I started writing You Beneath Your Skin in 2012, after the infamous incident of violence against women that came to be known as the Nirbhaya Gang Rape and Murder. On that evening a group of men in a private bus molested, raped, sodomized a young woman on Delhi’s streets, and left her to die, with her intestines splayed on the street. I blogged about it, here.
You Beneath Your Skin, published in 2019, spoke of the spaces women occupy, and how violence against women is omnipresent. No, not all men are violent, but a woman has no way of knowing who will be violent and a danger to her–so they’re hyper-vigilant all the time. This is why, when asked to choose between encountering a man or a bear in the remote woods, most women chose a bear. Hyper-vigilance comes at tremendous mental and physical costs.
Here are some reasons women cited as reasons for choosing the bear:
the bear sees me as a human being
the worst thing the bear can do is kill me
I don’t have to see the bear at family reunions
the bear doesn’t get enjoyment out of it
the bear didn’t pretend to be my friend for months beforehand
no one will say I liked the bear attack
no one will ask me what I was wearing when the bear attacked me
no one will talk about the bear’s bright future
if I’m attacked and scream loudly enough, there’s a better chance the bear will actually run away
a bear wouldn’t film it and send it to all his friends
the men getting angry with this don’t realize there are fates worse than death
These are just a few comments from all over the world that are heartbreaking in their resonance and pervasiveness.
Despite receiving lower salaries for the same jobs and paying the same rates of taxes, women don’t feel safe anywhere: at home or outside. Cases of incest and domestic violence have come to light over the decade since Nirbhaya. Women and little girls have been molested in public and strung up on trees. The word Nirbhaya means, ‘a fearless woman,’ but having visited many countries, I now know that women can afford to be fearless in very few. A woman’s very survival is based on fear.
And this is when more than sixty-percent of rapes/ aggressions are not reported. Of the reported cases, we know that 3 in 10 married women in India suffer domestic violence. 4 rapes are reported each hour in India, but the actual figure of rapes is much higher. Nearly 90 per cent of the rapists are men know to the victims.
Of all the cases that go to court, only about 20 per cent result in conviction, which can result in an incarceration of 10 years, with many released much earlier on grounds of ‘good behavior’.
In my other books, The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon, women don’t have parity of jobs, are violated and endangered, treated as objects of desire with very little human agency.
I’ve been on social media hiatus, so it took me a while to learn of the heinous rape and murder of a trainee doctor in one of India’s well-known hospitals. A young resident had gone for a nap in the seminar room after 36 hours on duty, and was violated in unspeakable ways: bleeding eyes, genitals and broken pelvic bones feature in the autopsy report.
This is an example of how safe women are at their workplaces. While violence against women is a worldwide pestilence (linked article from Australia), the incidents in my country and their relevance to my own writings shake me up.
My current work in progress also includes violence against women, and the generational trauma inflicted by patriarchy. On some days while I write, despair floods my veins. In my lifetime, I don’t see my country becoming safe for women–a country where a woman is free to occupy private and public spaces with the same peace of mind as a man. Some spaces in India are unsafe for men and women, but all spaces are unsafe for women.
This is a problem generations in the making, so we can’t hope for quick-fix solutions. With each high-profile incident, there are country-wide protests but there’s a lack of will from the government: there are no systems in place for the easy prevention of crimes against women. Once they’re committed, there’s no swift justice. We’re teaching our girls to break the shackles of patriarchy, but we’re not teaching our boys the lessons they need to learn to live in a world where men and women are equal, where capability, not gender decides the opportunities to which an individual has access.
No novelist wants their books to lose meaning, but I do hope that one day, if my books survive long enough, they’re seen as depictions of a gone-by era.
Women are half the population of this planet. It’s time the world stops treating us like second class citizens.
What’s the status of women in the country you live in? Do you think violence against women would abate any time soon?
If you’re looking for a literary thriller set outside the West, and love books by authors like Lisa Gardner, Tana French, Jodi Picoult, Mary Kubica, Ruth Ware, Rachel Caine, Ivy Pochoda, Louise Penny or Harlan Coben, check out my literary crime novels, The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon on Kindle Unlimited now. Add to Goodreads or snag a copy to make my day !
And if you’d like to read a book outside the series, you can check out You Beneath Your Skin. Find all info about my books on my Amazon page or Linktree. If you have an Amazon account, a Follow will really help my ranking stay afloat.
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Thank you for caring and choosing to write about the violence against women. I’m sad that this still happens to women and children, damaging bodies and souls. May your books and the growing awareness help us to find solutions.
There is violence against women in the US. It’s gotten worse since the orange scourge.
Oh, Damyanti, you write so well about how women can suffer. So sad the recent murder. We saw some British asians around the Emily Pankhurst statue in Manchester doing a vigil for this incident. Over 100 years since votes for women and Pankhurst led the suffragette movement. Equality and violence against women still but there have been significant gains in some countries.
Hi Damyanti. I’m back after a long hiatus. Explained on my blog.
I just recalled that horrific bus rape/murder incident in a comment this morning. Somehow I’ve lost hope that violence against women will every stop.
This is all so horrific! When I heard about that doctor it was jarring. The protest that took place needs to be ongoing so it doesn’t feel like we get up one day and jump on a bandwagon for a cause only to jump right back off and be forgotten. They wait us out in such instances and nothing changes. There needs to be change. Change must come. This is heartbreaking!!
We’ve been following that story here too, with a sense of extreme horror. The world never seems to become a better place. Violence against women is a problem here too, though nothing like that in India. We have at least largely moved on from that absurd idea that women can somehow be considered as little more than possessions for men (though sadly, not exclusively).
Attempts to counter violence here have stalled, largely due to a lack of understanding of the problem. The unquestionable assumption is that violence is exclusively by men, against women and girls. Statistics show that not to be the case. A significant proportion of victims are male, and women are sometimes the perpetrators (e.g., same-sex female couples have the highest reporting of domestic violence). And boys make up the majority of child victims.
Men evolved (almost certainly through sexual selection) to be hard wired to assert themselves through physical strength. Rather than finding ways to counter those dangerous natural instincts and excess of testosterone, we have a society that positively encourages machismo – from the appalling language and aggression of rap (which is prevalent), to the media championing of male bodies that are muscular to the point of deformity. Right wing voices are increasingly commenting on gender issues in ways that many of us find chilling.
For all the noise, sadly we’re seeing very little improvement in safety for women. But again, I know the situation is so very much worse in other countries – including India. The protests and strikes do at least offer a glimpse of hope for a better society.
Oh my gosh, Damy. What unspeakable horrors.
I’ve always loved your blog and the way you engage with emerging writers, like me! But I’ve never read your books (there are just too many books to read in a busy life!). But this blog makes me want to read You Beneath Your Skin. So important that these stories are told and I am full of admiration for your bravery in telling them. Not easy. Thank you for putting this out in the world, Damyanti, I am ordering the book now
I’m so, so honored to hear that, thank you, Penny. With the many books out there, I’m grateful that you’re choosing to read mine. One of the motivations behind my writing is to bring attention to issues like these, and comments like yours help to push me onwards and let me know that what I’m doing is worth it.
I have not read your books yet. I have looked at comments about them and realize they are important to read. Thank you for writing about these incidents and issues that are so difficult and so easy to turn away from. The USA has made progress but is still lacking in proper protections for women and men who are assaulted and under physical threat. I hope in the future things will change for women and society as a whole to treat each other better.
Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment. The issues of gender-based violence and sexual assault are so prominent worldwide, and there’s still so much more which needs to be done to better the treatment of individuals everywhere. Like you said, the matter of enforcing the proper protections, security measures, and legalities is such an important one, yet often overlooked or bypassed. I hope the future will be a better one, too.
Hi Damyanti – I hope the more people who read your books appreciate their value and their truth to life in this day and age. I’ve learnt a little (tin, microscopic) part of life in India and the surrounds … I can ‘see’ Mumbai more easily. However your subjects – particularly You Beneath Your Skin shows a horrific part of life; But as others have said – why on earth half the population can’t be treated with respect and compassion … which is set as a standard throughout each of our countries. We need to set the standards as we grow up and continue that leadership. I weep at times as I think what people suffer … I hope your books and stories continue to live on – giving us food for thought … and our need to encourage others to set examples and not just grab power with its mean rewards … thankfully a few do stand out. With thoughts to all who suffer unnecessarily … please keep writing! Hilary
Thank you so much, Hilary. That means a lot to me. Like you, cases like these have brought tears to my eyes and left me feeling so full of despair and horror. I hope for a future where men and women stand on equal footing, and women are no longer cast aside and treated as lesser. There are so many incredible, awe-inspiring women who have paved the way forward. There’s a long way to go, but the only thing we can do is keep fighting and hoping. I’m taking your words to heart.
Powerful, Damyanti! Stories have tremendous potential to shape the lives of young and old. May your continued efforts shine the light on these horrific events and the legacy of fear, speeding toward a not too distant future, where your novels become depictions of a gone-by era.
Thank you for being here and for your support. I hope your words come true! It will be a better time when the crimes in my books are no longer reflections of reality.
The Nirbhaya Gang Rape and Murder was beyond stomach turning, and the other case with the female doctor you described. It is hard to understand. I think it is a big problem all around the world but I think it is getting better as the problem is getting more attention. But I don’t know.
Stomach-turning is the perfect word for it. And even with a crime of this magnitude being broadcast all over the world, there is still so little being done to prevent it from happening again. I truly hope that the level of attention being given to the case will equate to the amount of action which will be taken to make the world a safer place for women.
While your stories are fictional the fact is that no matter where you go in this world today there is an underbelly in the cities that you describe so well. Someone has to bring this to the attention of those who don’t understand what is transpiring around them so that hopefully they seek to be more protective of the downtrodden masses. Keep writing. You are relevant in what you write.
Thank you for your support, Ian. My writing is something which helps me make sense of the world and an attempt to speak out against the violence that so many women have had to endure for so long. I can only hope that it makes a difference, and that the truth in my books will someday turn into fiction and the horrors of the present will not be part of the future.
Here, in America, it only gets worse. Now, we don’t even have to define what a woman is. Men are allowed in our restrooms, lockers, and sports. No surprise crimes against us are worse than ever. What is going on?
Sadly, that’s a question I don’t know the answer to. There’s so much more which needs to be done, and the extent of the current problem is absolutely terrifying.
I am terrified. Thanks, Damyanti. At least, we are two.
Violence against women – by men who first claim to respect their wives, sisters, and mothers – and then find some reason why it is okay for them to rape and murder OTHER women – is rampant world-wide and a tactic of war.
The first step is always a society where women are not as good as men.
Not better – as sources of the next generation should be; much lower in value.
Women who supposedly depend on those respectful men have few recourses, if any.
It goes so far back in human history it’s a wonder any humans survive.
In my own writing, reasonably healthy women sort of manage – but add in illness, and all support vanishes.
I simply can’t comprehend how someone could commit such horrible crimes against another person with no remorse, and with no consideration for the women in their lives, and for the women who might have raised them and cared for them. It’s absolutely disgusting. And disheartening, too, seeing the complete lack of progress or improvement in minimizing such violence. Like you say, it’s been going on for centuries and seems likely to continue for many years more. Women deserve better.
That is awful. How any man can hurt a woman is beyond me. Our culture here is a little bit different, and it speaks more to the upbringing and lack of morals taught to our young people that result in such horrible crimes.
I agree that upbringing plays a large role in the amount of wanton violence and terrible abuse that continues to be inflicted on countless women every day. Instead of telling girls to take precautions to avoid being victims, we need to be making boys aware of how they should be treating women and how to go through life spreading kindness and love instead of hate and fear.
How I long for the day when violence against women is a historical anomaly. Sadly I don’t see it happening any time soon.
I desperately long for the same. All we can continue to do is speak out and stand our ground, even as hope feels lost and despair becomes overwhelming.
Given the recent horrific rape and murder of the female doctor in Kolkata, your books are, sadly, very relevant.
And I only wish they weren’t. It would be a better and brighter world in which books about such horrific crimes would no longer be reflective of reality.