Indian comic raises awareness about rape
Ram Devineni, a New York-based filmmaker, has developed a new way to combat rape in India. He has created a comic book named Priya’s Shakti, which tells the story of a young woman who was raped and her quest to fight for gender equality in Indian society. Though many might question the ethics of using a comic book to address such a sensitive issue, Devineni’s comic book might be what India needs to change the social attitudes toward sexual violence.
Devineni was born in India but raised in New Jersey. Following the gang rape that took place on a Dehli bus in 2012, Devineni traveled to India and interviewed men on the street, asking them about what they thought of the incident. To Devineni’s surprise, most of the men responded with answers that blamed the young woman for the rape.
According to a BBC article, one police officer told Devineni, “no good girl walks home alone at night.” It was then that Devineni became aware of the deeply rooted tradition of victim blaming in India. The realization prompted him to write a comic book in order to raise awareness about the dangers and negative effects of gender inequality and sexual violence.
What makes the comic book successful is its objective to bring about social change. Since 2012, many laws have been enforced to decrease the number of rape cases. Unfortunately, not much is likely to change because this is an issue rooted in the society’s culture. In India, when women are victims of rape, it is fairly common for family members to shun them. If the people themselves don’t realize that sexual violence is wrong, there is not much that law enforcement can do to diminish it. For there to be changes to the way women are treated in India, social attitudes must shift. Fortunately, this is precisely what Devineni’s comic, Priya’s Shakti, has gradually achieved.
Priya’s Shakti has brought about social change because of its appeal to a younger audience. When Devineni wrote the comic book, he intended to target teenagers. The main character, Priya, is just like them. She has a dream, and she faces many of the same issues that teenagers in India encounter, such as discouragement from pursuing an education because she is a woman. Once audiences develop an emotional tie to Priya, they become more likely to question the injustice that Priya faces as a result of sexual assult.
The comic book is also powerful because of the authority Devineni ascribed to religious figures. In the story, heroes of Hindu mythology express their views on sexual violence. This is extremely helpful since religion is closely connected to culture in India. The fact that the gods do not condone sexual violence in the comic can make readers more likely to change their attitude toward rape.
Of course, many might question whether a comic book, a tool more commonly used for entertainment purposes, is the best tool to address such a sensitive issue. Comic books usually revolve around stories of strong, flying men in capes who save humanity from an evil villain. Had Priya’s story been presented in this stereotypical manner, the readers might not have been able to take it seriously. In Priya’s Shakti’s case, however, the content was presented in a respectable manner. The women are given very strong roles, and the realities of Indian society are presented in an objective way. The story is about a rape victim who became a hero by raising awareness of sexual violence. It is by no means the stereotypical superhero story.
The visual component of the comic also helped illustrate this serious issue without alienating the audience with overtly violent or traumatic images. The cartoon-like graphics illustrated the men chasing Priya, her emotions at the moment and the time of day, debunking many myths regarding how rape takes place while remaining appropriate for readers of all ages. The simplicity of the comic book also makes it possible for a broader audiences to be reached. In essence, the story is empowering, and the medium allows for the issue to become comprehensible to audiences of a wide demographic.
This is not to discount the power of the traditional superhero comic books. In Western culture, many are empowered by iconic stories of Superman, Spiderman and Ironman that started as comics. It’s heartwarming to see artists such as Devineni creatively alter a traditional storytelling medium and apply it to address serious and urgent issues such as rape.