Sexual Violence in Indian Public Sphere: Counter-public Creation and Deferral

Abstract

The paper hypothesises that public and counter-public spheres are rhetorically constructed and argues that the nature of rhetoric in both the spheres is dialectically construed by various agencies which on the one hand ensure the execution of public sphere rhetoric, and on the other hand, defer counter-public discourse to be implemented in practice, especially in case of sexual violence against women in India. The paper contextualises the same argument using various newspaper articles which are reflective of the ineffectiveness of the rhetorical counter-public and its consequent deferral.

Exclusion and Articulation: Transgender Counter-Public in the Indian Public Sphere

“…Kothari, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court states that the real inclusivity lies beyond legal acceptance (Narrain, 2019). The averment justifies what Singh and Kumar approve of the execution of public sphere rhetoric on the one hand, and deferring of counter-public discourse to be implemented in practice on the other hand (Singh and Kumar, 2019). In fact "[t]he judgment has limitedly helped transgender people and those targeted by the police, but familial and social acceptance is still a pipe dream for many" (Narrain, 2019).…”

The Spatial Interface of Informal Settlements to Women’s Safety: A Human-Scale Measurement for the Largest Urban Village in Changsha, Hunan Province, China

“…In China, urban informality is mainly manifested in the UV [26], and women always experience negative emotions during their mobility in such informal settlements [21]. From the perspective of urban planning, men dominate urban streets [27], and the patriarchal ideology results in women adapting their behaviors and hiding their vulnerable in public places [28]. Women have a higher rate of being hurt than men, such as physical aggression, intimidation and sexual harassment [29][30][31], and they prefer to choose to be silenced [32].…”