PIL: Make rape gender neutral

New Delhi: Maintaining that men can’t always be the accused and women the victims, a petition in the SC has demanded that crimes like rape, sexual harassment, outraging modesty, stalking and voyeurism be made gender neutral. “There are cases where women bully men and go un-prosecuted because the law does not protect men from such crimes,” petitioner Rishi Malhotra has said. Pointing out that “Section 354 and allied Sections do not stipulate any law which protects the modesty of a man,” he claimed 16.1 per cent men had been coerced into sex. “Since genesis of feminism is equality, gender neutrality has to be a paramount step towards achieving it.”