UNNATURAL LUST: THE VAGUENESS AND INADEQUACY IN THE PROTECTION OF MEN AGAINST RAPE IN INDIA AND A COMPARISON AGAINST THE WORLD

Rape laws in India have been in question for decades now. While many nations recently have changed their rape laws to gender-neutral, India still lacks any legislative intent on the same. There were significant efforts made after the Law Commission of India in its 172nd report recommended the changing of "women" to "any person" as victims of rape. However, all efforts did not bear any fruit. The law against the rape of males in India is governed currently by Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalizes "unnatural offenses" or gratifying of unnatural lust. There is less clarity as to what constitutes this "unnatural lust" and there is a need to define this for interpretative purposes. This research does a comparison analysis of international norms and practises pertaining to male rape victims in order to provide context. To highlight the differences and similarities, it looks at the legal systems and societal norms in a number of nations. This study attempts to highlight the urgent requirement for legal reforms and social awareness campaigns in India to better protect and help male rape victims through the integration of legal research with a sociocultural viewpoint and a worldwide comparative approach. It adds to the current conversation about gender-neutral laws and the significance of respecting the experiences of all survivors, regardless of gender, while promoting more inclusive and equal legal safeguards globally.

Keywords: 

Rape, Rape of men, Section 377, Unnatural lust, Gender Neutral Rape Laws etc