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Revisiting Ctrl Alt Swipe Right: Sex, Sexuality and the Internet in India

Looking back at this piece, written seven years ago, the core issues that I identified then remain significant and relevant….

By Siddharth Narrain

July 22, 2024

Revisiting Ctrl Alt Swipe Right: Sex, Sexuality and the Internet in India

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.

Public Sex and the Police in Urban Spaces

While sex workers face repeated harassment by the police, many young couples face threats in a one-off incident if the police finds them with their partner/lover. They may face police surveillance of expressions of intimacy and affection in public.

By Shruti Arora

April 1, 2022

Public Sex and the Police in Urban Spaces

Themes

In Plainspeak publishes one issue every month, with a single theme running across two months. Our aim is to expand safe, inclusive self-affirming spaces.

CURRENT ISSUE:

February 2025: Consent and Sexuality

Consent means agreeing, freely and voluntarily, to engage in an activity, like sex. Often, it gets complicated by power differences attributable to ability, class, caste, employment status, gender, and other factors operating singly or as a composite. Who is asking? Who is being asked? Do they understand what they are saying yes or no to? What if they change their mind midway? Will there be negative repercussions for withholding consent? Or, if they are women, for actively consenting, because “good girls always say no”? These are some questions that immediately spring to mind. There are also issues particular to South Asia, like arranged marriage, child and early marriage, and the lack of legal recognition of marital rape. In our culture, where respect for elders and obedience are paramount, consent is not seen as a significant value. How does disregarding consent affect us not only in our intimate relationships but also in other spheres like the workplace, cyberspace (e.g. social media) and public spaces (e.g. on the streets)? In what ways does it affect people’s understanding of boundaries, respect, and sexual rights? How do we build a culture of consent that is Safe, Inclusive, and Self-Affirming (SISA) for all people? In this issue of In Plainspeak, we explore all this, and more.

UPCOMING ISSUE:

March 2025: Consent and Sexuality

Would you like to contribute? Take a look at our submission guidelines!

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Disclaimer

We curate content from other portals to amplify discussion around sexuality and rights. All rights remain with the original sources. Corners and Videos are embedded links and Brushstrokes and Blogrolls are republished from open sources with a link back to the original source. Older links may no longer be available.

We mostly use images with a Creative Commons license. If you are the owner of an image and find that the image has not been credited properly, please let us know at inplainspeak@tarshi.net.

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