When people speak about gender equality, equality for women is all that is spoken about. Many forget that there are certain grey areas that apply to men too. YourDOST recently came up with a powerful video of an actor narrating six true stories of rape victims who happen to be men. In our society, gender stereotypes are so deeply rooted that most men don’t speak out when they’re raped for fear of being called ‘weak’ and asked to ‘man up’. The definition of rape according to Indian law is restricted to a man molesting a woman without her consent. But sexual abuse is so varied that such a limited definition cannot even begin to apply.
The law and society must begin to change and stop putting people in stereotypical boxes. Women, men and children; when victims of rape, must begin to have the freedom to speak out about it without fear of blame and ridicule. Unless change occurs in the mindset of every individual, true change will never take place and men will continue being asked to ‘man up’, women will continue being asked to ‘dress modestly’ or told she ‘deserved it’ and children will not even understand them being violated.
