Scroll Top

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2025: CONSENT AND SEXUALITY

Clear Filters
Editorial – Consent and Sexuality
Long hands intertwined together
Editorial – Consent and Sexuality

Looking down upon the earth from many miles up in the sky, the divisions between land masses and water bodies…
By TARSHI
Editorial – Consent and Sexuality
Consent and Sexuality Editorial
Interview – We Have Questions!
Woman Standing Beside Woman on White Wooden Chair Facing Body of Water
Interview – We Have Questions!

There are times when we bend the rules and draw on the walls. This is one of those times. We listened in on some of the chatter online on the subject of consent and we ended up with some questions.
By Shikha Aleya
Interview – We Have Questions!
Consent and Sexuality Interview
Take Desire For Instance
A tiny robot made out of amazon cardboard box looks solemnly is placed on a tree branch
Take Desire For Instance

Could it be that other changes in our lives make it even more difficult to conceive the desire of the ‘other’, specifically of those with whom we don’t share as many conversations, with whom we’ll soon, I expect, lose entirely the ability to speak?
By Cat D
Take Desire For Instance
Consent and Sexuality Voices
All The Shades Of Grey
Blurred Photo of a Couple Touching Hands
All The Shades Of Grey

Language can be a limiting thing when it alone is considered to be the marker of success or failure in intimate spaces. Sometimes we get stuck on what is said and fail to notice what is done in relationships. At other times, denial of a need, request, or crossing of one boundary can make us feel like the entire relationship has lost its value.
By Reema Ahmad
All The Shades Of Grey
Consent and Sexuality Voices
The Unbearability Of Desire
A hand is intimately holding a heart illuminated in red neon light
The Unbearability Of Desire

Intimacy can never thrive in an environment of rigid certainty. Intimacy requires surrender – not in the sense of submission – but in the willingness to be with another person without detachment or defences.
By Shaifila Ladhani
The Unbearability Of Desire
Consent and Sexuality Voices
Consent Beyond Sex-Ed: Weaving Respect and Autonomy in Classroom Culture
Three middle school children in uniform poses for the camera with their arms crossed.
Consent Beyond Sex-Ed: Weaving Respect and Autonomy in Classroom Culture

Consent cannot be a singular lesson plan. We need to reimagine the ways in which consent can be integrated into our curriculum content, conversations, and how we role-model it.
By Heta Dwivedi
Consent Beyond Sex-Ed: Weaving Respect and Autonomy in Classroom Culture
Consent and Sexuality Voices
The Language Of Consent
The word YES written on beach sand with receeding waves above it
The Language Of Consent

The language of consent is not neutral. It is rigid where it should be nuanced, malleable where it should be firm. Yes is an all-encompassing spirit, ever-expanding; No is frustratingly constricted, barely visible.
By Fizza
The Language Of Consent
Consent and Sexuality Voices
Exploring Consent Through The Film SUNO
Poster for the short film Suno. The image has a woman and a man in their side profile looking at the viewer.
Exploring Consent Through The Film SUNO

There may be situations in which a person’s responses might not be unquestionably equated with consent. Is consent merely a ‘yes’ or does one need to look for other cues to make sure their partner wants the same thing as them when it comes to intimacy?
By Aratrika Datta
Exploring Consent Through The Film SUNO
Consent and Sexuality Review
यौन एवं प्रजनन स्वास्थ्य अधिकारों का उल्लंघन (SRHR) – जो महिलायें विकलांगता के साथ जी रहीं हैं, वे कहाँ हैं?
A graphic illustration of a pattern. The dominant colours are yellow, orange, grey, blue, and black. Blocks of colour emerge from a cluttered centre and emanate upwards.
यौन एवं प्रजनन स्वास्थ्य अधिकारों का उल्लंघन (SRHR) – जो महिलायें विकलांगता के साथ जी रहीं हैं, वे कहाँ हैं?

विकलांगता के साथ जी रहीं महिलाओं (Women with Disabilities/WWD) को यौन और प्रजनन संबंधी स्वास्थ्य देखभाल और अधिकारों पर ज़रूरी बाचीत
By Smruti
यौन एवं प्रजनन स्वास्थ्य अधिकारों का उल्लंघन (SRHR) – जो महिलायें विकलांगता के साथ जी रहीं हैं, वे कहाँ हैं?
Consent and Sexuality हिन्दी
सार्वजनिक सेक्स और शहरी स्थानों में पुलिस
A photo of heterosexual couple sitting cross-legged on a rampart beside the sea. The man is wearing a blue shirt and there are shopping bags beside him. Beside him, only the mid-length hair of the woman can be seen. In the horizon is the city skyline of Mumbai with skyscrapers and other buildings at golden hour.
सार्वजनिक सेक्स और शहरी स्थानों में पुलिस

शहरी स्थानों को पुनः प्राप्त करने के लिए, सार्वजनिक स्थानों पर प्यार और रोमांस की पुलिसिंग या निगरानी के कई पहलुओं को देखना महत्वपूर्ण है
By Shruti Arora
सार्वजनिक सेक्स और शहरी स्थानों में पुलिस
Consent and Sexuality Voices
मुख्य मुद्दा – गोपनीयता और समकक्ष (पीयर) संबंध
privacy and peer relationships - a group of students in a classroom
मुख्य मुद्दा – गोपनीयता और समकक्ष (पीयर) संबंध

शहरी पुणे के एक नगरपालिका स्कूल की आठवीं कक्षा – एक सह-शिक्षा कक्षा जिसमें 18 लड़के और 12 लड़कियाँ हैं – के कुछ अनुभव

By Aishwarya and Reshma
मुख्य मुद्दा – गोपनीयता और समकक्ष (पीयर) संबंध
Consent and Sexuality हिन्दी
Consent, reaction, response, or – you lead, I follow.
An abstract graphic image of yellow and blue with folds that look like water
Consent, reaction, response, or – you lead, I follow.

Look sharp. Consent is tricky, hiding secrets behind the empowerment toolkit and all our good intentions. Why? Because we activate this value-loaded word in a world where many, or most things, are still about the first-mover advantage. A world that holds typically narrow views of capacity, ability and success.
By Shikha Aleya
Consent, reaction, response, or – you lead, I follow.
Consent and Sexuality Issue In Focus
Theatrics of Consent
The image is a blue question mark in a pink background
Theatrics of Consent

The sheer ignorance of the intricacies of consent, or its performance, serves only to strengthen the enduring patriarchal framework that holds sway in a society where the bodies, desires, and even voices of women have been, and, tragically, continue to be, defined and controlled by men.
Consequently, a “yes” – whether verbal or gestural – cannot be shallowly inferred as an authentic, unambiguous, and static agreement to a “contract” proposed by men.

By Saurabh Suman
Theatrics of Consent
Consent and Sexuality Voices
The Silent Theft of Consent: How Patriarchy Undermines Women at Every Step
The image is a closeup of a grey wire fence.
The Silent Theft of Consent: How Patriarchy Undermines Women at Every Step

When a woman, in her own house, is told by her family members, to always seek their consent before doing anything, and to always keep them informed of every activity she engages in, or even to seek a job in her chosen field, her freedom is taken away from her. She is expected to take their consent for anything and everything, but her own consent is taken away from her.
By Aanya Narula
The Silent Theft of Consent: How Patriarchy Undermines Women at Every Step
Consent and Sexuality Voices
Behind the Curtains
A big red traffic sign with the word STOP written big and bold. Below it the phrase "NO MEANS NO" is written
Behind the Curtains

… when they believed we were of the right age to marry, they urged us to “leave everything behind and get settled”. When marriage is considered such an important institution in our society, why not teach us about consent as well?

By Bhargavi Vyas
Behind the Curtains
Consent and Sexuality The I Column
Closeted in the Workplace: Identity, Be(long)ing, Consent, and Inclusion
A hand opens a drawer in a locker of drawers. "Why can't I fit in?" is written inside the open drawer
Closeted in the Workplace: Identity, Be(long)ing, Consent, and Inclusion

…when both of us speak about the way we engage in our workspaces, we find common contradictions and barriers. How does a queer person navigate these barriers, constantly negotiating when, where and on what terms to engage? To be seen or to remain unseen?
By Vanshika Gupta and Niv
Closeted in the Workplace: Identity, Be(long)ing, Consent, and Inclusion
Consent and Sexuality Voices
What we are owed
A seagull flying in the sky
What we are owed

…what is there to misunderstand
about hands that take without asking,
about silence twisted into consent
by those who have never had to be afraid?

By Shruti Sharma
What we are owed
Consent and Sexuality Fiction & Poetry
‘सूरजमुखी अंधेरे के’ – एक यौन शोषण से गुज़री महिला की यौनिकता की खोज
Book cover of Surajmukhi Andhere Ke by Krishna Sobti
‘सूरजमुखी अंधेरे के’ – एक यौन शोषण से गुज़री महिला की यौनिकता की खोज

कृष्णा सोबती अपने उपन्यासों में महिला–यौनिकता की बात बेझिझक उठाती हैं। सन् 1972 ई. में प्रकाशित ‘सूरजमुखी अंधेरे के’ उपन्यास…
By अनामिका झा
‘सूरजमुखी अंधेरे के’ – एक यौन शोषण से गुज़री महिला की यौनिकता की खोज
Consent and Sexuality हिन्दी
मर्जी, शादी और परिवार
A picture of Bharti in a gathering. She is looking over her shoulder, smiling.
मर्जी, शादी और परिवार

2013 के अक्टूबर के पहले हफ्ते का ख़त्म हो रहा था जब मैं और मेरे मामा प्रदीप के घर गए…
By Bharti Kannan
मर्जी, शादी और परिवार
Consent and Sexuality हिन्दी
पॉलिअमरी (बहु-संबंध) क्या है और यह क्या हो सकती है
A multi-coloured kite with multiple tails flying against a deep blue sky
पॉलिअमरी (बहु-संबंध) क्या है और यह क्या हो सकती है

यह कोई नई बात नहीं है कि समाज में स्वीकार किए जाने का एक मुख्य तरीका ‘मरने तक साथ निभाने’…
By Abhiti Gupta
पॉलिअमरी (बहु-संबंध) क्या है और यह क्या हो सकती है
Consent and Sexuality हिन्दी

Older Issues

2024

A lighthouse in the middle of a sea with light coming out of it on the left and right in the form of outstretched hands. It is an illustrated photo with most of it in dark shades to simulate night time.
Editorial – Parents, Teachers, and CSE

Each time a child or adolescent asks a question that may be (even indirectly) related to sexuality, many parents and teachers get squirmy and nervous. This may be because they themselves do not have the information required, but in most cases, it has more to do with the ‘hush-hush’ that surrounds sexuality.

December 18, 2024
View More

2023

View More

2022

A close-up photograph of a daisy
Editorial – Mental Health and Sexuality
Mental health, much like physical health, is a state of wellbeing and not just the absence of disease or infirmity. Because each of us is unique, with our own particular temperaments, quirks and histories, we may react to situations differently. However, our wellbeing is affected not only by our individual traits but also by social, cultural and other systemic factors.
September 19, 2022
View More