For India's sex assault victims, an unending burden

* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A number of high-profile cases in recent years, have brought to light the scale of sexual violence in India

I was just fifteen years old, a defenceless child, when I was raped by eight men whose faces I can't remember. Like many young girls in India, I never stood a chance. I became a victim through no fault of my own. This is a story that, sadly, is all too common in my country and in many others across the world.

Sexual violence is a physically traumatic experience, but the scars of abuse run much deeper than just our skin. The bodily pain young girls feel from these assaults is just the beginning of their horror, as they are left to confront the mental strain by themselves. Too often, these women are ostracised and shamed by their own families and communities, at the time of their greatest need. 

Despite being victims, those that survive sexual assault in India are often persecuted by authorities and community leaders. Whilst their assaulters walk free, women are made to feel like the real criminals. Rape still carries a social stigma in my country and many others, and women like me are rejected and vilified by those they rely on for protection.

A number of high-profile cases in recent years, have brought to light the scale of sexual violence in India. The numbers are horrifying. In 2016, the National Crime Bureau received 34,000 reports of rape. In the same year, the Bureau recorded over 19,000 sexual assaults against minors. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg, and one can only imagine how many cases go unreported or ignored.

In part, it is a cultural problem. Marital rape is not considered a criminal offence, and many believe that prostitutes are deserving of these crimes, or at least undeserving of sympathy, due to the nature of their work. Shockingly, a report last year from Human Rights Watch found that 25 percent of cases in India are still judged by the 'two-finger' test. 

Whilst societal attitudes need reform, it is also a systemic problem. Organised crime is the force behind our Red-Light Districts, where many women are enslaved and trafficked. According to the U.S. State Department, over 800,000 people are trafficked in India each year, and a third are forced into sex work. Of those trafficked, over 50 per cent are children. Beyond my country, sex slavery is a global market worth nearly $100 billion. Each year, some two million women and children, many younger than 10 years old, are bought and sold around the globe.

Our most pressing concern should always be to prevent these crimes in the first place, and to bring the perpetrators to justice. I do both of these, however I primarily focus on working with the victims, rehabilitating them, and helping them to lead normal lives once again.

I established Prajwala to rescue and rehabilitate victims of sex trafficking and sex crime. Through our advocacy work with local governments, we can ensure that these women have compensation, legal citizenship, housing and jobs as they leave the shelter and return to society with dignity. Without these resources, victims of sex crimes and sex trafficking often end up back on the streets, or worse, dead.

Today, I can only live in hope that one day our authorities will rise to the challenge and make a genuine attempt to tackle sex crimes in India. This is a distant vision, and in the here and now, our efforts can better be spent working with the victims and returning them to some form of normality.

As a society and a culture, we must learn to blame the perpetrators, not the victims. We must welcome those who are abused back into our communities, instead of pushing them away. In doing so, we can send a powerful message as to whose side we are really on.

Sunitha Krishnan is one of three humanitarians to be honoured at the third annual Aurora Prize Ceremony in Yerevan, Armenia on June 9, 2018. The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is a global humanitarian award founded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide established to recognize modern-day heroes.