Tara Kaushal On Her Project 'Why Indian Men Rape'

Tara Kaushal's project, 'Why Indian Men Rape', will explore the gamut of unique ethnological reasons — social, cultural, traditional, legal, economic, geographic, religious, psychological, etc — that cause sexual violence in the subcontinent.

The massive research project will culminate in two books and a documentary.

Kaushal tells SheThePeople.Tv that she hopes the project will bring us closer to understanding the culture of toxic masculinity in India.

"Through this project, I hope we will be able to introspect, effect change in the way we bring up our boys. We need to be more a feminist country," she says.

Kaushal is raising funds for her campaign at Ketto. She says that her research will be interdisciplinary, and a large part of it will be ethnographical. Her advisory team comprises anthropologist Jordan Steig, Nita Gopal, founder of the qualitative research firm, NG Works, and Abhimanyu Radhakrishnan, former VP of Times Internet.

The project will examine the role that the home plays in perpetuating gender violence. It is not enough to stop violence when the perpetrators are adults, says Kaushal. Often, negative attitudes are indoctrinated in young boys right from the beginning

What is the role of home and environment in creating a stereotypical Indian man, asks Kaushal, and can we change that?

Kaushal has been working on the project since 2013, but only officially launched it in May this year.

"This extensive research will contribute deep insights to the discourse on the sexual violence and rape in India — brought to the forefront since the infamous ‘Nirbhaya’ gang rape of 2012 — as a step towards providing solutions to the problem," says Kaushal.

Also Read: Jyoti Dhawale, Stands Tall Despite Being HIV Positive