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Nationwide protests have erupted following the brutal murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College. The Supreme Court has intervened as medical professionals continue to demand justice and improved workplace safety.

On 18 August 2024, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata. Initially deemed a suicide, the case was later revealed to be a horrifying rape and murder that occurred during her 36-hour shift.  A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud heard the case on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. The hearing led to the creation of a 10-member task force to develop strategies for ensuring doctors’ safety in their workplaces. The court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to submit a status report by 22nd August. Additionally, the court expressed disappointment with the West Bengal government for delaying the FIR and demanded an explanation for the three-hour gap between the murder confirmation through autopsy and the FIR filing. It also instructed the West Bengal government to refrain from suppressing protests and demonstrations in the state. The Supreme Court has also directed states not to take any punitive actions against doctors who are protesting against the brutal rape and murder.

The incident, compounded by inadequate workplace security, has ignited nationwide outrage and deeply disturbed the medical community. The country is seeing numerous protests by healthcare institutions and professionals across the city, with demonstrators demanding justice for the victim and improved security in the healthcare sector. The tragic incident has highlighted the severe challenges facing India’s healthcare sector, particularly concerning the safety of women.

In a conversation with DU Beat, two female doctors from Lady Hardinge Medical College (LDHMC) revealed,

“Female doctors often face rape threats from patients and endure harassment from uncooperative individuals. This makes particularly night shifts unsafe for women. The security conditions then become unpredictable. Thus, the implementation of the Central Protection Act for Doctors (CPA) remains another demand of the protestors.”

The students from Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) had also organized a silent protest to advocate for enhanced safety for women in the workplace, with faculty members joining the demonstration on campus. The protest later extended beyond the college, as students from various institutions gathered at Nirman Bhavan at 2 p.m. to present their demands to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It was scheduled to continue on August 17th, but the government-imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) restricted demonstrations to college campuses.

Read Also: Lady Shri Ram College Stages March in Solidarity with Kolkata Rape and Murder Victim

Featured Image Credits: Anonymous

Ashita Kedia 

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Lady Shri Ram College organised a solidarity march demanding justice and improved legislation against sexual violence. The march was organised in solidarity with the 31-year-old doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

On August 16th, Lady Shri Ram College for Women organised a solidarity march to honour the RG Kar victim. Posters circulated the previous night invited students to gather near the Principal’s office at 12:45 PM. At the designated time, students began their march from the Principal’s office, carrying placards with powerful messages demanding justice and calling for improved legislation. The slogans included “We want justice,” “Justice delayed is justice denied,” “Mard Padhao Beti Bachao,” and “Azadi hai par aadhi hai,” among other calls for action. 

As the students continued their march, they reached the service road near Moolchand Metro Station, where they encountered a police blockade. Unable to proceed further, they retraced their steps back to the college and assembled at the amphitheatre. The LSR  Student Union addressed the urgent issue of sexual violence in India, citing recent cases and calling special attention to cases from marginalized communities. They stressed the need for equitable justice and called on everyone to support and advocate for the safety and rights of all victims. The demonstration continued with chants and a two-minute silence for the victim and their family. 

The President of the LSR Students’ Union, Amishi Lamba, spoke to DU Beat about the solidarity march:

 “The march was more than just a gathering; it was a powerful manifestation of our collective outrage, our pain, and our demand for justice.”

 Lamba expressed that leading the march, the first at LSR in years, was both a deep responsibility and a beacon of hope. She noted that the event was not merely a response to one tragedy but a stand against the pervasive culture of violence and oppression.

“As a woman, I felt deeply compelled to address this. If I had not stood up for this issue and stood with my fellow students, I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the eyes.It was heartwarming to see our community come together, not just in anger, but in solidarity and hope.

 Lamba emphasized that the march was a call to action for all women, promising that this is only the beginning.

 “We are committed to continuing this fight, both within our campus and beyond, until every woman feels safe and respected.” 

The protest marked a significant moment for Lady Shri Ram College, showcasing the student body’s strong stance on women’s rights and their commitment to advocating for justice. This event was not only a tribute to the RG kar victim but also a powerful statement in support of all women and girls in India, emphasizing the urgent need for safety and justice.

Read Also: Hypocrisies Behind the Notions of Women’s Safety

Featured Image Credits: Parvathy K 

Khansa Saleem 

[email protected]

The Nth Room, one of South Korea’s biggest sexual abuse scandal, has been exposed to have had sexually exploited over 76 women- 12 of whom were minors- and is trailblazing the need to protect women in this decade of untraceable technology.

In March 2020, one of South Korea’s biggest digital sex scandals got exposed when Cho Ju-Bin (will further be addressed as Cho in the article) – who went by the alias of ‘Baksa’- got arrested for being the suspected founder of the Nth Room.

 What is the Nth Room?

The Nth Room is a mass digital sex scandal happening in South Korea- arguably one of the largest and most extensive one that the country has ever experienced- using the chat messenger Telegram. Telegram is famous for being untraceable, owing to its extensive security and encoding measure. It is with the help of this app that the 25-year-old Cho Ju-Bin- who is currently being investigated- enabled the business of selling sexual videos to an online community. 

With the help of a tier-ranking, Cho created a number of chat rooms: 1st Room, 2nd Room, 3rd Room… Nth Room, owing to the fact that the exact number of rooms created for the circulation of this terrifying crime is unknown. Users would pay a high amount of money to gain entry to these chat rooms, and the amount of money paid determined the number of the room one could gain access to. 

It is reported that the room with the lowest tier ranking had an entry fee of $80 USD while the users that paid $1,200 USD would get access to the rooms with the highest tier ranking. The lowest-ranked rooms had the ‘least’ abusive videos, and the users who paid the most got access to the room with the ‘most’ abusive videos. Over 260,000 men are said to have joined the Nth Room community, with its clientele including the country’s famous entertainers and artists, athletes, CEOS, etc.

76 female victims have been identified in the scandal, with the primary target being teenagers. 12 of them were minors and the youngest victim has been reported to be around 9 years old.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of extremely disturbing sexual assault

To obtain the videos, Cho worked with “operators”, who would find girls and women for him, steal their personal information and then use it to threaten and blackmail the victims into doing what the operators asked them to do, while other victims were women from low-income backgrounds lured in with offers of money. 

The offers began with requesting for videos of the victims undressing and masturbating, which were then distributed to the “lower tier” rooms. These videos would then be used to blackmail the women into doing increasingly worse requests, which would then be distributed into the “higher-tier” rooms. These included carving the word “slave” on their bodies, putting sharp objects in their genitalia, etc. Some operators even paid other men to rape the victims. It has also been revealed that a client plotted the murder of a girl as revenge against her father but was arrested before the attempt was carried out.

The exposing of the Nth Room scandal has led to the investigation of other similar sexual abuse rings online. A 16-year-old student from South Korea who used to work for Cho is said to have been arrested for running a series of similar chat rooms called the Pacific Expedition, and had distributed sexual content of children and teenagers and had from 8,000 to 20,000 clients.

China is also investigating their own version of these chat rooms reported to have had up to 8.6 million users, with the victims being as young as 4 years old. 

As technology experiences a global boom, the crimes against women shift from a primitive to a digital verse, but the crimes remain as real and horrifying as ever. The excruciating details of the Nth Room scandal are major stressors to exactly why cybersecurity and cyber laws to protect victims of sexual abuse are important, and how people- especially women to an extremely large context- need to be protected when these crimes start spilling onto the cyber verse.

How you can help: Sign the petition to make 80% of the investigation team for the Nth Room women

More information about the Nth Room can be found here.

Featured Image Credits: Hackernoon

Shreya Juyal
[email protected]

 

  

This Sexual Assault Awareness Month, attention must be directed not only to the rising ghastliness of sexual violence but also on how sex education can play a monumental role in combating it. 

SEX… Got a little uncomfortable? As I type it out, I can even hear an uncle screaming “Sanskar kahan hai tumhare? (Where are your values?)” Belonging to the country with the second largest population in the world, a rising hub of porn viewing, and being one of the most dangerous with respect to cases of sexual violence, isn’t it ironical that we still treat sex as a hush-hush topic in India? 

Sexual violence is a hideous truth persisting in broad daylight since decades. World Health Organization defines sexual violence as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.” It includes rape and other forms of assault such as sexual harassment, sexual abuse, forced marriage, denial of the right to use contraception, forced abortion, sexual trafficking, and sexual violence by intimate partners through physical force, psychological intimidation, blackmail or threats. While sexual violence can be directed against both men and women, it is largely the women who constitute the ‘prey’ due to the larger functioning of factors such as poverty, power assertion, patriarchy and gender norms, and so on. Such grim is the case that according to National Sexual Violence Resource Centre, chances are you know someone who has been sexually assaulted as by age 18, 1 in 4 girls will be sexually assaulted and 1 in 6 boys will be assaulted. Moreover, in most cases the assaulter is someone who is known to victim. When it comes to India; as recorded by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 415,786 rape cases were reported between 2001 and 2017, which can be averaged to about three women being raped every hour. Taking note of the growing numbers and the hideousness of the crimes, measures like stricter laws, faster trials, and education programmes have been undertaken.  

But sex education is one of the most promising ways to tend to the alarming state of affairs. According to UNESCO (2009), the primary goal of sexuality education is “to equip children and young people with the knowledge, skills and values to make responsible choices about their sexual and social relationships.” In addition to learning about the risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, under sex education, children and young people also learn about the risks of sexual exploitation and abuse so that they can recognize when they are wronged, protect themselves and further be aware of different sources of support. It is usually believed that as sex is natural, so should be the discovery of an individual’s sexuality. Similar to this line of thought, a Rajya Sabha committee chaired by the then BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu (now Vice-President of the nation) had condemned the proposed Adolescent Education Programme (AEP) launched by the Union Education ministry in 2005 “as a cleverly used euphemism whose real objective was to impart sex education in schools and promote promiscuity.” Furthermore, it was stated that sex education prompts instincts pernicious to society; instead their control must be encouraged. The only education related to sexuality that is imparted to youngsters is to maintain a distance from the opposite sex. Additionally, girls are taught that their job is to say ‘no’ by wearing proper clothes, limiting their presence to the private sphere, being sincere and obedient and so on. And, when they ‘fail’, the girls are always blamed. Subsequently, in absence of proper sex education, adolescents grow up ignorant of the changes brought about by puberty and the situation worsens when they learn about them through peers or exposure to explicit content.

Sex education is nothing more than knowing about your body and being prepared for the changes it goes through. It encompasses talks on consent, good/bad touch and helps breaking taboos around genitals, desire and sexuality. Sex education programs that put an emphasis on consent and healthy sexual relationships help reduce the rate of sexual violence amongst young adults. According to a recent study by Columbia University, undergraduate women who took sexual education classes before college were half as likely to be sexually assaulted in college as compared to undergraduate students who received abstinence-only education and saw no reduction in rates of assault. Encouragement is also given to fostering equality in relationships, preventing gender based violence and promoting healthier relationships. 

Sexual violence affects women, men and children, mars their lives, and devastates families and communities. However, sexual education offers an intervention at early stages that leads to building of awakened individuals. Sex and sexuality are sensitive topics but avoiding talking about them increases vulnerability. School and homes provide the suitable environment to open up discussions and countering stigmas. We should not wait to learn about sex and consent until we are sexually active. Sexual education must be treated as any other academic subject and be imparted to children and adults alike by trained personnel who are well versed with the complexities and universality of the subject. So, if ever a child comes to you and asks something related to his/her sexuality, do not brush it off, engage in discussions and you might just save them from the many predators lurking amongst us, disguised as genteel citizens. 

Featured Image Credits: Vox

Ipshika Ghosh

[email protected]

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault

On 20th March when the entire country was celebrating Nirbhaya case verdict, a twenty-six-year-old girl made a complaint against three policemen accusing them of sexual assault and attempt to rape. The Police offered no support and even refused to file any complaint.

A young woman, officially a citizen of Uganda visited India to attend to her father admitted to a hospital for medical treatment. She claims that three policemen attempting to rape her near a cremation ground at Arjun Nagar/Green Park area on the intermediary night of 20th/21st March. Mentioning the names of the two of the three accused as Mr. Naresh Kumar and Mr. Ashok Kumar, to the best of her knowledge, posted at Safdarjung Enclave she questioned their duties as policemen.

In the complaint published on Facebook, she stated on the night of 20th March, she came to Green Park to meet an acquaintance, waiting for her outside a 24×7 store, two policemen, Naresh Kumar and Ashok Kumar came to her on a bike. While the driver of the bike went inside the store the other unreasonably began beating her with a cane. On asking an explanation the two officials pushed her inside a nearby parked police car. They stopped the car near a police barricade on Green Park road and shifted her in another car and claimed of taking her to a police station.

The complaint read that the second car had only the driver while the two policemen kept following on their bike. The driver and the two officials stopped near the cremation ground and forced the female to get out, restraining her hands behind her back they snatched her phone, scratched her face, removed her clothes and attempted to molest her sexually. She somehow ran and managed to reach the main road, where she tried taking help from a lady in a passing car. Hearing all the noises Mr. Shahab Ahmed, resident of a nearby society came down to enquire.

“12: 15 am I came out of my apartment intrigued by the cries and chaos, I saw three policemen and furious naked women crying. I asked why this woman is naked why there is no action being taken. The victim was shouting and pointed the officials claiming them as monsters for raping her. There were no female officials at the site, it was only after twenty minutes that a female official, Ms. Priti arrived. There was no support from her, despite me repeatedly asking for the reason of not yet filing a FIR she kept ignoring and failed in providing any assistance or even a satisfactory answer,” said Mr. Ahmed.

Ms. Swati, a lady from the crowd took the victim along with the cops to the police station. “Once we reached the police station there was no cooperation. There was no attempt made to file a complaint. There was no investigation, the questions she was asked were why she was there at that time of the night. She was never asked what exactly happened with her and what all she went through,” stated Swati.

She further claims the police never returned the victim’s phone. “Whenever any inquiry regarding it was made it was either ignored or tossed around,” she stated.

The complaint mentions the cops intimidating, threatening and verbally abusing the victim with sexist slurs. “There were abuses harassment, threats, references to her as prostitute continuously for five hours in the police station after her MLC was done,” informed Mr. Ahmed. The complaint also mentions SI Brijesh Kumar threatening to get the female put behind the bars on the fabricated charges of illegal immigration, sex work, and extortion. He even denied knowing nothing about the whereabouts of the victim’s phone. Pinjra Tod, an autonomous collective of women students even called for a Twitter storm with #delhipolicefilefir, #delhipolicesharmkaro and others seeking justice for her.

Featured Image Credits: Times of India 

 

Kriti Gupta 

[email protected] 

 

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault

A woman, who has asked not to be named in the report, recently posted several stories on Instagram, alleging that Vaibhav, a student from Delhi University sexually assaulted and forced himself on her.

One of the stories posted by her describes the incident. It states that she met Vaibhav on 13th march, with whom she had connected with on Instagram. After meeting him, she had to go to a party to which she invited him, the party ended at 2 A.M. At that point, Vaibhav had suggested that he would book an Oyo but out of courtesy and considering safety, she invited him to spend the night at her flat.

The story goes on to say “at around 3 A.M, Vaibhav started touching me a bit sexually and I pulled away to make it clear that I am not interested. Guess he could not take a no and started forcing himself on me, I pulled away, said no a billion times, asked him to stop, begged, told him that he was making me uncomfortable and that I was scared while he pinned my hands against the bed and kept assaulting my body. When I kept saying please stop, he replied with “HOW? HOW DOES ONE EVEN STOP?” While I kept shivering under him and telling him that I am scared, he replied with ” WHAT ARE YOU SCARED OF? BACCHI THODI HAI? HAVE NOT YOU HAD A BOYFRIEND?” my body felt numb and weak and I was constantly shaking.” She also posted screenshots of the conversations with Vaibhav after the incident, both of which have been attached below.

image 2 image 1

On reaching out to Vaibhav, he completely denied the allegations stating that while they had gotten “intimate” at the flat when she had stated that she was uncomfortable, he “stopped getting physical with her and promised we won’t be.” He further goes on to point out how he had tried several times to leave at the party from her friend’s place and had even booked a cab to go back home and later an Oyo, both times he says that she had asked him to stay and told him there was no problem with staying. He repeatedly points to him being uncomfortable and how he tried several times to leave as a sign of his innocence. He also alleges that there were four other people in the flat and she was under the influence of alcohol. He states that he has been fired from his job on the 15th after the allegations reached his employers and how he has been bombarded with messages targeting him, his friends, and his family.

When we reached out to the victim, she stated that she tried to file an FIR yesterday but didn’t do so as she didn’t want the news to reach her family. When asked about how Vaibhav had said that he had tried to leave, she told us that even though he had booked an ola, he had no intentions of leaving because even before they had met, he had informed her that he won’t be going back home because he had fought with his parents and would book an Oyo room. She says that this was preplanned as she had said that she wanted to just find a place to sleep at her friend’s party around 2 A.M but Vaibhav had said that he was “uncomfortable using someone else’s bathroom.” She points out that out of common courtesy, she had told him not to book an Oyo room and spend the night at her flat since it was already 2:30 A.M. She also alleges that when they woke up, and she had to leave around 8 A.M, Vaibhav tried to force himself on her again but she managed to call a friend and pretend that they were talking about packing and leaving.
Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

Feature Image Credits: SafeCity

#MeToo is an initiative aimed to highlight how common and rampant assault and harassment are. Responses have poured in across social media emphasising how deep the problem is. What do we need to do to keep the movement alive?

A social media initiative to accent the stories of sexual harassment and assault, the #MeToo campaign has found resonating hearts throughout different ages, geographical boundaries, and backgrounds. It was started by Tarana Burke over ten years ago. The campaign was turned into a hashtag by American actress, producer, and activist, Alyssa Milano after Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, was accused of having sexually harassed and assaulted over thirty young models and actresses. The campaign has been trending on Twitter, Facebook and has even made waves on Instagram. Indeed, social media can play a very important role to fight patriarchy. In the words of Tarana Burke “Me Too is largely about empathy. We use a term called empowerment through empathy. It’s short and succinct but it’s powerful”. #MeToo has allowed thousands of people to speak out against sexual assault and has gained immense traction on social media.

While Trump became the American President despite several accusations of assault against him, in France prosecutors ruled that an eleven year old girl “consented” to have sex with a 28 year old. In India politicians continue to blame everything to the victims clothing, whilst the real perpetrator- egotistical men who don’t have any fear are never called out. Authorities continue to act as the agents of patriarchy, with problematic laws, delayed justice and corruption being the preferred methods of subjugation. Along with that, sexist films, and songs that objectify women are equally guilty of promoting harassment. The Me Too campaign should not be limited to sharing our stories; it should act as a reminder of why we need to crush the patriarchy, now more than ever.

 The #MeToo movement has highlighted the problem of assault and harassment across the globe.
The #MeToo movement has highlighted the problem of assault and harassment across the globe.

Me Too, has seen a fair degree of sceptics. While some people see it as a revolutionary movement that highlight how common sexual assault is; others see it as a way of focusing the harassment related narrative only to the victim. It is therefore even more important that we carry forward this responsibility and create awareness about sexual harassment and assault. We should be more thoughtful of our actions and of those around us: this would mean recognising and calling out people who make crude jokes, and show a discriminatory attitude towards women. By voicing our hurt, pain, and trauma we have set wheels to a movement that could redefine societal perception of victims and assault in the 21st century. It falls upon us to fearlessly speak up against any kind of victim-shaming and blaming. The Me Too movement will only be a success when we go above and beyond to fight for the cause of social justice and freedom from fear of harassment.

Feature Image Credits: Pinkvilla

Image Credits: Recode

 

Kinjal Pandey

[email protected] 

 

 

 

Bollywood films and songs are often laced with sexism, which does injustice to both women and men by turning the former into a victim and the latter into an aggressor.

“Filmi dhun pe dekh ke tujhko

Seeti roz bajaun”

“Socha hai key tumhe rasta bhulaye

Sunee jagah pe kahin chhede daraye”

The aforementioned lyrics have been taken from the songs “ and “Socha Hai”. These songs have steadily been climbing the charts and continue to be extremely popular. The concept of remixing old Bollywood songs and repackaging them to a younger audience has now become the Bollywood norm. Though these songs may evoke nostalgia, it is not the only emotion these remixes incite. With their lyrics and visuals, these songs normalise everyday sexism, stalking, and harassment.

The difficulty with highlighting sexism is that people don’t ever find it legitimate or problematic “enough”. When people, especially women, call out the casual sexism in films, they are labelled as “overtly sensitive buzz kills” or, “feminazis”. When women complain against being inappropriately touched in the metro, people around them respond with mein chala karo na (madam,then travel in the ladies’ coach).

The wage gap has been labelled a myth, and marital rape is legal in our country because as Ms. Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister for Women & Child Development, resonates, “It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors like level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament.” Even when brutal crimes against women take place, for instance the Nirbhaya rape case, people have the audacity to blame it on the actions of the victim – her clothing, her company, her social habits, and more.

In short, there is always justification for harassment and rape. We, as a country, do not regard crime against women or even everyday sexism as a problem, we do not acknowledge our problematic mindset. And, believe it or not, our films do play a significant role in that. Our films, on a regular basis, show male characters actively pursuing their love interest by following her around, annoying her, troubling her, and refusing to take no for an answer. In a recent example, in the song “Hans Mat Pagli” from the film “Toilet – Ek Prem Katha”, Akshay Kumar pursues Bhumi Pednekar by stalking her. He sits outside her house, follows her around, climbs trees to secretly photograph her, attacks other men who so much as look at her, and more. This kind of behaviour is not new to Bollywood; this has been going around for so long that it has now been ingrained in our society and we don’t even find it odd anymore. In a country where only 30% of people live in urban areas, in a country where interaction between the sexes is discouraged, this is even more problematic.

When impressionable young men, who may not necessarily be in touch with non-familial people of the opposite gender, watch these films, their idea of romance and love gets distorted. The hero ends up dating the heroine as a result of his shameful antics. Consequentially, young men come to the conclusion that stalking a woman is perfectly normal and acceptable. The idea that this behaviour is unusual or strange never comes to their mind because nobody talks about relationships openly and only films create the idea of what love should be.

 

Films don’t just affect how young men choose to conduct themselves, but also affect how young women think of themselves. When films portray women as reluctant and naïve, as someone always shying from both active romantic and sexual relationships, it sets the norm of how women should act in real life. It takes away the autonomy of women and establishes that “good” women should never ever want “it”, “it” being both love and sexual contact. When we make women asexual beings, who can only be pursued but can never pursue, we make sexuality in women unacceptable and thus legitimise moral policing.

The “good” women in these films are tragically ignorant and reluctant. Despite liberalisation, greater education for women, and better employment opportunities, the narrative of the reluctant woman has remained the same. From 1972, when Jaya Bhaduri sang “Nahin Nahin, Abhi Nahin” to Randhir Kapoor, to 2017, when Kriti Sanon sang “Na Na Na Na” to Sushant Singh Rajput, the idea of a woman being passive and shy hasn’t changed. If you paid attention to the number of times women said “nahin” or “na” (no) in a Bollywood song, you would be appalled.

Even though sexuality is expressed in Bollywood through ”item songs”, the sexualisation is acceptable only as long as it caters to the male gaze. Overtly sexual Bollywood songs are only deemed acceptable when they cater to men. These songs mostly include a bunch of men (ideally consuming alcohol) leering at a skimpily clad woman. So while the “strictly chaste love” portrayal has considerably reduced, any kind of sexuality in films is limited to women being treated like objects.

Main toh tandoori murgi hun yar, gatak le mujhe alchohol se” which translates to “I am barbecued chicken, swallow me with alcohol” were the lyrics in the song “Fevicol” from the film Dabangg 2. These crass and crude lyrics are not one of a kind. In fact, the censor board continues to pass films with outright bizarre and perverse innuendos and dialogues, such as Grand Masti, as long as they objectify women. But when women try to seek autonomy and express their sexuality without catering to the male gaze, for instance in “Lipstick Under My Burkha”, the film is denied release because it is “lady-oriented”.

Some people say art imitates life, but I am of the belief that life imitates art as well. It is a symbiotic relationship, where one is dependent and influenced by the other. When people say Honey Singh’s sexist lyrics or films that objectify women do not affect and influence people, they are willingly choosing to live in an alternative reality.

Bollywood continues to be crucial in affecting our lives, and actors continue to be revered like gods. One cannot deny the influence that Bollywood has on us. These songs normalise harassment, they make women look like puppets who have little autonomy and control over their lives, they sexualise women, and only cater to the male gaze. It is high time that they are called out for the same.

The next time someone releases a song called “Tu cheez badi hai mast mast”, which clearly objectifies a woman, I hope their song does not become a chartbuster. I hope people become aware enough to recognise this kind of behaviour as deplorable and actively seek better forms of entertainment.

Feature Image Credits: Lyricsmint

 

Kinjal Pandey

[email protected]

 

 

Meghna Singh, a student of Miranda House, recently went through a horrific incident when she attended KK’s concert of the last day of SRCC’s annual fest, Crossroads. When she came home from the concert, she noticed white spots on her black trousers. According to her, a man had masturbated on her during the concert and the evidence was all over her trousers.

She described the whole incident on Facebook. In her now widely shared Facebook post, she explained the details of the entire incident. She narrated that she could sense something fishy when she felt a guy behind her in the concert. Subsequently, she and her friends, who were scared but alert, held each other on to form a human chain during the concert for protection.  She had put up the Facebook post on a public platform in hopes that people would get to know about the harrowing things that can happen to women, even in public and to stand up against such incidents. But instead of the support she was expecting, she got mocked at and trolled.  and she was labeled a ‘liar’ and an ‘attention seeker’. On her Facebook post, which has over 8000 comments, many shockingly accused her of being a ‘liar’ and an ‘attention seeker’. This translated into a extensive battle-ground with many people in support of her rubbishing such claims and extending their sympathies to her.

The picture posted by Meghna Singh on Facebook while narrating the incident.
The picture posted by Meghna Singh on Facebook while narrating the incident.

The unprecedented trolling that Meghna faced, forced her to post another status update explaining herself. She explained the hollowness of the claims made by those who opposed her and thoroughly explained the incident further. She said that initially, she didn’t realise what was happening and it was only after coming back to her PG and changing, she noticed the spots on her trousers. She also added, “There was a guy right behind me who,after a while, started feeling me up. I wasn’t sure as I couldn’t recognise if it was his hand or his fingers. Then after a while I could smell the odour, I could feel that something fell on my left leg which I thought might have been sweating and since the place was quite crowded I couldn’t be sure about it.” After the guy tried to get closer again, she along with her friends resisted him and tried to form a human chain to avoid any accidental touches. “After a while, that guy again tried to get closer when I pushed him away shouting “Please bhai tum niklo yahan se” then he whispered something to his fellow partner. They were 3 guys who were there & they exchanged some gestures and then abruptly left. After I returned to my PG and changed, I saw these spots on my pants along with some white discharge. I realised that my intuition of “sweat landing on my left leg” was actually his semen because of his convenient masturbation amongst the crowd of around hundreds of people.” 

 

 

“We obviously thought we avoided that situation when she pushed him so we went back home,” says Antara Kashyap, one of Meghna’s friend who was there with her at the time. When Meghna found out what had happened, her friends asked her to speak up about it.“She sent us the picture in a WhatsApp group saying it was semen. It smelled and it was definitely discharge. We asked her to put it on Facebook and speak up about it. It was the right thing to do. The first negative comment was from an old “friend” who laughed it off. Then one guy said it could be srikhand and it shocked us.”

Meghna and her friends had not anticipated so many negative comments on the post. Antara said, “We never realised there would be thousands of such people, literate ones at that, who’d comment, slut-shame her and make this something to laugh about. Meghna and all of us, we have gone through a lot. We don’t deserve this hate. Meghna is a strong girl, she’s unfazed. I can’t say that about myself. Maybe that’s why thousands of victims of sexual abuse do not speak up. If you speak up they try to break you down.”

Meghna’s post was meant for people to see the unspeakable truths of harassment which are not absent in the campus, especially during the fest season. Parismita Talkudar, one of Meghna’s classmate, recounts a similar story, “I went to see one of my favourite star of Bollywood. We waited for 3 hours to have a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan at Hansraj College last year. We were surrounded with a whole lot of people and we decided to stay together holding each other. One of my friend was behind a guy who looked innocent . In fact when some people were pushing her, he told them not to. When SRK came after so long, the crowd pushed each other like a wave and we got separated. There was a guy who helped me get out of the crowd. As I waited outside the ground for my friends I saw one of them almost in tears. The guy who was behind her, and who we thought was a nice person, actually came on her. She was disgusted as she could feel something wet on her top and when we looked at it, we could clearly see semen. This isn’t something that happened for the first time only with Meghna. This happens, with a lot of girls. But some decide to keep quiet.”

 Featured Image: thealternative.in

Anagha Rakta

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We’re all with familiar with the phrase ‘OscarsSoWhite”, however this year the Oscar diversity drought came to a temporary halt with a sizeable number of black nominations. However, is this just a farce? The tussle between Casey Affleck and Nate Parker makes us think so.

At the Sundance Film Festival last year, Nate Parker’s directorial debut The Birth of a Nation about a 1831 Virginia slave rebellion and Casey Affleck starrer Manchester By The Sea about a Boston janitor promised to make the Oscar rounds. With the coming of 2017, there seems to be no trace or mention of Parker while Affleck has picked up a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the heart broken janitor. So what changed? When Parker’s film released in October, it was overshadowed by the news that back in 1999, nineteen year old Parker and the film’s co-writer Jean Celestin had been accused of raping a fellow student in college. Parker was acquitted on grounds that he had consensual sex with the victim prior to the incident. Amidst the uproar, sexual harassment charges against Affleck resurfaced which allegedly took place on the set of his 2010 mockumentary, I’m Still Here. According to the Guardian, “original allegations included claims that Affleck hired transvestite prostitutes ‘for his personal gratification’ and during filming, referred to women as cows, manhandled her when she rejected his sexual advances and instructed a camera operator to flash his genitals at her.”

The one thing that has particularly galled a number of observers is the profiles of Affleck that make only a mere passing mention of his indiscretions. In stark contrast, when the news of Parker broke out, The Daily Beast says Academy voters said that they won’t even watch the movie while the American Film Institute cancelled a screening. Rev Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist, told the Root , an online magazine of African American culture, “Is the standard now that you can take an almost two-decade acquittal and deny him the Oscars, but it’s all right for others who’ve done crazy stuff to be Oscar material? I just want to know, what’s the standard?”

There is no escaping Affleck’s privilege as Ben Affleck’s younger brother who has one of Hollywood’s most enduring friendships with the influential Matt Damon. There is definitely no escaping the race factor as The Daily Wire rightly puts, “Black man acquitted of a single incident involving one woman 17 years ago, has his entire career destroyed. White man who settled two sexual harassment suits from two separate accusers that involve alleged behavior on a film set just six years ago, is well on his way to Oscar glory.”

This is reminiscent of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird” where a black man is accused of rape simply because he is black and such violence is attributed to his race. Thus, ladies and gentlemen we observe that Nate Parker has disappeared of the Oscar radar while Ben’s little brother is on an award winning roll.

Image Credits: www.newyorker.com

Anahita Sahu

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