This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/may/27/kishwar-desai-rape-india

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Kishwar Desai on rape in India: 'A discussion that needs to be had' Kishwar Desai on rape in India: 'A discussion that needs to be had'
(4 months later)
Kishwar Desai doesn't look angry. In her bright, London home where books spill from their shelves to half-fill the floor, she is friendly, cheerful and hospitable – plumping cushions and pressing me to have another cup of tea. But, she tells me, it was pure fury at violence against women that turned her into a novelist.Kishwar Desai doesn't look angry. In her bright, London home where books spill from their shelves to half-fill the floor, she is friendly, cheerful and hospitable – plumping cushions and pressing me to have another cup of tea. But, she tells me, it was pure fury at violence against women that turned her into a novelist.
A story about female infanticide led the former journalist and TV executive to write her first novel in 2010, and she has gone on to write two more pacey detective novels, channelling her outrage into a charismatic, if unlikely protagonist – the chain-smoking, whisky-drinking female social worker, Simran Singh.A story about female infanticide led the former journalist and TV executive to write her first novel in 2010, and she has gone on to write two more pacey detective novels, channelling her outrage into a charismatic, if unlikely protagonist – the chain-smoking, whisky-drinking female social worker, Simran Singh.
In Witness the Night, which won the Costa first novel award and was longlisted for the Man Asian literary prize, Singh investigated a crime involving sex-selective infanticide and foeticide, while Origins of Love highlighted the exploitation of impoverished women in the surrogacy industry. Both were bestsellers in India. Now, in The Sea of Innocence, Singh is back and this time Desai has focused on sexual violence and rape – something she says is becoming "endemic" in India.In Witness the Night, which won the Costa first novel award and was longlisted for the Man Asian literary prize, Singh investigated a crime involving sex-selective infanticide and foeticide, while Origins of Love highlighted the exploitation of impoverished women in the surrogacy industry. Both were bestsellers in India. Now, in The Sea of Innocence, Singh is back and this time Desai has focused on sexual violence and rape – something she says is becoming "endemic" in India.
It's hard to imagine how the book could feel more timely. Ever since the torture, gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old Delhi student in December, there has been an unrelenting focus on sexual violence in the world's biggest democracy. Desai uses the Delhi case as a backdrop to the unfolding of a plot, which has striking – and acknowledged – similarities to the killing and rape of a British teenager, Scarlett Keeling, five years ago.It's hard to imagine how the book could feel more timely. Ever since the torture, gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old Delhi student in December, there has been an unrelenting focus on sexual violence in the world's biggest democracy. Desai uses the Delhi case as a backdrop to the unfolding of a plot, which has striking – and acknowledged – similarities to the killing and rape of a British teenager, Scarlett Keeling, five years ago.
"I wanted to make it contemporary and a commentary on the attitudes of men and women towards victims of sexual violence," explains Desai, who divides her time between India and the UK. "The Scarlett Keeling case, for instance, was high-profile – but that didn't mean the victim got justice.""I wanted to make it contemporary and a commentary on the attitudes of men and women towards victims of sexual violence," explains Desai, who divides her time between India and the UK. "The Scarlett Keeling case, for instance, was high-profile – but that didn't mean the victim got justice."
Although she was on the book's final edit when details of the horrific Delhi gang rape became clear, she felt she had to include it. "I wanted to remember the victim in my work … I didn't have to change the narrative because everything [about the Delhi case] was so relevant [to the plot of the book]; the cover-up, the police not being helpful …"Although she was on the book's final edit when details of the horrific Delhi gang rape became clear, she felt she had to include it. "I wanted to remember the victim in my work … I didn't have to change the narrative because everything [about the Delhi case] was so relevant [to the plot of the book]; the cover-up, the police not being helpful …"
These echoes become less surprising when she points out that while extreme in its violence, the student's murder and rape was far from unique. "In rural, feudal areas [in particular] gang rapes have been going on for a long time. Only if a politician or someone powerful is involved is it reported in the national media."These echoes become less surprising when she points out that while extreme in its violence, the student's murder and rape was far from unique. "In rural, feudal areas [in particular] gang rapes have been going on for a long time. Only if a politician or someone powerful is involved is it reported in the national media."
Three years ago, when she first decided to confront the issue, the scale of the problem was being ignored says Desai: "No one was discussing gender in India at that time." But she could not forget the fact that: "Every time I read the Indian newspapers or looked at the TV, there was some heartbreaking story about a woman who had been raped."Three years ago, when she first decided to confront the issue, the scale of the problem was being ignored says Desai: "No one was discussing gender in India at that time." But she could not forget the fact that: "Every time I read the Indian newspapers or looked at the TV, there was some heartbreaking story about a woman who had been raped."
For this she blames a culture of impunity for sex attackers, which she points out, the recent slew of cases in the UK (from the accusations against Jimmy Savile, to the terrifying attacks by child sex rings in Oxford and Rochdale) is hardly confined to India.For this she blames a culture of impunity for sex attackers, which she points out, the recent slew of cases in the UK (from the accusations against Jimmy Savile, to the terrifying attacks by child sex rings in Oxford and Rochdale) is hardly confined to India.
"We need to look at this, the world over. There is a huge gender bias in the police – even when you have women cops. Recently, in India, there was a case of a 10-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh who was raped and went to the police station with her mother. The female cops locked them up!"We need to look at this, the world over. There is a huge gender bias in the police – even when you have women cops. Recently, in India, there was a case of a 10-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh who was raped and went to the police station with her mother. The female cops locked them up!
"If a woman talks about being molested why is the first reaction disbelief – from women as well as men?""If a woman talks about being molested why is the first reaction disbelief – from women as well as men?"
Her book also offers a damning indictment of a corrupt police system, which not only blames victims, but even perpetrates crime. One female character, for instance, is blackmailed into having sex with several policemen, something Desai says she based on a true case. The novel also explores the anxieties surrounding the sexuality of young girls, something else Desai says is often reflected in the attitude towards the young, vulnerable victims here. "It is a discussion that needs to be had, not only in modernising societies like India, but also in so-called modern societies like the UK, where vulnerable girls are not advised or counselled.Her book also offers a damning indictment of a corrupt police system, which not only blames victims, but even perpetrates crime. One female character, for instance, is blackmailed into having sex with several policemen, something Desai says she based on a true case. The novel also explores the anxieties surrounding the sexuality of young girls, something else Desai says is often reflected in the attitude towards the young, vulnerable victims here. "It is a discussion that needs to be had, not only in modernising societies like India, but also in so-called modern societies like the UK, where vulnerable girls are not advised or counselled.
"We shouldn't take away their freedom but we need to have a dialogue about it.""We shouldn't take away their freedom but we need to have a dialogue about it."
But there are also specific, if complex, reasons why rape in India has been allowed to "reach such horrific proportions" she thinks – one of which is the caste system.But there are also specific, if complex, reasons why rape in India has been allowed to "reach such horrific proportions" she thinks – one of which is the caste system.
"To begin with the upper castes seemed to think they have a divine right to rape or molest women of the lower castes. Then as power got transferred – into the hands of the wealthy, for instance, and the police – everyone thought impoverished, defenceless women were fair game.""To begin with the upper castes seemed to think they have a divine right to rape or molest women of the lower castes. Then as power got transferred – into the hands of the wealthy, for instance, and the police – everyone thought impoverished, defenceless women were fair game."
A darker reason is the skewed demographics caused by sex selection (India has 37 million more men than women). It was the horrors that lay behind this that inspired her to write her first novel in her 50s.A darker reason is the skewed demographics caused by sex selection (India has 37 million more men than women). It was the horrors that lay behind this that inspired her to write her first novel in her 50s.
"One of the first stories I ever did as a journalist, 25 or 30 years ago, was when the first Marie Stopes clinic opened in India," she tells me. "Women could exert their rights over whether or not they wanted to have children, but in India it was being misused for sex selection."One of the first stories I ever did as a journalist, 25 or 30 years ago, was when the first Marie Stopes clinic opened in India," she tells me. "Women could exert their rights over whether or not they wanted to have children, but in India it was being misused for sex selection.
"A doctor [at the clinic] said to me: 'I have to help these poor women because [if they have a girl] they will be harassed, thrown out of their homes, their husbands will get married again.'""A doctor [at the clinic] said to me: 'I have to help these poor women because [if they have a girl] they will be harassed, thrown out of their homes, their husbands will get married again.'"
Yet this practise she says, was hardly new. "My mother - and her whole generation - remembers homes where there would be an old grandmother in the corner, and where people would openly say, 'She has killed and buried four baby girls under that charpoy [a traditional woven bed] on which she is sitting'".Yet this practise she says, was hardly new. "My mother - and her whole generation - remembers homes where there would be an old grandmother in the corner, and where people would openly say, 'She has killed and buried four baby girls under that charpoy [a traditional woven bed] on which she is sitting'".
Then, 15 years ago, she heard a story she could not forget. "A woman told me her parents had tried to kill her when she was a baby – they gave her an overdose of opium, but she did not die. So, she lived to face her [would-be] assassins every day."Then, 15 years ago, she heard a story she could not forget. "A woman told me her parents had tried to kill her when she was a baby – they gave her an overdose of opium, but she did not die. So, she lived to face her [would-be] assassins every day."
After leaving her broadcast career, Desai considered turning the woman's experience into a film, she says – instead it became her first novel. "I sat down to write it as a straight narrative, but as I wrote I got angrier and angrier thinking about how this girl would feel. And so many stories of what had happened to women came to me, that I got so furious I didn't get up [from my writing] for a whole month."After leaving her broadcast career, Desai considered turning the woman's experience into a film, she says – instead it became her first novel. "I sat down to write it as a straight narrative, but as I wrote I got angrier and angrier thinking about how this girl would feel. And so many stories of what had happened to women came to me, that I got so furious I didn't get up [from my writing] for a whole month."
Today Desai is married to the economist and peer Meghnad Desai, but her happy family life (she has two adult children by her former husband) and high-flying career, she knows, are not available to all women. "I need to say this over and over again; women like me are not representative. "Indian women are not progressing at the rate they should – or the rate they should be allowed to. They are not getting the support they need, the input from the government, society or their own families.Today Desai is married to the economist and peer Meghnad Desai, but her happy family life (she has two adult children by her former husband) and high-flying career, she knows, are not available to all women. "I need to say this over and over again; women like me are not representative. "Indian women are not progressing at the rate they should – or the rate they should be allowed to. They are not getting the support they need, the input from the government, society or their own families.
"The mob violence this girl [the Delhi rape victim] experienced was not seperate from her life – she had a supportive family and her parents were bringing her up to be aspirational – but around her the people are used to being violent towards women.""The mob violence this girl [the Delhi rape victim] experienced was not seperate from her life – she had a supportive family and her parents were bringing her up to be aspirational – but around her the people are used to being violent towards women."
She believes things are improving for women thanks to a renewed media focus on sexual violence and is also glad to have found a better way than journalism to raise the issue. "These books are about what I feel passionately about, so I want them to be accessible to people, especially young people. And the moment you write fiction you include emotions and that makes it universal, because people connect with emotions much better than statistics."She believes things are improving for women thanks to a renewed media focus on sexual violence and is also glad to have found a better way than journalism to raise the issue. "These books are about what I feel passionately about, so I want them to be accessible to people, especially young people. And the moment you write fiction you include emotions and that makes it universal, because people connect with emotions much better than statistics."
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.