Sexual Assault Laws for Men: A Dire Need in India

Whenever there is a discussion on sexual assault, the only thing which comes to our mind is a woman being sexually assaulted. Sexual assault of men are also never reported because of fear of societal ostracization and backlash. The patriarchal setup in India also affects men in a negative way. Men have been typecasted as not being able to feel pain and if he does then he is not a man. Another reason for such is something called toxic masculinity which is a regressive description of manhood including the myth that strength is everything and emotions are weakness. 

Even when we search online for content on sexual assault, we only get the content related to women. People just find it hard to believe even men can be victims of sexual assault and may be this is the reason that there are no available content . There are many studies which indicate that even men can be sexually assaulted and that women can be also be the committer of sexual crimes. The lack of report of such crimes further encourage the perpetrators to commit sexual crimes against men. In India, people are modern in their thoughts on the one hand regarding liberation of women from societal pressures and the LGBT community but on the other hand they do not care about sexual assault of men and boys. They do believe that men can be raped inside prisons but they refuse to believe that the same can be done in their homes. 

It seems like men expressing their feelings and emotions are almost considered a taboo which inspires more cases of sexual assault against men. In this way, the society does not let men to be themselves and the his identity becomes slowly destroyed. He has certain gender roles to fulfil and so if a man survives a brutal beating he is asked as to why he did not do anything because he is a man. People forget that he is also a human being and cannot always be stronger. Men also tend to be vulnerable at times but in private because they are made fun of if they show their vulnerable side in front of everyone. 

Due to toxic masculinity, men are perceived to be more vigorous then women. Since men are not allowed to be vulnerable, they respond to sexual assault through anger which affects his family because this anger might be taken out on them. Even if they tell their families about this assault, it is highly unlikely that they would believe. Male victims then end up being addicted to drugs and alcohol because they cannot grasp what just happened to them. They also tend to commit suicide to save their family from shame. 

TV shows and movies also play a very big role in normalizing the stereotypes regarding men without taking into consideration the consequences that follow. Touching a man inappropriately, woman undressing in front of a man etc. are shown in a normal way as if the man himself wants it but in reality men are very uncomfortable and they do come under sexual assault. 

There are a lot of debates going on whether sexual assault and other related sex crimes against men and boys happen in India or not but no definitive solution is developed to prevent them. Its high time that gender neutral laws are made which can be used for male victims as well. Before making laws, there should be awareness programs stating that even men can be sexually assaulted as well and describe toxic masculinity. The patriarchal society can be changed if these truths are revealed to everyone at the right time.