Here's my theory. Insofar as women are and represent the holding and nurturing aspect of social life, as society is increasingly stripped of its ability to hold, protect, and nourish, women become the "natural" target of rage against the emptying of the social.
Because it's not just about poverty. The Soviet Union and eastern block and Cuba were "poor" countries. But the poverty was shared. Some were privileged, yes. But the spread was minute compared to what's going on now, and the social net was dense and wide. There was child care, there was health care, there was education, there was food, there was work. Despite the poverty I cannot remember any incidents of rape as in India. Children roamed the streets, unsupervised and unafraid.
Joanna
----- Original Message ----- Dear Comrade ,
I am from India and you are right.
There is a definite increase in crime due to growing disparity in wealth , forced dispossession and displacement of people both urban and rural in the name of development , the spread of the mafia , lumpenisation of sections of the jobless and the spell of the hedonistic culture of pure consumption by the newly affluent classes and the celebration of this life style by the media.. Increased media attention on attack on women and increase in the number of reported incidents of crime including rape complete the picture ..
Fraternally
N Madhavan Kutty