Sheem Soorayya Sandooyea
Yet another horrific crime occurred in our beautiful “paradise” island – the murder of a young woman who was stabbed multiple times. We are outraged beyond words, enough is enough. United Nations Women (2023) defines femicide / feminicide as “the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls”. There has been a rise in the cases of femicide / feminicide in Mauritius over the past decade. Unfortunately, these acts of violence affect women and girls of all economic and social backgrounds, regardless of their age or skin colour or religious belief. It happens to women and girls in public as much as in private.
Every week, we hear of cases of rape or murder of girls and women in Mauritius. We live on an island nation where such crimes should have been minimal, if not non-existent. Our community ties should have been stronger to protect all girls and women from these attacks. We should have valued the sanctity of life more profoundly. Between our family values, religious beliefs, neighbours, education system, workplace, police force and judicial system, there should have been enough institutions and safeguards in place to keep us safe. What is being taught at home and at school? What is being preached in our holy places? What is being done to protect girls and women in public? What are workplaces offering to safeguard women? What are the judicial system and authorities doing? What are our politicians proposing? How many more girls or women need to endure these horrors before we finally wake up and act to stop these?
In 2013, the United Nations adopted resolution 68/191 which calls for nations to take action against gender-related killing of women and girls. As a result, there are many countries (such as Cyprus, Malta, Croatia, and Costa Rica) which have made the killing of women a specific crime. We need stricter laws to punish these crimes in Mauritius. However, legal framework on its own is not sufficient. Criminalisation may lead to more hideous crimes. As we have observed in India, after the horrendous Nirbhaya case, laws were tightened but it has not stopped or diminished rape. Instead, rapists killed their victims to eliminate the chance that these victims would testify against them. This has led to a rise in post-rape murders in India. A few weeks ago, the gruesome rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata, India at her workplace sparked outrage globally. Women are not safe in public transport. Women are not safe at their workplace. Where are we safe in 2024?
How many rapes by immediate or close family members, by current or former husbands or partners or boyfriends are not reported with the rapists walking free in our midst? We study or work with them, we sit or walk next to them, we travel with them. It could be anyone. What leads to these dreadful moments which too often end in death or lifelong trauma? Is it sparked by a one-off incident or is it a build-up of emotions? What makes people lose so much control that they take lives with such violence? We need to ask these questions to even begin to understand this complex, deep-rooted evil which plagues our society so that we can find long-term and sustainable solutions to heal us. Do we understand the meaning of “consent” and “no”? For the rapists, it seems that only their rage, hurt, revenge, or pride matter. How do they live with themselves afterwards? Do they seek to repeat this action? Do they imagine inflicting this on you or me?
It is this notion of power which divides between us, human beings – that one is superior to another because of race, skin colour, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, you name it. Throughout history, rape has always been used as a tool to show that the victim is at the mercy of the rapist, powerless and without any control. Yes, even men are raped and we have heard horrifying testimonies of that in wars or genocides. A human being has rights and should not be reduced to mere statistics, but he or she has a life, a mind, a heart and a soul. Can you imagine what it takes for a human being to inflict such intimate and traumatising pain over another? Our ability to think is what supposedly differentiates us from animals. Yet, this behaviour would seem almost animalistic. Mankind feels superior not just towards their fellow human beings but towards plants, animals, the planet itself. We forget that nature has a way of finding balance, that the planet will stay long after us and that it is in our best interest to remain humble. Mother Earth bears witness.
It will take all of us to find a cure to the sickness prevailing in the hearts and minds of human beings. We are waiting for a miracle from the sky instead of putting in the efforts. The answer will certainly not come from women because we have been taught since we are little children that we will be victims and we always have to be on our guard – to make ourselves small, to not meet men’s eyes, to dress modestly, to not attract attention, to lower our voices, to not walk in the dark, to walk fast, to carry something with which we can defend ourselves. So, women know very well the danger lurking not only outside but also within our own homes. We are the first ones to blame – the clothing we wore, the time we were out, our relationships, our ‘reputation’ is always questioned by this society which was supposed to keep us safe in the first place. Just like that, crimes committed against us are justified, and women are minimized and objectified.
We must put a stop to that, collectively, as a society. We need to change our attitude and our behaviour. It is not a one-off problem which will disappear overnight when clearly it is worsening over time. It is a systemic issue which requires that all of us protect the sanctity of life. It is a universal matter which will require advocacy, education, improving institutional response, policy change, accountability of public officers, establishment of survival-centered services and community efforts to strengthen our values as a country. All of us need to come up with prevention and protection mechanisms. We must not allow ourselves to become desensitised with these crimes. We must not normalise rapes or murders. We must not believe that just because we are not part of the problem, we should not be part of the solution. All girls and women are at risk, even men are. A life gone cannot be brought back. Rape cannot be undone.
Being a man undoubtedly comes with privilege – the privilege of feeling safe in his home, to walk on the streets without any special precautions, to use public transport without being groped, to enter a relationship without fear of dying at the end of it. This is not to diminish the hardships and challenges that men go through nor is this a general accusation or attack towards men. We hear your cries of frustration over the narrative towards men, but to change it means you have to get involved. It is too easy to just say that you are not committing these atrocities, therefore this has nothing to do with you. According to that logic, we should not voice out against injustice or a genocide if it is not happening to us. We want you to understand it from our perspective, please ask the girls and women in your lives. If you think it does not affect your girls and women, it does not mean that it is not happening. It just means that they may not trust you or feel safe enough to share.
On behalf of all girls and women who have been murdered and raped, this is an outcry for help. We need men in this fight. How can we achieve equal rights and opportunities if we are still not physically safe? We need you to protect us if we are in danger. We need you to speak up for those of us who have been silenced. We need you to stand up for those of us who have been brought to our knees from years of oppression and violence. We need you to stop looking at our bodies or clothes and objectifying us. We need you to look out for the alarming signs towards women in your friends. We need you to disrupt this notion of power. We need you to break that cycle of trauma and stop the bloodshed. We need you to normalise mental health among men and eliminate toxic masculinity. We need you to add your voice to the discussion.
We are women, we are girls, we are daughters, we are mothers, we are wives, we are sisters, we are partners, we are girlfriends, we are nieces, but above all, we are human beings.
