Attitudes of Convicted Rapists towards Women: a Mixed Methods Study in New Delhi

Over the past decade, while the public discourse on rape and violence against women in India has been gaining prominence, there is still a dearth of literature addressing these issues. Amongst available research, the focus has primarily been on victims, judiciary and policing systems while, the perspectives of convicts as well as alleged offenders have been increasingly marginalized. This paper explores various themes that emerged during interviews with convicted male rapists in Tihar Central Jail, New Delhi. Sixty- one inmates convicted of rape (IPC-376) were a part of this study. Participation in the study was voluntary. Information sheets were sent out informing the convicts about the procedure and confidentiality measures and only those who gave their consent to the Superintendent of the Jail were included. The sample was not random and thus may not be representative of all rapists. Each participant was given a demographic questionnaire to get an insight into their background as well as the Attitudes Towards Women questionnaire (short version) by Spence, Helmrich and Stapp (1978). For security reasons electronic devices were not allowed in the prison due to which all interviews were hand recorded. The aim of the research was to identify attitudes towards women in convicted rapists as well as to explore various factors that paly a role in the formation of these attitudes. Narratives of convicted rapists were compared with those convicted of murder (non-sex offenders) to identify any similarities or dissimilarities in the attitudes. These results are discussed in light of their significance within the unique socio-cultural setup of India along with future recommendations.