Every 16 minutes, a woman is raped somewhere in India, and every four minutes a woman experiences cruelty at the hands of her in-laws. These are statistics from The National Crime Records Bureau’s latest report “Crime in India“.
This begs the question why – despite numerous cases that have shaken the nation and the implementation of new laws and the outbursts of anger from women and men every time a rape takes place – does India still have a culture of rape?
In the second episode of The Brown Box hosted by Rani Jeyaraj, created in collaboration with eShe, we discuss this subject of gender violence.
Rani chats with two women who have their own individual perceptions of sexual violence and the trauma associated with it, but who both have been able to channel their feelings about these experiences into different avenues with the common goal of challenging the status quo and ultimately ending sexual violence in India.
Dr Lakshmi Devy is a doctor, actor, director, screenwriter and producer. She has her own film production company in the United States and has recently launched her directing debut, a movie titled When the Music Changes, which explores in a raw and courageous manner rape culture in India.
Smita Bharti is an Indian social activist, writer and director. She has directed over 20 plays, worked on films, video installations, interactive exhibitions and audiobooks. She is the executive director of Sakshi, a pioneering rights-based NGO working against sexual harassment and child sexual abuse (CSA) in India.
Listen to their powerful conversation here:
About The Brown Box
The Brown Box is a podcast in which we discuss the good, the bad and the crazy that make up the country we love, India. Through conversations with inspirational women from different walks of life, we discuss the complexities of life as an Indian woman. Through topics ranging from food and books to colourism and gender violence, we discover similarities, we learn to accept differences and we unpack the Brown Box.
About Rani Jeyaraj
Rani Jeyaraj is a content creator who has spent over 20 years telling the stories of different individuals from the APAC region through videos and podcasts. Beginning her working career as a model, it didn’t take long for Rani to realise that her true calling was behind the camera and not in front of it.
She worked her way up from a runner to an assistant director, finally branching out on her own as an ad film director. A shift to Singapore allowed her to broaden her passion for storytelling. She now creates ads, travel shows, online content and podcasts – the format doesn’t really matter, she just loves to tell people’s stories.
Do share your thoughts about the podcast in the comments below. You can reach Rani Jeyaraj on thebrownbox2021@gmail.com.
eShe 
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