This case is highly unusual in India, insofar as - unlike many others - it has galvanised public opinion against the rapists. India, alongside places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Congo, ranks as one of the most dangerous places in the world for a woman to live. Internal trafficking of children for sex is rife in India, as is domestic violence and the killing of female children. Prevailing cultural attitudes about women certainly do have a significant role to play in the way in which women are commonly treated in all societies, for good or for ill.