Teamwork Arts, producer of the Jaipur Literature Festival, has organised a festival weekend of events in Houston, USA.  The festival will showcase internationally acclaimed authors and thinkers taking part in a range of provocative panels and debates.

“Words are the enemy of impunity.” Sohaila Abdulali writes as a survivor, counselor and activist about the global conversation around rape in What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape. In The Other Side and The Reckoning, Lacy M. Johnson talks about her personal experience of sexual violence, and shares her thoughts on retribution and justice. Tarfia Faizullah’s collection Seam explores the experiences of the thousands of Bangladeshi women raped by Pakistani soldiers during the Liberation War of 1971. Together they speak of the issues and silences around the subject. The discussion will run from 3.45 pm to 4.30 pm on September 14th at the Brown Foundation Theater.

Sohaila Abdulali was the first Indian rape survivor to speak out about her experience. Gang-raped as a teenager in Mumbai and indignant at the deafening silence on the issue in India, she wrote an article for a women’s magazine questioning how we perceive rape and rape victims. Thirty years later she saw the story go viral in the wake of the fatal 2012 Delhi rape and the global outcry that followed.

Drawing on three decades of grappling with the issue personally and professionally, and on her work with hundreds of other survivors, she explores what we think about rape. Her book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape has received a powerful response.

‘Sohaila’s book is absolutely amazing, unlike anything I’ve ever read before… I would urge everybody to read it. It’s about feminism and women’s place in society, not only about rape.’ Jane Thurlow, Survivors’ Network

This event is free and accessible to all.

More information on the event can be found HERE.