Intersectional Feminism: Need of the Hour

The Hathras gang-rape case has once again proven how little this country has changed since the Nirbhaya rape case almost eight years ago. Both were brutal gang rapes, and yet the time it took for people to react this time was much longer than in 2012. The selective outrage of celebrities and politicians is disappointing, but none of us really expected any better from them. Out of the general public that has spoken up, many keep whitewashing the caste angle of the case and sweeping the struggles of Dalit women under the carpet.

In this case, the men who raped the 19-year-old Dalit woman belonged to the upper caste Thakur. Now, many people get angry at the mention of caste here. “A rape is a rape. Why do you have to bring caste into it?” But the caste identity of both the victim and the perpetrators here matters in order for this to be recognised for what it is: a caste-based hate crime. Erasing the caste and reducing the issue to just being “another rape” is ignorance towards the casteism that still exists in our society.