Not all men. But always a man

The threat of violent rape and murder remains a grim reality for every woman. Why are men still saying Not All Men?

- SEEMA GOSWAMI

There are no words to describe the horror that every woman felt when the facts of the rape and murder of a young woman doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata came to light. Sadly, though, there were enough men who found it within themselves to shout "Not All Men" on social media when they were confronted with women expressing shock, sadness and, indeed, anger, at this horrific incident.

Of course, they are right, to the extent that not every man is a rapist. But it is equally true that every single woman - and believe me, it is Every Single Woman - has faced sexual molestation of one kind or another at some stage in her life. In fact, to be a woman in India is to live with the constant fear that one day the rape story in the newspaper could be about you. And every woman who reads about any such incident has the same thought in her head: There, but for the Grace of God, go I...