Gender neutral Law with Special Reference to Male Rape Victims in India An Analysis

Abstract

Victim is a person who, individually or collectively have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights through act or omission that are violations of National criminal laws or of internationally recognized norms relating to human rights. 1 According to Code of Criminal procedure (Amendment) Act, 2008, Section 2(wa) defines victim as a person who has suffered any loss or injury caused by reason of act or omission for which the accused person has charged and the expression victim includes his or her guardian and legal heir. Rape is defined under Section 375 of Indian Penal Code which is restricted to paradigm of male the perpetrator and female the victim. As this section is gender specific it does not consider Male as rape victim. The researcher has explored different Legal and Sociological theories to understand Social Construction of male rape and identify issues and challenges relating to male rape. Victims of crime has the Right of Access to Justice and Right to be Heard as one of the few rights under the Declaration adopted by United Nation in 1985. With special reference to Male Rape Victims2, these rights are not recognized under Indian criminal law as there are no legal provisions framed for such victims. Constitution of India talks about Equality before law and Right to life, which is gender neutral. The present research contours to discover whether men face legally defined sexual violence and can also be victimized as male rape victim. In order to effectively deal with the problem of sexual violence against children, Ministry of women and Child development introduced Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.