Rape culture is a word that gets thrown around quite a bit. In the USA, outside of prisons and Hollywood, it doesn't seem to reach the epidemic levels we see in certain other countries. In India, stories of brutal gang-rapes and victims forced to marry their accuser are commonplace. Actress Poorna Jagannatha recently opened up about the situation in a play about a Delhi gang-rape victim, Nirbhaya. Previously, the issue of rape and sexual abuse of children had been considered too taboo to be portrayed on the stage.
With the success of Nirbhaya, Poorna Jagannathan is hoping to bring the issue of sexual abuse of male children to the stage. <a href="http://www.drjohnaking.com/the-voice/one-in-every-two-boys-in-india-are-sexually-abused/
">1 in 2 boys in India is the victim of sexual abuse</a> at some point.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/India?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#India</a>’s rape culture strikes again: 100-year-old woman dies in an incident <a href="https://t.co/kUCFxAiYDp">https://t.co/kUCFxAiYDp</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y9YKX8RoLF">pic.twitter.com/Y9YKX8RoLF</a></p>— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) <a href="https://twitter.com/SputnikInt/status/925320929533726720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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“While researching for Nirbhaya, I came across the statistic that one in every two boys are sexually abused in India. The culture of shame surrounding male sexual abuse prevents survivors from seeking help or healing,” explains Poorna Jagannathan regarding her inspiration for the recent plays which will premiere in Mumbai before being screened in Bangalore and Delhi. Jagannathan is a well-known actress both in India and abroad since her Bollywood debut Delhi Belly, as well as appearing in the TV series Royal Pains.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well we have a rape culture; what to do! my blog on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rapeculture?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#rapeculture</a> in India and difficulty in convincing other men <a href="https://t.co/Fr1iL9pyVv">https://t.co/Fr1iL9pyVv</a></p>— Ashwin Kumar (@ashwin_09_08_89) <a href="https://twitter.com/ashwin_09_08_89/status/924580624840605697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Both productions will be one-man plays starring American actor Martin Moran. The theme being a sexual relationship that took place when he was 12 to 15 with a counselor from the counselor he met at a Catholic boy's camp. <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/one-in-every-two-boys-in-india-are-sexually-abused-poorna-jagannathan/">Jagannathan's goal is to address the "cycles of abuse"</a> as well as to shine a light on the prevalence of male victims of sexual abuse.
“At a time we are trying to combat sexual violence against women and eradicate its roots, we remain relatively blind and silent to sexual violence against boys. We cannot solve sexual violence against women without engaging men. If you’ve been affected by sexual violence, you’re much less likely to engage in solving the problem: there’s a tendency to think violence is the norm, you have wrapped notions of sexuality and a higher proclivity to perpetuate violence.”
