Understanding India’s rape crisis
On Sept. 13, a judge sentenced four men to death for the gang rape and resulting death of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi, and the verdict sparked public demonstrations in support. That brutal crime, and a string of similar assaults that have occurred since, have brought global attention to the problem of sexual violence in India and prompted reforms that both expand the law and impose harsher penalties on rapists. Reactions are mixed as to whether those efforts will significantly reduce the widespread abuse of women long term. To better understand rape and gender violence in India and the region, Gazette staff writer Christina Pazzanese spoke with Professor Jacqueline Bhabha, director of research for the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Bhabha also has Harvard affiliations in law and public policy and is part of the Harvard...