According to the statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau in India for 2015, Uttar Pradesh had 3,025 reported rape cases (National Crime Records Bureau: Crime in India: Tables: Chapter 5: Crimes Against Women: Table 5.2 - Cases Reported (I), Victims(V) & Rate (R) of Crimes Committed Against Women During 2015). This data is based on women who make a report, and is limited due to the unreported cases of sexual assaulted women who are afraid to file a report against their perpetrators.

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The Hindu Newspaper published an article on May 29, 2017 reporting a new sexual abuse case. The article claimed that a man had been arrested in Uttar Pradesh, India after a sexual abuse video went viral on social media. The incident involves an undated video posted on Facebook of 14 men sexually assaulting two women near a village in Rampur in broad daylight. In the news video, the young women are seen pleading with the group of men to let them go, but the men are heard laughing and most of them are recording the incident with their cellphone cameras. The women are seen trying to defend themselves from the groping and molestation as they get surrounded by the assailants. One man is seen lifting one of the women and walks away with her in his arms. The news report also states that one boy tried to intervene between the group of men and the two women, but the boy got physically attacked by the group of men (Times of India, 2017, March 28. UP horror: Women molested in broad daylight in Rampur, video goes viral).

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A police officer states they have formed teams to search for the assailants after the video went viral over the weekend. On May 31, 2017, the police have identified more suspects and arrested four more of the attackers. The Superintendent of Police Rampur, Vipin Tada, states the police tried to locate the two women who were seen abused in the video as they have not registered a report so far, leading to the police filing a report themselves. The Uttar Pradesh police submitted a first investigation report (FIR) under sections 354A– sexual harassment, and 354B– assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe, of the Indian Penal Code (Rashid, O. (2017, May 29). 1 Held as sexual Abuse video goes viral in U.P. The Hindu. p. 1.).

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During a global health discussion with Dr. Indira and Dr. Shanti at the Public Health of Research Institute of India (PHRII), I learned that in India the women get blamed for their sexual assaults and rapes. Officials will say they “should not be outside their homes alone or go out at night” and question the victims against their favor. These statements are supported by the 2012 rape case in New Delhi, India where a woman was gang raped, beaten, and tortured inside a public transportation bus, which eventually led to her death from the injuries. One of the lawyers defending the attackers stated that the victims were responsible for the assaults because they should not have been on the streets at night. There is currently a stigma against the women that try to seek help after being sexually abused in any form. These women become afraid to file a report against their perpetrators which prevents getting the correct treatment after experiencing trauma.

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There are multiple global health issues that are manifested in this incident. The idea and values of global health is to achieve equity and improve the health for all people worldwide. The two women do not have the courage to come out and make a report against the assailants due to the stigma. These two women will not be able to get medical, psychological and emotional support to overcome the harm they have experienced. Women have values they believe in such as protecting their bodies, but they are unable to have full protection of themselves because men do not respect these values. This situation becomes a global issue because other women may be experiencing this in other parts of the world. Some countries may provide help for sexually assaulted women, while other countries are not providing the correct support and protection.

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Everyday millions of people from around the world log in to different types of social media sites to share their lives. Crimes used to be hidden, and became public when the media allowed the world to know about a specific crime. Facebook is one of social media’s biggest network, and is recently been under pressure due to the multiple criminal acts that are exposed worldwide. For example, in the U.S. during the 2017 Easter holiday, a man in Ohio named Steve Stephens killed an innocent man walking on the streets and posted a video of the crime on Facebook. Earlier this year, there was also another case of a girl who committed suicide on a streaming live video that was watched by thousands of people before one of her friends contacted the authorities. Once the police arrived to the house, the girl had already died. There was also another case in Thailand where a father killed his own daughter and then killed himself, while live streaming the video on Facebook.

 

In an ABC News interview with Professor of criminal justice Ray Surette at the University of Central Florida, he states the spike is due to the impact of social media for the changing relationship between audience and the producers of crime attack. He also states that traditional media gate keeping has been removed as we now have a generation raised on visual media. An individual posting about their lives online is now socially acceptable. These are some of the cases that are occurring in a global context because crimes in social media is becoming the platform of criminal activity.

 

The voices of authority in this article report are the police and the Rampur politician Azam Khan. He believes that women “should stay home to avoid such incidents”, Azam Khan stated in The Hindu (1 Held as sexual Abuse video goes viral in U.P. The Hindu. p. 10.). There are voices that are left out that can add important perspectives and statements to this case. For example, they have not reached out to the boy that got physically attacked by the group of men when he tried to defend the two women. He may be able to help the police identify the attackers and find the two women who were assaulted to obtain a full report. The two women have not yet been found, that could also help the authorities identify the remaining attackers. The statements of the women are also needed to know what occurred after the video ended, as the full story is not shown. We still do not know where one of them took the woman when he picked her up in his arms and is seen walking away. There should be more statements from the victims of assault in this case to get the full story.

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            I am appalled by this news report because women are not safe in their communities in India. It is not reasonable that women in India should be afraid to go out of their homes, and are not able to walk with freedom in their neighborhoods. The group of men involved in this case believe they can do what they want, because it is a common crime in India. In 2015, 29% of sexual assault and rape cases were convicted in India. This indicates a great number of sexual assault cases do not get convicted and men get away with this type of crime. Anuradha Dutta, the Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission asserts, ‘when a boy grows up seeing his father assault his mother, he starts to accept such a behavior and repeats it’ (Sinha 2012).  India has implemented new laws after the 2012 rape case in New Delhi, yet they have failed to prevent sexual assault incidents. I can walk or exercise around my neighborhood without the fear of being sexually assaulted. Most of the time, I do my errands on my own around the city I live in, and work until late hours at night. The company provides security available 24 hours a day for the protection of all employees and especially women. I believe I am grateful for the freedom and protection that women receive in the U.S. I also believe women need to have equal solutions and protection from sexual assault crimes in a global context.

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