“Collecting data about sexual
violence is crucial step towards breaking the culture of silence” say the some
authors of sexual violence articles . It is true indeed. But is it that easy?
Hillary Clinton once said that, “the history of women can be narrated in one sentence
i.e., it is the history of silence.” Has not history recorded about the silence of women, when they were treated as
beasts of burden, when all the basic
human rights were denied to them and when all types violence were unleashed on
them inside and outside homes? Has not
their silently suffering attitude driven them to mental depression and
suicides?
Even economically empowered women of today
will not open up to researchers who are engaged in data collection on sexual attacks.
It is because, primarily the victims of sexual violence are in a state of shock
that such a thing happened in their lives, secondly they are afraid that, the
society will attach stigma over their character if that secret somehow spreads
and finally, they think that, such a revelation would be a hurdle in their
attempt to live a dignified living in spite of the attack on their honor. It requires tremendous efforts on the part of
researchers to make women cooperate in
data collection on sexual violence, display of empathetic attitude towards
their hidden stories and explanation to them regarding the utility of such data
in controlling sexual violence. Until then it is an uphill task .
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