Content Warning: This section is meant to provide context on rape culture and gender violence for those submitting, and mentions potentially distressing topics such as gender violence, victim-blaming, objectification, beauty standards, and stigmas against LGBTQIA+ individuals. Reading this section is not required. Please note that The Lotus Paper does not, in any way, condone the belief that gender violence is the fault of the survivor, and is actively trying to break such harmful stigmas through Project Shakti. 

Rape Crisis England & Wales defines rape culture as a culture where sexual violence and abuse is normalized, excused, and not challenged by society as a whole. This can stem from societal patterns such as shaming people for their bodies and clothing choices, objectification and hyper-sexualization of people in media, and normalization of boundary-crossing and violence in media. Rape Prevention Education by the Whakatu Mauri Trust also highlights that casual jokes on gender violence contribute to its normalization.

Rape culture in South Asia often stems from cultural expectations and media:

• Honor-Shame Culture: Honor, translated from izzat in Punjabi and arabic, is described as a strong part of South Asian womens' lives. In a study published in Journal of Human Psychology, participants shared how the concept of honor and shame more strongly dictated women' s behaviors, dress, and sexuality, with the latter being considered a matter tied to family identity and honor. This can act as a barrier for survivors of gender violence - especially female survivors - from speaking out, creating a cycle of silence and shame.

• Victim-Blaming: A study published in Embodied: The Stanford Undergraduate Journal of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies highlighted the use of linguistic patterns of victim-blaming in South Asian media coverage of gender violence cases, including the emphasis of the survivor’s race and personal details or portraying the survivor as “admitting” or “confessing” to the violent act. In a culture where honor and shame are tied to a woman’s sexuality, victim-blaming language in the media can normalize the harmful belief that gender violence the survivors’ fault, when that is not true.

• Media & Objectification: In mainstream South Asian media like Bollywood, objectification of women is common, especially in “item songs”, which have little to no connection to the main plot and feature portrayals of female dancers. For example, the popular song “chammak challo” translates to “arrogant yet easily accessible woman”, emphasizing the woman’s subordination and lack of agency compared to male counterparts. A dissertation from Michigan Technological University argues that media that reinforces these gender roles and views women through “the male gaze” can contribute to real-world attitudes such as harassment (“eve-teasing”) and gender violence.

• beauty standards: An interview with researcher Deepika Rani by the 1947 Partition Archive highlights how many of the women who faced abduction during the India-Pakistan partition fit an “ideal” standard of colonial beauty. This finding reveals how perpetrators weaponized historical attitudes towards beauty for violence. This is never the fault of the survivor; a survivor’s appearance or dress is never the invitation for harm, but this finding reveals that gender violence could lie in collective societal attitudes and ideals that value certain standards of beauty over others. Currently, when media like Bollywood continues to place value on similar, Western standards like fair skin and slim figures in the context of objectification, it can cause perpetrators of harassment and violence to equate the standard with unhealthy ideals of “desire”. When media and stories begin to respect people of all body types and looks and portray women with full agency, it can reduce the power imbalances that cause violence to occur.

While gender violence against female survivors is often reported and heard about, the experiences of male survivors often go unheard. A study published in BMC Psychology that interviewed 11 South Asian survivors of childhood sexual violence found that factors such as familial attitudes towards masculinity, honor, queerness, and mental health resulted in difficulty speaking out, revealing that rape culture extends towards male survivors as well. Furthermore, political barriers - such as a lack of laws that protect men from domestic and gender violence in India - can prevent these cases from being heard.

Gender-diverse individuals are increasingly being legally recognized by South Asian countries, with Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan formally recognizing third gender identities. Still, discrimination is common among gender-diverse groups such as hijras and kothis, with familial stigma causing many to enter poverty, homelessness, or sex work, which increases their risk of experiencing violence. Yet, stigmas against gender-diverse individuals are widespread, with much of the South Asian population perceiving LGBTQIA+ rights as a threat to traditional values. This can be a barrier for widespread gender violence awareness amongst gender-diverse and queer individuals.

Project Shakti aims to address these cultural roots of gender violence and rape culture. By providing guaranteed publication to south asian survivors and allies of all genders, we hope to create a judgement-free space that ensures all survivor voices are heard and valued.