The menacing spectre of rape is never really far from our headlines. It is now being reported that two ‘dancing girls’ — a very objectionable label to begin with — have been kidnapped and gang-raped by four men in a jungle area near Islamabad on their way back from a wedding where they had been hired to dance during the festivities. The girls’ employer has complained to the police but says there is hesitance to take on the rape case because of the ‘influence’ of the rapists. Where have we heard that before? Almost every instance of rape in Pakistan encounters this roadblock where the accused or his backers have the power and might to escape justice. There are two things that glare out at you when you read about cases such as this one. First is the fact that the media has done a severe injustice to the victims. Why has it been reported that the girls were ‘dancing girls’? Is it because the profession of the victims can be used to sensationalise the report and maybe move viewers to raise their own biases? Whenever a rape happens, news reports scream of ‘woman’ or ‘girl’ being raped without mentioning their profession whether it is that of a doctor or peasant. Why did the media feel the need to state the girls’ profession in this instance? In a country as narrow-minded and judgemental as ours where even free mingling of the sexes is considered objectionable, the vocation of ‘dancing girl’ is one that carries many stigmas. To go out of its way to mention it, the media has made sure that many people in Pakistan make up their minds about why the girls were raped: they must have provoked it. That is the common thinking for almost all rape victims here. One feels as if their fate is sealed. That brings us to the other point: rape is an offence where justice hardly has any recourse for the poor woman who suffers it. The perpetrators get off scot-free while the woman lives a life of ‘shame’ and psychological trauma. The fact that these girls were working in a profession that is looked down upon in our country will be reason enough for the authorities to let the accused get away with the heinous act. One feels sorry for these poor souls; whatever they did for a living, they did not deserve to be raped and humiliated. Women are not cheap meat, they cannot be meted out such treatment. *