{"id":6447,"date":"2020-11-19T14:15:30","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T19:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=6447"},"modified":"2021-05-21T09:46:22","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T13:46:22","slug":"sexual-violence-india-blockchain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2020\/11\/19\/sexual-violence-india-blockchain","title":{"rendered":"Sexual Violence in India: Blockchain\u2019s Role in Empowering Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"
On a typically brisk winter evening in Saket, South Delhi, Jyoti Singh and a male friend enjoyed a trip to the movies to watch Ang Lee\u2019s Life of Pi<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Heading home afterwards they waited at a bus stop, and then boarded a private bus bound for Dwarka at around 9.30pm. But Jyoti didn\u2019t make it home. Six men brutally gang-raped and tortured her while her friend was beaten. On December 29 2012, after fighting for her life for 13 days, Jyoti Singh died.<\/span><\/p>\n The savage murder of this young woman sent shockwaves throughout India. Thousands of protestors took to the streets across India and South Asia, as anger erupted in every corner of the country and spilled out across the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To many, it felt different this time, as if Jyoti\u2019s cruel fate could spark meaningful cultural and legal change, as if perhaps the country was reckoning with the fact that India\u2019s traditionalism and inherent values weren\u2019t enough to keep its citizens safe. Young women were especially concerned; many had experienced enough harassment to recognize that Jyoti\u2019s fate could have easily been a friend\u2019s, a sister\u2019s, their own.<\/span><\/p>\n Once-silenced voices began to make themselves heard. Nascent citizen journalism made use of the internet and social media to collect and disseminate information, opening up a new space for survivors and allies to express their thoughts and unleash their despair, and exposing a swelling tumor of discontent and outrage to the world. \u2018Nirbhaya\u2019, the internet screamed out in pain for Jyoti, meaning \u2018fearless one\u2019 in Hindi, a word which quickly became synonymous with the movement itself.<\/span><\/p>\n