Letter to The Hoot--- rape cannot be a private issue

BY apoorva| IN Opinion | 02/12/2002

What I find problematic is the suggestion to the media to treat the larger issue of rape itself as private one.

Dear Editor,

The following are my comments on the article: "Rape Victim as an Object of Curiosity".

The writer has done well in addressing important issues that are facing the media in India in particular and world in general.

Firstly, in the context of India, the writer has done well in bringing forth the increasing tabilodization of Indian national dailies.

Secondly, she has also done well in explaining the infringement of the private sphere by the public.

I agree with her on the first issue and partly with the second. However what I find problematic is the suggestion to the media to treat the larger issue of rape itself as private. There is a need today to deconstruct the social and cultural beliefs and taboos of rape in order to guarantee equality to women. If this is to become a reality then the issue of rape has to be brought from the realm of the private to the public, in which media has an important role to play. However the way the media is dealing with the issue needs serious retrospection if the media is to act as a catalyst for social change.

Apoorva Sridhara

Nov 26, 2002

TAGS

rape

Subscribe To The Newsletter

Media Watch Briefs

Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.