Young Indians Channel Anger About Sexual Violence Into Poetry

Indian millennials are using poetry to process harrowing accounts of sexual violence and misogyny. (Special thanks to UnErase Poetry & Tape A Tale)

Transcript

00:00Not your body to explore?

00:11Then ask yourself if it belongs to that young boy who brushed his hand on your backside

00:15of the school bus, or to that old man who groped you in broad daylight, or maybe to

00:19that uncle who rubbed his hand on your breasts in the safety of your own home.

00:29I suddenly felt something.

00:32One hand was on my waist and the other hand on my hair.

00:35He was doing something with his foul lips on my body, as if he was smelling his new prey.

00:59But my no had lesser value than his no, and it's justified because he earns for the family

01:07and I don't.

01:08But what happened last night repeated tonight, and my period was still not over.

01:24I cried to my wits and they cornered me in splits.

01:30I could feel the pain and even felt the burn, but those morons kept taking their turns.

01:54That's when poetry can literally save you.