A small study on legal rights: Yes, All Men are ignored by the law

I am sure you have heard feminists demanding equal rights. These demands usually originate with the preface that on average all men are legally privileged while on the other hand, women are discriminated against by these men-made laws. Here we will go through a small case study where we have incorporated three key areas; Gender Crime, Marriage, and Protection. This small study will provide some insight into laws and their interpretations.

To make a fair evaluation we have chosen two countries with poles apart ethnicity and development; The United States of America, and India. One is a leading economic superpower while the other is a third-world developing country.

Following are some laws and their explanations in layman’s language.

Let’s dive into details

1. Crime

USA

As per The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, like any other crime, a crime that was instigated by haterade of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion does have legal remedies. Not only that but such haterade or prejudice against others can be considered as a motivation of crime in the court of law. However, this act explicitly mentions the word “Woman”. Yes, all men are excluded when it comes to gender-related crime. A man cannot claim to be a victim of a gender-discriminatory crime but a woman can. In other words, Misogyny is recognized by the law but Misandry isn’t.

Note: As per RAINN “As of 1998, 2.78 million men in the U.S. had been victims of attempted or completed rape“

 India

When it comes to gender-related crimes in India we went through The Indian Penal Code. While studying it we notice that under sexual offenses, article 375 which defines the word “rape” only talks about the situation where a man is a perpetrator and a woman is a victim. It conveniently doesn’t even acknowledge the possibility of a man be ing raped by a woman. With this law in place, even if a man gets raped by a woman, at best court will recognize it as an assault only.

Note: As per DCW “53.2 % of rape cases filed between April 2013-July 2014 were false“

2. Marriage

USA

In the USA, 14 states have recognized marital rape as a crime and made laws against it. We believe this is a very progressive and a welcome step. But, this is not it. This law is directly in discrimination against men as it only recognizes a husband as the perpetrator and a wife as a victim. It completely ignores the otherwise possibility. A dominating wife can sexually assault her husband inside a marriage and could dodge rape charges very easily.

Note: As per CDC “About 1 in 3 men experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime“

Here is a case for you to refer: A man reveals his horrific experience when a woman who slashed him across the face and burned him with a frying pan was spared jail

India

In India, CrPC & Special Acts, section 125 deals with Maintenance (Alimony). As you can see the law is designed to protect the interests of the Wife, parents, and offspring of a man in an event when a man is willingly or unwillingly not providing for them. This law talks at length about the interests of women but does not mention men whatsoever. Unless as a payee where he is bound to pay his wife and others.

 Note that “80% of all dowry cases in India end in acquittal“

3. Protection

USA

In the USA, a country where as mentioned above, men cannot even claim to be victims of gender-discriminatory crimes New York state’s Penal Law does not need a witness to corroborate a rape. Yes, a man can get convicted at the will and whim of a female complainant. Moreover, she does not require any witness or even have to establish that an attempt was made. Mere words of a woman are enough to throw a man in jail and ruin his life.

Note: As per a study conducted in 2010 “False Allegations of Sexual Assualt: An Analysis of Ten Years of Reported Cases” only 35.3% of rape cases were convicted while the rest were either false or had no additional information.

India

As for India, it has a law “THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005”. The title itself is self-evident to prove that it protects only women from violent domestic crimes. This is again a welcome law. However, there is no such law to protect men from any type of domestic violence. The legal system simply ignores the possibility that a man can be a victim of domestic violence.

Note: “an estimated 30 Million men are facing domestic violence in India”

Conclusion

In our search, we did not find any law that is discriminatory towards women. Almost all laws are either neutral or favor female citizens over male citizens. Hence, the only way to achieve equality in legal rights is either by giving more rights to men or by ceasing some rights from women.

Check out: Gender Pay-Gap Reality Check, Facts VS Claims