Tag: Sexual Assault | Varta Trust

Quote: The pattern of sexual violence within the premises of educational institutions raises multifaceted concerns of safety, role of institutional authority, justice and a growing atmosphere of normalized intolerance and violence against vulnerable sections of society. These include not just women but also queer persons who have to deal with social stigma, violence, lack of full and effective legal rights, and widespread discrimination.

Insight Nov '25

Queer students in Kolkata campuses cope with safety concerns

By Surjo Pramanik

Incidents of sexual assault against women in higher education institutions in Kolkata make queer students fear for their own safety – a report by Surjo Pramanik with inputs from Sahil...

This photograph shows a close-up shot of a slogan printed on a black t-shirt worn by a woman. The slogan says “A woman does not have to be modest in order to be respected.” Two heart signs accompany the text, which is printed in white on the black cloth of the t-shirt. The woman’s face is not visible in the photograph, but a part of her neck and arms are visible. A deep blue sky with white clouds is visible in the background. Photo credit: The frolicsome Fairy on Unsplash

Insight Mar '25

Reclaiming ‘whore’

By Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy

Women, queer and transgender persons must take back the words that men have fabricated with regressive meanings to make them feel ashamed of themselves, says Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a scene from a media conference held at the Press Club Kolkata on December 3, 2024 to disseminate the findings of a survey of the one stop crisis centres running in the four states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The survey was conducted by the Women Gaining Ground consortium. The author and two other speakers Chitrita Bandpadhyay and Jhuma Sen can be seen sitting behind a table and addressing the audience. Behind the speakers, a flex banner mounted on the wall, reads “Sruti Disability Rights Centre invites you to sharing of survey report of one stop crisis centres from four states”. The event date and venue are mentioned below this text. The logos of Women Gaining Ground and Sruti Disability Rights Centre are placed at the lower right corner of the flex. The text extract says: “There are two major concerns that came forth from the survey. First, not a single OSCC addresses the concerns of women with disabilities. The buildings are not barrier-free, and no support persons like sign language interpreters or trauma-informed psychologists have been recruited. The staff of the centres seem completely unaware of the needs of women with disabilities. None of the centres is connected to the National Tele Mental Health Programme of India.” Photograph courtesy Sruti Disability Rights Centre

Insight Dec '24

Crisis in crisis intervention centres for women?

By Shampa Sengupta

How equipped are the government-run one stop crisis centres for women to carry out crisis intervention? Shampa Sengupta shares insight from a recent survey of the centres in four states...

This night-time photograph shows up close a scene from a pre-Independence Day rally near the Ruby Hospital crossing in South Kolkata to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R. G. Kar Medical College & Hospital on August 9, 2024. A throng of people fill up the photograph with raised fists, mobile phones with lit torches held up, banners with slogans like “We demand justice for victim” in English and Bengali, and a variety of posters with graphics and textual material. Some protesters are holding lit candles. The atmosphere seems charged with anger and cries for justice. In the background, is a building with its windows lit up and a large tree with leaves glistening under the streetlights. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Aug '24

Embodying the justice one is demanding

By Pawan Dhall

Self-reflection and self-transformation have an important place in social campaigns for justice, argues Pawan Dhall

This image is a sketch of Arvey Malhotra’s face drawn by Rimu Panda and posted on Instagram along with a line that says “Sweet soul, we are all sorry.” In the sketch, a youthful Arvey is looking at the reader, gently smiling and holding up his hands to show nails painted in different patterns and colours. Arvey was a jewellery and nail paint artist. He is wearing a red ring on the ring finger on his left hand. He has a thick mop of hair and is bearded. He is wearing a light brown pullover jacket. The artist has drawn a small white halo above Arvey’s head to the left side of the image. The sketch has a pleasing background of hues of pink, yellow and orange. The image has been slightly edited by the author of the article Mihir Seth

Insight, Vartanama Mar '24

The paradoxical need for queer death

By Mihir Seth

Death by suicide among queer youth should galvanize action to address the global mental health crisis, argues Mihir Seth

Quote: Rape is a non-consensual act. There is no iota of enjoyment in the act. When one is asked to ‘enjoy’ rape in case of its inevitability, the ground on which the definition of rape stands, collapses. It no longer remains rape. It becomes an act of sexual intimacy where the parties involved feel safe and respected, and work with each other in harmony to derive and provide pleasure from the act and from each other. None of these conditions hold true for rape.

Commentary Jan '24

Stop trivializing rape

By Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy

Dr. Sankalpa Satapathy questions regressive social attitudes around sexual assault that persist even in ‘progressive circles’

This photograph is an example of fine-art photography, consisting of several intersecting frames within an overall frame created by the unpainted red-brown brick walls of a poor household, lit up only with daylight from outside. To the left of the photograph is a woman dressed in a patterned cotton saree, worn in a style common in Bengal, wearing ‘shankha-pola’ in her hands, and leaning against a wall, which seems to be at the entrance of her house. She is looking down at the camera as the photographer seems to be seated on the floor. Her face is shrouded in half-light and she seems to have a grim demeanour. A younger person is seated on the floor next to her holding up a vertically rectangular frame that seems to be made of glass. The person is not visible, only a part of their head and hands holding up the frame are visible in the photograph. The frame shows the portion of an open window with an ornate grill design. Greenery is visible outside the window. Inside, just below the window and next to an unpainted brick wall, food is cooking in a pan placed on a mud ‘chulha’. A ladle is placed in the pan. Next to the ‘chulha’ seems to be a pile of twigs and wood shavings, possibly for use in the ‘chulha’. An interesting interplay of light, shadow and subdued colours dominates the photograph. Photo credit: Debalina

Insight, Policy Matters Nov '23

Domestic violence and disabled women – reflections from the field

By Dr. Nandini Ghosh

Domestic violence and lack of access to legal redress still pose serious challenges to the wellbeing of disabled women in India, says Dr. Nandini Ghosh

This photographic collage shows close-up glimpses from the archival records maintained by Varta Trust on the sociolegal campaigns against Section 377, Indian Penal Code since the early 1990s. Portions of a couple of pages from the 172nd report of the Law Commission of India on a review of the rape laws published in March 2000 can be seen in the collage. The title page of the report is presented inside an oval shaped inset. The State Emblem of India, an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, is visible on the top of one of the pages in the collage. The pages are presented in a stylized manner, with only a portion of the text on the pages visible to the reader. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

From the Archives Sep '23

Conversations between movements, collaborations across identities, 10 years on

By Dhamini Ratnam

The struggle for equal rights must be a collaborative one – Dhamini Ratnam dwells on this lesson from the past reflected in the queer archives maintained by Varta Trust

Quote: Bilkis’ trauma is that of others as well – irrespective of gender and religion. Whether we like it or not, we’re all connected. Incidents of unimaginable cruelty have happened against women and numerous other vulnerable social groups in the past as well, continuously and often invisibly adding on to our collective trauma. There’s not just a pile up of ‘cases’ in our courts of law, but a mountain of pain building up in our society.

Vartanama Aug '22

On violence, trauma, justice and healing

By Pawan Dhall

What could it be like to burn in hell – for the collective conscience of an entire society?

Quote: “What is particularly troubling about the 2021 anti-trafficking Bill is that consent is not a defence when it comes to raids and rescues, thus enabling law enforcement to mirror trends under the ITPA where persons who are voluntarily in the sex trade are picked up and forcibly placed in protection and rehabilitation homes against their will.”

Insight Jun '22

Anti-trafficking Bill must be reconsidered (again)

By Namrata, Shreyashi

Namrata and Shreyashi on the problem areas in the latest version of the anti-trafficking Bill – with inputs from Archit Krishna and Kaushik Gupta

This visual is a photograph of a sketch drawn on a ringed note pad with plain off-white paper. The sketch shows an orange barrel full of yellow-green toxic waste with the label “Warning!!! Toxic relationships!!” The barrel also has a sign of a heart with cross-bones along with the hazardous waste symbol. The sign is placed in the centre, between the two lines of text mentioned. The toxic waste is overflowing from the top of the barrel and there are several red flags sticking out of the barrel with labels like “Insecurity”, “Gaslighting”, “Controlling”, “Isolating” and “Lack of Respect”, all telltale signs of toxic relationships. Artwork and photograph credit: Debjyoti Ghosh

Insight Apr '22

Logging out of toxic relationships

By Jia Mata

Jia Mata on social norms, toxicity in queer relationships, and what can be done to make things better

This rectangular graphic contains text that says: “In effect, the proposed amendment has divided adult Indian women into two categories for whom the chasm of choice, autonomy, and education widens everyday. Women in the first section are financially empowered and can marry at any age according to their wish. Coming from rich households, they can access several opportunities and some degree of financial independence. Women in the second section have little to no access to education, especially secondary education, as they belong to poorer households. These factors make women in this section statistically more likely to have a child marriage. But if they marry before 21, the marriage will not be legally recognised as per the proposed amendment.” The text is presented against a background that has patterns and colours symbolic of wedding decoration, clothes and festivities (primarily different shades of oranges and reds). The background design is borrowed from the MS Power Point software.

Insight, Policy Matters Dec '21

Can increasing women’s marriageable age alone enhance their life options?

By Sankalpita Mullick, Sudhasri Yadavalli

Sankalpita Mullick and Sudhasri Yadavalli analyse the controversial Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021

This photograph shows the cover of the book ‘Launda Dancer: Anyo Hijrer Bhinna Bhuban’. On a white background, the name of the book is printed on top in a bold red and black typeface, which resembles a casual hand writing style. Below the book title there is a stylized sketch of a Launda dancer putting on make-up in preparation for a dance performance. The sketch lines are in black on a light brown background that looks like paper. The author’s name Niloy Basu is printed below the sketch to the right. All the text on the book cover is in Bengali. A yellow sticky note can be seen jutting out of the top of the book on its left side. The photograph shows the book placed on a table with a pair of spectacles and a small Shantiniketan style cloth bag lying next to it. Photo credit: Dr. Kaustav Bakshi

Insight, Printed Word Jan '21

Sex, commerce and queer rural India

By Dr. Kaustav Bakshi

Dr. Kaustav Bakshi reviews social researcher Niloy Basu’s new book ‘Launda Dancer: Anyo Hijrer Bhinna Bhuban’, an important addition to queer literature in Bengali

Poetry Nov '20

Unreliable witness

By Anureet Watta

This illustration is a combination of a graphic and text. The text says: “Social stigma still outsmarts legal change and even availability of queer-friendly legal aid. While changing the way the police functions and advocating for greater family acceptance remain important, the thinking in the Queer Friendly Lawyers Network – West Bengal (QFLN) is that more needs to be done within the queer communities so as to reduce the vulnerability of queer individuals to blackmail.” The accompanying graphic is borrowed from an earlier alert on safer dating developed by the QFLN in early 2017. The graphic is provided as a small inset and its text on safer dating tips is not readable. But the graphic’s headline “Blackmailer Alert” stands out along with the sketch of a man's face with a stricken look and mouth shut, symbolizing the fear of a victim of blackmail. Graphic artwork credit: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Pawan Dhall

Advice - Mind Body and Family, Insight Sep '20

Better mental health for safer dating?

By QFLN - West Bengal

Festive season’s round the corner, coronavirus lockdowns have eased up – have fun dating but don’t let your heart and wallet become easy game! Queer Friendly Lawyers Network – West...

Quote: Under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, not only uploading or transmitting child pornography is prohibited but browsing (viewing) the same is also a punishable offence. If anyone is found to be in possession of any material that amounts to child pornography, that person can be prosecuted under Section 15 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

Advice - Rights and Laws Sep '19

Legal facts on transmitting, viewing and reporting online child pornography

By Kaushik Gupta

Kaushik Gupta explains the law on online child pornography

Tagged Under: Sexual Assault