In this episode, Shabnum interviews Dr. Swarna Rajagopalan, founder of Prajnya Trust and a political activist currently working with the UN whose life's work on gender violence helps to provide a great deal of perspective on why gender violence is such a problem in India and South Asia as a whole. Shabnum and Dr. Rajagopalan will talk through what has or hasn't changed in the understanding of femininity and masculinity in India, the portrayal of sexual assault in Indian cinema, and how most of the issue boils down to an issue of patriarchy. They will also talk through how the language we use to define instances of sexual assault put the onus of the event on the victim, and how we should be addressing these issues going forward.
This is one of the most important episodes we've recorded, and we think these are conversations that we need to have as a culture. Trigger warning: the episode mentions rape and quotes the India's Daughter documentary on the 2012 Nirbhaya case.
Host: Shabnum Gulati
Guest: Dr. Swarna Rajagopalan, Prajnya Trust
Art: Hanifa Abdul Hameed
Music: AnAkkiN on Soundcloud
