Voices of Rape & Acid Survivors
The main motive of the comic book series is to create empathy for survivors and challenge patriarchal views. Talking with several rape and acid attack survivors, we realized how difficult it was for them to seek justice and how much their lives were constantly under threat after they reported the crime. Their family, local community, and even the police discouraged them from pursuing criminal action against their attackers. The burden of shame was placed on the victim and not the perpetrators. This created a level of impunity among men to commit more rapes.
The comic books are based on extensive interviews with survivors who often become the characters in the comcis and advise us on it. With their permission, many of their video interviews appear in the augmented reality app, and are shown on TV and at art exhibitions.
A woman vanquishes her fears and dismisses the ridicule, speaking out as a survivor and becoming an inspiration to thousands of women in India who have faced the same ordeal — a modern-day female superhero. — VICE News
We created a new Indian “superhero” – Priya, who is a rape survivor and through the power of persuasion she is able to motivate people to change. Priya means “love” . Shakti means “Power”. In the comic book, Priya is stalked by a tiger and one day she confronts with a powerful mantra. the tiger and turns her fear into Shakti or power. The tiger becomes her friend. The mantra is “speak with shame and stand with me, and bring about the change you want to see.” Photo right: Natalia Ponce de León