"A woman holds a placard at New Delhi's SlutWalk on July 31, 2011
Mustafa Quraishi / AP"

as appeared on: www.time.com

Time magazine's Elliot Hannon spoke to Sunita Kaishta, co-director of WWHI, for the article Indian Women take Slutwalk to Delhi's Streets', which appeared on their website on Monday evening (1/08/2011). Sunita gave her insights into an often overlooked reason why sexual violence against women in the capital has increased:

"The heightened sense that women are at risk is in part due to the increasing friction between old cultural norms and new economic realities, says Sunita Kaistha, head of the Women Work & Health Initiative, a nonprofit based in New Delhi. The economic boom that has encompassed the country has brought more women out of their traditional roles in the home and into the workforce, particularly in urban areas. In New Delhi, Kaistha sees the rise in sexual violence as linked to the rise of women in the workforce. "The culture is very patriarchal, and it's still very difficult for people to accept girls working, traveling, going out at night," she says."

Do have a look at the full article. It makes for an interesting read on the issues surrounding sexual violence against women in India and why there has been such public resistance, miscomprehensions, and divided discourse on the Slutwalk's Delhi event. 

The article can be accessed here or via www.time.com.