To reduce rape in India, legalise porn

In India, there has been uproar amongst the general public and from the media with respect to the alarming frequency of rape across the country. In the four decades leading up to 2012, reported rapeshave increased 900% (alarmingly, some activists claim that 90-99% go unreported). Additionally, in India it is currently legal to watch or possess pornographic material but the distribution, production or publication of such material is illegal. In Anthony D'Amato's (2006) 'Porn Up, Rape Down' (published in the Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series at Northwestern Law School), the abstract reads:

The incidence of rape in the United States has declined 85% in the past 25 years while access to pornography has become freely available to teenagers and adults. The Nixon and Reagan Commissions tried to show that exposure to pornographic materials produced social violence. The reverse may be true: that pornography has reduced social violence.

Of course, it is often presumed by many Indian politicians that Indian society is largely conservative and would not tolerate legalisation of the distribution, production and publication of pornography. This is ironic when we consider that a world-famous book of Indian-origin is the Kama Sutra. Continuing to prioritise the appeasement of conservative facets of Indian society over the safety of women is counterproductive. India certainly has the maturity to see these activities legalised and, given that the recorded incidents of rape has raised serious concerns both within the country and around the world, it is necessary.

Whatever the reason may be for legalised and easily available pornography having a negative impact on rape (and there are more than several competing theories), the fact is that it does have a very strong, negative correlation and if we would like to see a decrease in rape on the subcontinent (both immediately and over time) and anywhere else where it remains illegal, for that matter, it would be best to legalise the distribution, production and publication of pornography immediately.

This would also improve the working conditions and salaries of those workers who are currently exploited in an industry that remains largely underground in the subcontinent, allow social workers to have greater contact with workers in a legal profession, bring in some much needed tax revenue and enable diversion of law enforcement resources from pornographic material to other, more critical issues (such as rape itself).