ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses that the mix of convictions is reflected in India's social and legal ideologies. The popular notion in India is that women, particularly urban dwellers, entice men to become sexually violent by wearing revealing clothes and indulging in indecent behaviour. Ironically, the joint-family structure, which is often extolled for its all-embracing kindness and generosity, provides ideal social and spatial dynamics for the potential of the sexual abuse of children. One of the issues that acts as a barrier to the recognition of child sexual abuse in India is the notion that children must be innocent of sexual knowledge and that girls, particularly, must remain virgins until marriage. Additionally, most South Asian societies vigorously deny the existence of child sexual abuse in their midst, claiming it to be alien to the culture. Arranged marriage continues to add to the pre-existing barriers in India to recognising legally coerced sexual intercourse within marriage as marital rape.