman raped under the false promise of marriage’,

amongst others. It seemed that the victim and accused were both in question while the tone of

cases of known perpetrators did not seem to scrutinize the accused. On the contrary, articles from

the post Nirbhaya period were more empathetic, conciliary, equity-based, and traced generational

misogyny. An example can be seen from an article published in The Hindu on 19th December

2012 which stated:

26
 “Finally, India’s society rails against rape, in the main, not out of concern for

victims but because of the despicable notion that a woman’s body is the

repository of family honour.”

Also, the accused was mentioned in more detail in the post Nirbhaya articles as compared

to the pre Nirbhaya sample. The former sample included phrases such as “a man known to the

victim's family” and “middle-aged police officer” when describing the accused. In contrast, the

latter period included descriptive phrases such as “the only juvenile, Mohammad Afroz, 17 years

old” or “the fruit seller, Pankaj Gupta, who resided in Jamia Nagar”.

Articles in the pre Nirbhaya period were predominantly factual and did not editorialize.

However, in the post Nirbhaya period, they seemed to express an underlying opinion through

words that demanded justice for Nirbhaya and did not engage in blaming the victim. While the

sample size is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions, these observations demonstrate that

one of the reasons the Nirbhaya case was startling was because it was an unimaginably brutal

and horrific gang rape whose details were revealed in print. The international attention Nirbhaya

garnered, specifically through social/digital media, pressured political leaders to reevaluate the

discourse of such a stigmatized and prevalent, yet neglected issue. Despite constant criticism,

members of parliament and civic authorities made a few contentious and disputed comments

regarding Nirbhaya's case such as “Theek hai” which means “It is okay”; by Manmohan Singh,

one of the most popular former Prime Ministers to serve India. His comment received a lot of

anger online as well as in print media critiquing his casual approach to such a crime (December

25th, 2012, The Hindu).

27
 Additionally, Botsa Satyanarayana, the Andhra Pradesh Congress president, incited

public outrage by referring to the case as a “minor occurrence” (Lapsia, 2015). Such remarks

called for an inquisition into what Indian society was like for women.

While the pre and post Nirbhaya periods show how media reporting changed as well as

how Nirbhaya made an impact on society through the unusually vast media attention it received;

the third and final part of this analysis focused on examining if this change in reporting was

temporary or if it marked a fundamental change in media discourse. A sample period from

January 1, 2017, through March 1, 2017 (5 years after the Nirbhaya case) was chosen and the

same two publications were used to analyze media reporting using the Factiva database and

running the articles through NVivo to learn about the major key terms covered in newspaper

articles. Using Factiva, there were a total of 243 articles found that covered the words 'rape'

and/or 'sexual assault' during these two months in both these newspapers. A randomized sample

of 40 articles (20 from each publishing house) was chosen from these 243. From these, 9 articles

mentioned the term 'Nirbhaya', indicating a presence of the case in some ways even five years

after the incident.

The articles in this randomized sample were split between factual reports about registered

rape cases; information such as the time, location, age of the victim and the accused; articles

about the changed definition of rape in the constitution and lastly, about one rape case that

constituted the focus of 7 out of 40 articles in the period. It was a rape of a ‘developmentally

disabled’ 14-year-old girl who was raped by a 25-year-old man in a village in a southern state,

Kerala. No details such as name or date were provided. The overall narrative that explained this

incident followed a sympathetic tone and was meant to evoke emotional reactions from the

28
readers, synonymous with the kinds of articles that narrated Nirbhaya's story. One of the 7

articles stated:

“Childline officials said this it is one of the most heart-wrenching cases -not only

because it throws light on the plight of the learning impaired, who live in the

open and are subjected to sexual assault -but also because she was rejected from

almost all quarters, as there is no facility in the state that keeps mentally unstable

girls or women who are incontinent” (TOI, 21 January 2017).

Further, articles informed the public of the change in the legal definition of rape, which is

a progressive step for the Indian Justice system and was proposed in 2013 but not implemented

until much later. The definition now acknowledged "insertion of any material/object without

consent" as rape. The articles that outlined this amendment were, however, factual, and concise

offering no social opinion or argument. This shows the assertive yet diplomatic nature of the

Indian media when exploring changes by the state.

Another state-related article was titled “No funds to extend the scheme to rape victims

with retrospective effect, State informs HC” (The Hindu, 22nd February 2017). It highlighted

how the Bombay state government appealed to the High Court as it had run out of budget and no

longer had the allocated funds for rape victims, who are required to receive a government-funded

welfare scheme for their well-being. The scheme is accessible to other domestic violence victims

as well. Such articles shed light on how women's issues are neglected, improperly funded, and

not given the redressal they deserve. Lastly, what stood out in this sample was how the media

articles reported the crimes of and questioned the authority of politicians and the state, which
29
was not common in the pre-Nirbhaya sample. This is evident through an article titled “Rape

accused Meghalaya MLA arrested” (TOI, February 3rd, 2017). Additionally, an article titled

“Will Netas (politicians) now tell women how to dress?” (TOI, 13th January 2017) shed light on

how a ruling party politician made sexist remarks on women who dressed in clothing revealing

some of their skin, claiming that harassment by men was a justified response to such a display of

skin. It stated:

"Society, police, politicians, and judges still rest a lot of their judgments on the

way a woman dresses, speaks, and mingles with others. Unfortunately, men,

who run an anatomy search on every woman they come across, do not face

similar stigmatic branding. It would be safer for women on the streets if we start

branding men based on depraved conduct and stand against them" (TOI, 13th

January 2017)

Thus, we can suggest that the media narrative partially evolved. The paramount change

found is in the way the media reported about the state and its officials. Such increased

transparency supports the common citizen in holding the state accountable. However, it also

portrays the persistent gruesome condition of sexual violence against women, five years after the

Nirbhaya incident.

30
3.3 Discussion

3.3.1 The 2013 Criminal Amendment Law Analysis

Considering the above content analysis results, which indicate to some extent, that

Nirbhaya left an everlasting imprint on media, it is essential to explore if its pronounced

legislative change translated into reality regarding violence against women. The 1983 CLAA

(Criminal Law Amendment Act) was a pioneering act that attempted to incorporate cases of

custodial rape and gang-based sexual assault; however, it was highly insufficient in requiting the

humiliation and abuse that Nirbhaya and other victims went through.

The comprehensive Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, introduced by Verma

Committee Report, because of the public outcry against the state after Nirbhaya’s case did

initially enhance anti-rape legislation and penalties for assault-based offenses. The definition of

the term ‘rape’ also underwent alterations in the constitution and now held a 'man' guilty “if he

inserts, to any extent, any object, or a part of the body...into the vagina, urethra, or anus of a

woman” (Talwar, 2013), however, this was not implemented until much later. Further alterations

included the procedural change whereupon females no longer needed to visit a police arena to

file an FIR for such a crime, instead, the officers (female officer/ assistant must accompany)

needed to visit their residence.

Yet is crucial to note that many such reform proposals made through the committee have

not yet been implemented or been added to the original report which lacked scheduled follow-

ups, amongst other inconsistencies (Mohta, 2019). Some of the recommended alterations

included: the installation of safety applications in all mobile devices that allow women to notify

the police instantly; a list of best practices that focused on segregation of jurisdiction among the

31
police force to enable an impartial and expeditious investigation; and creation of a designated

area in every government hospital that would solely take care of victims/patients of sexual

assault (Shakil, 2013).

Despite these suggested alterations, a persistent issue that exists to date is the exclusion

or deletion of committee proposals in the final bill that was passed. Similarly, many policy

changes suggested by the Justice Verma Committee were withdrawn by the government (Talwar,

2013). Some of these known removals concerned legal reform on the issue of marital rape, and

disqualification of judiciary or parliament members that hold a record or have been accused of

violence against women, assault, harassment, etc. This attitude of the state led to criticism by

many feminist organizations that demanded the state take full responsibility for the rehabilitation

of victims and hold those in power accountable (Rajkhowa, 2018).

3.3.2 Nirbhaya fund

Apart from issues in the content of the policy, the state's negligence towards women's

issues is reflected through an assessment of the Nirbhaya fund's failure. The fund is distributed

amongst police forces. However, research carried out by the Kailash Satyarthi Children's

Foundation and Amita Pitre, a member of Oxfam Foundation (India), amongst others, have

found that the financing endowments focused on initiatives that scarcely improved women's

situation. Alterations focused on "emergency response services, upgrading forensic labs, or

expanding units fighting cyber-crimes and safer public transport" (Oxfam [Link], 2018).

32
Figure 3.4- Nirbhaya fund allocation (BBC, 2018)

While abysmal, the funds have been used by the home ministry to some extent. On the

other hand, as can be seen from Figure 3.4, the Women and Child Development Ministry left

most of the fund unconsumed, using only 20% for the establishment of female victim shelters

and a digital and electronic helpline which can be contacted 24/7. This meagre allocation,

according to the national survey report carried out by NCRB in 2017 (NCRB, 2019), however

delayed by around twenty-two months in being published, has comparatively brought ‘myriad

changes’ considering other ministries. As mentioned earlier, policies for women in India falter in

sustenance more than initiation. The same is evident through Shubhangi Singh’s statement, a

lawyer who counsels rape and domestic violence survivors: “In Uttar Pradesh, public hospitals

don't even have enough rape kits or swabs or zip lock bags to collect and transport evidence”

(Shubhangi Singh, October 4, 2020, Twitter).

33
 According to Oxfam's estimations, the Nirbhaya Fund is financially undervalued; it

requires $1.3 billion to reach even 60% of women who are victims of abuse. However,

campaigners for women's rights argue that money is only one underlying problem. Other issues

revolve around patriarchal mindsets prevalent in government officials and politicians responsible

for these grants. ([Link] February 8, 2021).

3.3.3 Persistent violence against women & patriarchal backlash

A more focused lens on the persistence and to some degree, increase in crime rates after

the Nirbhaya case yields anecdotal corroboration which suggests that the 2012 Nirbhaya uprising

initially led to attitudinal changes reflected through elevated reported crime rates and conviction

rates (Lapsia, 2015). However, it seemed to be a temporary lift that has recently waned off. Since

2012, the NCRB has found that the number of rapes committed against women and girls has

risen from 68 to 91.38 per day in 2021. While the number of rapes dropped slightly in 2020,

attributed to Covid's lockdown, the number of homicides rose over the same period. The latest

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics show that about 77 rape cases were recorded

throughout India per day in 2020, totaling 28,046 instances throughout the year (NCRB, 2021).

Thus, barriers to progressive social change can be found in the descriptive literature that

characterizes Indian society in previous sections, as being misogynistic, averse to social change,

and thus, possibly responsible for the much talked about backlash in the aftermath of the 2012

case. This is further substantiated through Barnett's (2008) claim that it is the historic conception

of how rape is rooted in social, economic, and political systems that devalues women in India, as

property and usually as secondary citizens in need of control by men that encourage such

34
tenacious patterns of violence. Lodhia (2015) & Mehta (2010) further contend that sexual

violence will increase once women significantly begin to play a bigger role in society, thereby,

questioning customary norms and gendered functions, leading to a backlash by men to reinstate

their authority.

What makes this proposed backlash situation (Barnett 2008; Lewis 2015) extensively

complex to investigate is that national estimates only include purported rape, which as cited in

the literature; is unreliably inconsistent with the actual number of incidents. However, by looking

at dowry deaths and female homicide trends after Nirbhaya's case, which are more extreme

forms of violence against women and difficult to dispute, we can explore possible backlash.

The dowry system in India was criminalized in 1981 and originated as a practice

centuries ago, as a way for women to inherit money that their parents gave to the groom's family

upon marriage. However, this practice eventually grew analogous to increasing crimes and

violence against women through coercion by the groom's family after marriage for continued

assets/gifts from her parents; harassment; and in many instances, death. Unfortunately, this

practice remains deeply ingrained in society to date. It has historically been a tool that 'shames &

humiliates' the woman reminding her of her inferior position in the household. Here, its

persistence after the Nirbhaya incident is used along with female homicide, as an indicator to

find out if there was a male backlash after the Nirbhaya incident.

35
Figure 3.5- NCRB Data on Dowry Deaths & Female Homicide 2012-2017

Table 3.2- NCRB Data on Dowry Deaths and Female Homicide 2012-2017

By looking at dowry deaths and female homicides (Adult, 18+- due to familial

/relationship reasons, as categorized by NCRB), the reported rates do not show an evident

significant increase after 2012, making the backlash argument a difficult one to prove. Figure 3.5

shows a significant increase in 2014, more than a year after the Nirbhaya case (2014) where

dowry deaths and female homicide increased from 8233 & 8604 in 2012 to 10050 & 9328
36
respectively, however, rates decreased, 2015 onwards. While there is an immediate rise post

Nirbhaya, this can also be attributed to the increasing awareness and reporting rise brought about

by the incident (Bart & Clay, 2005). There is thus, not enough evidence to prove if society

experienced a backlash, considering the stagnant reported rape, dowry deaths, and adult female

homicides due to familial or relationship reasons.

These are direct indicators of patriarchal beliefs and have been used by men to assert

their authority for decades. The figures imply that physical abuse and harassment are persistent,

also owing to the lack of proper legislative forces (Sidhu & Thakur, 2015). The political

negligence found in CLA 2013's policy implementation, and the overall state disregard for

implementing the new law are testaments to the structured unaccountability that illustrates why

Nirbhaya's effect on the public and state was manifold, yet complex. To this day, marital rape is

not criminalized.

37
Chapter 4: Conclusion

The world's largest democratic nation was mobilized into quick action because of the

nationwide uprising for Nirbhaya. Through the process of this research and the results obtained,

it is fair to conclude that Nirbhaya’s case left significant impressions on Indian society that have

partially changed community norms and made media reporting regarding violence against

women increasingly prevalent. Even five years after the incident occurred, Nirbhaya was used as

an exemplary case when discussing sexual assault convictions. Further, the 2020 verdict is also

indicative of the constant revolution to end gendered violence and assault that victims, activists,

and many who are part of the common public, are carrying forward since it was ignited in 2012.

While there is not enough evidence available to claim that a male backlash culture grew after the

Nirbhaya incident, it is essential to acknowledge that most communities still prefer to silence the

‘stigma’ of sexual assaults around women. Dowry killings, domestic violence, and inequality are

focal to the way Indian society functions.

Through this research, persisting or increasing rates of sexual violence since 2012 are

attributed primarily to a combination of state negligence and insufficient implementation. Sexual

assault on women was not a matter of state priority until a mass mobilization broke out around

the country regarding gender violence in 2012. Alternatively, the positive developments of the

Nirbhaya case can be seen through increased, regular, and fair reporting of rape cases in the

media, along with increased rape reporting to the police. The state’s creation of a rapidly

evolving Nirbhaya Fund and Juvenile Justice Amendment due to such a far-reaching mobilization

and the campaigns that followed have also been a step towards positive social change. I hope this

work can contribute to feminist and judicial activist communities that wish to better grasp the

38
role of media and concealed trends in understanding prevalent social phenomena such as gender-

based violence.

By examining these reforms, a positive norm condemning rape culture has begun to grow

among many Indian citizens, as Shah (2019) anticipated. While traditional gender norms linger,

the word frequency media analysis findings also indicate that the stigma surrounding rape and

media reporting regarding gendered violence has reduced since 2012. While significant societal

shift has not yet occurred, the increased emphasis and consciousness upon this issue is indicative

of progress. The results that were brought to light from this research were the influence that

media had in drawing a narrative around the Nirbhaya incident and in shaping public opinion,

which yielded political action for legal reform. However, my thesis shows that the government

stymied transformation both by failing to prevent increased crimes and by allowing sexist

attitudes in political processions and debates. It has fallen short of meeting the expectations of

the protest movement as there are more than 88% of cases under Section 376 (Rape) of minor

girls committed in 2019 still pending (The Swaddle, March 24th, 2021), thus pointing to

improper implementation of the reformed laws.

For change to come as much as is required to lead the way, change also must come in

cultural norms and religious beliefs in a patriarchal society that persists in resisting significant

progress. The socialization that boys receive in a patriarchal society impedes significant progress

in gender justice. Thus, the government’s sustained effort for reform through legislation and

reform at the grassroots level is critical for the way forward in gender justice. The conscience of

India was shaken through Nirbhaya and the changes the nation came together to bring should not

be forgotten.

39
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