- Social Innovation Fellowship
Concentration
Award Year
India
No Country for Women tackles rape culture in India by holding workshops in schools and colleges in cities all over India to help students understand the way misogyny is embedded in the Indian sociocultural framework. We train students to identify everyday examples of gender-based discrimination and violence through reflection and critical analysis of cultural artifacts.
The motivation to fight rape culture in India has been building up throughout my life, although I was only able to reflect on my experiences and gather the cognitive capacity to actually fight rape culture when I got to college. During my first few days of Brown I met Shreena Thakore, with whom I would often discuss issues of violence and misogyny in India. The Delhi 2012 rape incident left India in disarray; at this point Shreena and I got together and discussed how the anger and protests surrounding the rape incident could be channeled in more productive ways than holding signs that say "Hang the rapist" or "Stop rape now." Because the arguments against rape are still about honor rather than the violation of bodily autonomy, we decided that the only long-term solution to the social disease of gender-based violence and discrimination was preventive action through education.