lowering age for sexual consent
there are various reports in the media that the law for lowering the age to 16 was already passed. There is no clarity if it is indeed so. Its time to find out if that really is the case as this is a major shift in policy.... more on that once we get some confirmation
but what is the issue - my old article is reproduced below
Hope
this post finds you in the pink of health and wealth! I am returning
after a long hiatus as i had gone for the maha kumbh mela, the
highlights of which i will post shortly.
As
i woke up from my bed today, I saw that the bill to lower the age for
sexual consent was almost passed. As i understand, this was part of the
recommendations of the honourable justice verma committee report. Being
a common man, i was confused. The honourable committee was setup to
prevent rape and other attrocities against women but i could not
understand how this reduction in age for consent fell in the ambit of
that charter. How can reduction in the age reduce the number of rapes or
the attrocities?
In my opinion the lowering of ageof sexual consent is not a good option for young girls for the following reasons:
1.
Who benefits from this rule? it certainly cant be the little girls.
it would only legitimise the rich older men or the road side goons
forcing themselves for sex by way of offering money or threats. As a
father of a little girl myself i am not at all comfortable with the idea
of 16 year olds having sex.
2.
At 16 what is their understanding of sex? and why should they have
sex at 16? where is the tearing hurry? A girl at 16 would be in class x
or xi by then. Are we as a nation willing to accept that girls in class
x/xi can have sex? If we cannot, then why this new rule?
3. This will lead to an increase in teen pregnancies which even the most developed of western nations are grappling to resolve
4. Medical complications would rise earlier in life due to abortions.
5.
Loss of innocence of children as they would be viewed as sexual objects
much earlier especially at a age where they may not be able to handle
themselves. (below is a shocking pic of a teenager)
6.
It may be much more difficult to prove the rape of the girls between 16
to 18 as the 'lack of consent' has to be first established.
7.
Will lead to trafficking of younger girls as it would be very difficult
to make out between a healthy 14 year old and normal 16 year old.
Despite
these obvious issues, there were several bogey's raised by several
learned people that lowering the age will reduce HIV/STD/other diseases,
harassment of young people etc. These learned people including some
women were actually batting for lowering the age.
The West had experimented with this free culture and they are feeling the effects now. Unmarried mothers, many in teens, parents holed up in old age homes etc are just a few of those effects. Many of the teen unmarried mothers informed that they were never aware of what they were getting into at that age and by the time they realised their folly, they were too pregnant or with a child already. It must be understood that at times it is difficult even to abort a baby which forces the girl to deliver the child. Moreover how would an indian girl in class x or xi inform her parents that she is pregnant? Are we really ready for that sort of confrontation?
The West had experimented with this free culture and they are feeling the effects now. Unmarried mothers, many in teens, parents holed up in old age homes etc are just a few of those effects. Many of the teen unmarried mothers informed that they were never aware of what they were getting into at that age and by the time they realised their folly, they were too pregnant or with a child already. It must be understood that at times it is difficult even to abort a baby which forces the girl to deliver the child. Moreover how would an indian girl in class x or xi inform her parents that she is pregnant? Are we really ready for that sort of confrontation?
The
West is in a turmoil today and they are looking at our sanatana dharma
for peace and salvation. At such a time we are trying to ape their
flawed system. A system so flawed that it is full of failed marriages
and broken relations. So, rather than aping the west it may be worth
while, to lay emphasis on our culture and rediscover its wonderful
teachings which form the foundations for rock solid indian families.
While we are doing that, we may educate our youth about 'respect for
women' and bring about a generational change in this decade.
In
the meantime, I can only pray that somebody puts a stop to this
lowering of age and stem further decline in our social practices.
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