Sexual Violence Against Women in India: The Role of Public Policy and Social Media in the Persistence of Sexually Violent Crimes

• Main Author: Kaul, Sharika
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarship @ Claremont 2016
• Subjects: sexual violence; women; India; masculinity; Indian men; politics; Other Political Science; Political Science; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/739; http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1820&context=scripps_theses

Following the 2012 gang-rape of a 23-year-old paramedic student in New Delhi, India's rape culture received unprecedented global attention. The Central Government sought to reduce the incidence of sexually violent crimes against Indian women by implementing policy changes. However, crimes against women and reported rapes have continued to rise. This paper seeks to explain the persistence of sexually violent crimes in India by arguing that contemporary public policies and the dominating presence of men's rights organizations on social media platforms have reproduced rapability in unique and dangerous ways.