Vik Reddy

About a month ago, my wife was planning for a short trip to attend a family wedding in India. Because one of us would have to stay behind with the kids, she would be traveling alone. Along with the usual checklist in anticipation of traveling to another country (copy of her passport, making sure the visas were up-to-date, and warning her to drink bottled water), I did say one thing to her: “be careful.”

She immediately understood what I was referring to: India has a rape problem. With multiple highly publicized reports of sexual assaults against women (of both foreign tourists and native Indians) it is impossible to ignore. The causes of this problem can be debated: a caste system which, by definition, values one person’s life over another; a culture that values young men over young women based on dowries, and, most problematic, a sense that women are partially to blame for sexual violence, which was most recently illustrated by India’s tourism minister who stated that female foreign tourists should refrain from wearing short skirts. The solutions are manifold. Beyond the major operational challenges (more police, and, specifically, more female police, use of rape kits, a corrupt and slow judicial system), changing the cultural perceptions of rape in India is fundamental.

As an American of Indian descent, my reaction to hearing about the latest horrific attack in India is always a mixture of shock, sadness, and, mostly, anger. Any attempt at equivocation (“it’s a different culture”) or diminution (“rapes occur in every country in the world”) smacks of the worst form of moral relativism. The Indian diaspora in America has done exceptionally well by any standard. According to the Pew Research Center, more than 70% of Indian Americans ages 25 years or older had a bachelor’s degree in 2010, 2.5 times higher than the U.S. population. According to 2013 data, 40.6% of Indian Americans ages 25 years or older have a graduate or professional degree. Finally, in 2010, the median income of Indian-American households was $88,000 compared with $49,800 for the average U.S. household. Apart from the statistics, several Indian Americans have prominent positions in American corporations (Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella), the U.S. Department of Justice (Preet Bharara), and public office (Govs. Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal).

The success of the Indian diaspora in America makes it imperative that they use their influence to tackle sexual violence against women in India. It may seem foolish that 3 million people in America can make an impact in a country with a population over 1 billion, but America remains the strongest country in the world. Indian-Americans need to target both their elected representatives and American corporations who do business in India to demand Indian officials take an active role in enacting policies to combat sexual violence. Why is it that people feel comfortable pressuring corporations to not do business with China over Tibet but seem to hedge when it comes to India’s rape culture.

Native Indians may argue that living in the West is not a requirement to understand that rape is wrong. Agreed. I would counter that it was not my Western education that makes me call for action, it is the knowledge that my wife and my daughters are not under the same threat of violence that they would be in India. The largest democracy in the world cannot be considered a democracy if half their population is subject to daily terror.

Vik Reddy, 41 of Bloomfield Hills, is a local doctor.