Ashima (named changed for safety), 17, poses for a portrait in her home. Ashima was repeatedly raped when she was 15 years old after harvesting soybeans. In shock and scared, she managed to kept it a secret for 8 months until her mother realized she was in labor. After a complicated and painful delivery the baby was given for adoption.
Sapna Monsore, 22, poses for a portrait in her parents home. She was kidnapped and sold in Rajasthan for $50,000 rupees ($700 usd) to 2 men who brutally raped her, and then sold her again in Bangalore. She was forced to marriage twice against her will. After several months captive she managed to call her brother, Bhagun, who payed for her release and took her back home. Her father arranged a marriage with a man of a nearby village due to the community's discrimination. Today, she is 5 months pregnant.
Ramsabha Bai, 36, poses for a portrait at her home in Madhya Pradesh, India. Ramsabha was raped by the person she worked for. She was threatened with a knife to the neck and with her daughter Bharti as a witness. Due to the long distances between the villages it is very complicated to report to the police. After years of fight, the aggressor was sentenced to only three months in prison.
Bharti, 12, rests at home under the care of her mother to reduce the fever and the severe headaches.
Ramsabha was raped by the person she worked for. She was threatened with a knife to the neck and with her daughter Bharti as a witness. “My daughter got awake, silent and afraid in a corner of the room, telling me not to scream or the attacker would kill us both. [...] She went to the side and covered her face with a blanket and quietly slept in fear.”
Shughan Chauhan, 22, poses for a portrait in her home in Madhya Pradesh, India. Shughan got married at the age of 12. On April 18th, 2017 two men entered her home and raped her several times. After the incident happened she told her mother first instead her husband, that became a huge problem with the women in the village who blamed her for what happened. Today, she has 2 children: a 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.
In the provinces of India, in rural and urban areas, women who have been victims of sexual assault live out their lives, not only trying to cope with the aftermath of this traumatic experience but also with stigma, social judgment, and seclusion. India, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, is the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman. Every day hundreds of girls and woman are exposed to sexual violence, human trafficking and sexual and domestic enslavement. This remains not just a problem of gender inequality, but also as one of class, caste, and political and economic power. All these elements together speak to a threat that often brings silence and idleness, and unfortunately, makes seeking justice an endlessly painful, and complicated path.
