From the July-August 2015 issue of News & Letters

by Artemis

Although the Indian government banned Leslee Udwin’s new documentary India’s Daughters for being “too shocking,” the film is very popular and is encouraging the younger generation in their fight against rape culture. The film centers on the 2012 gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in Delhi, which provoked widespread demonstrations throughout India, and it analyzes and criticizes the way rapists think. More recent anti-rape actions include Sunitha Krishnan’s “Shame the Rapist” campaign, which she started Feb. 5 by posting videos of rapes on YouTube. She blurred the faces of the victims, enhanced the faces of the rapists, and asked for help in identifying them. On March 19, 20-year-old student Pradnya Mandhare dragged a stranger who had molested her in public to a police station by his hair.

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Five feminist Chinese activists arrested just before International Women’s Day, 2015.

In Bejing, China, veteran activist Feng Yuan has been monitoring the situation of the “Feminist Five.” These young activists were arrested for “creating disturbance” by planning to post anti-groping stickers on buses and trains in several cities. They were released in April after worldwide protests and condemnation from the UN. There is still the possibility they may go to prison, and police are still investigating them, with one pulled back into an eight-hour interrogation. They have no income and are forbidden to speak to the press, travel, or use their own cell phones.

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Backline is an online feminist nonprofit known for its “Talkline,” which provides unbiased, secular counseling and connects callers to pregnancy, parenting, abortion, and adoption resources. On May 2, it expanded, opening the brick-and-mortar All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, Ind., to provide in-person peer counseling and support groups on pregnancy loss, infertility, abortion and adoption. It also offers free pregnancy tests, diapers and baby clothes and gives referrals to abortion providers, breastfeeding classes, HIV testing and LGBTQI resources.