Kaiserschmarrn wrote:India is basing its crime statistics on an extremely narrow definition of rape while the US has a unusually wide definition which automatically leads to a much higher rate in the US. As far as I can tell, it's not even possible to get the correct data from the Indian government's crime report since all other cases of rape are lumped into the category 'other crimes'.
The current focus on India by the (western) media has a lot to do with the demonstrations and outrage in India in my opinion.
You are correct. The crime statistics between India and the US are incongruous because of the definition of rape; perhaps the process of reporting rape is easier and less taxing on the victims in the US than in India, too. However, public outrage in India has risen largely as a result of these isolated incidents of egregious violence, which does not point to a rape epidemic. The liberalized media in India, as well as Western media outlets, let their biases distort the reality of "rape culture" in India. For example, the media in the West has picked up on "campus rape" as an issue for a long time now, and I doubt this "epidemic" happens as often in India. Many can take this to mean rape is a serious problem in America (which it is), but I doubt it is as serious of an issue in India. Many people here have ideas of "rape culture" colored by media narratives. Yet, has anyone stopped to consider the fact that an increase in reported rapes indicates immense progress from where any country was fifty years ago?