Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences

Wake up call to halt the evolving epidemic of sexual offence in India: Urgent need to find out the solutions

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Article Type : Review Article

Author Details: Padhy Gouri Kumari, Mishra Abhishek, Pal Anjali, Dash Shreemanta Kumar

Volume : 6

Issue : 1

Online ISSN : 2348-7682

Print ISSN : 2249-8176

Article First Page : 3

Article End Page : 7

Abstract

Violence against women is a global public health problem of epidemic proportion, requiring urgent action and India ranks 4^th in the world as per recent statistics of rapes. An increasing trend in the incidence of rape has been observed during the periods 2010 - 2014. The reported figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Only 1% of sexual violence victims in India report the crime. The victims of sexual violence experience a wide range of physical and psychological problems. The number of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) lost by women for this is comparable to diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, cardiovascular diseases or cancer. It contributed about 5% of the total global disease burden. The causes for this problem are multifaceted, so are the solutions. Fear of punishment cannot be the sole solution, as it may lead to increased rate of murder of victim to destroy evidence. Considering the rising incidences of sexual assaults in the society an attempt is made in this article to suggest some measures which can bring down these incidences. The role of yoga, meditation and moral education in different stages of life becomes very crucial in this context. But all these are long term interventions. Hence along with these measures some urgent steps need to be taken to tackle this problem. Measures like decriminalizing/ legalizing prostitution, cuddle cafe and phone sex are being used in some countries as newer approaches to satiate the desire for sex.

Keywords: Sexual assault, Rape, Prostitution, Cuddle Sex, Phone Sex

Doi No:-10.18231