https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46602885
Why smartphones are skewing young Indians’ ideas of sex
Making pornographic material or sharing it is illegal in India
A troubling trend of rape videos going viral in India has led many to believe that smartphones and easy access to violent porn, coupled with a lack of sex education, could fuel sexual violence. The BBC's Divya Arya reports.
Earlier this year, a video showing a group of teenage boys trying to rip the clothes off a young woman was shared extensively on WhatsApp in India.
In it, she is urging them to stop, using the term "bhaiyya" (Hindi for brother) but they are jeering, laughing, clearly enjoying themselves.
As the video went viral, police were able to establish that it was filmed in a village in the northern state of Bihar. The accused teenagers were arrested.
The arrests caused anxiety in their village in Jehanabad, a four-hour drive from the state capital Patna, where village elders blamed the entire incident on smartphones.
Making pornographic material or sharing it is illegal in India.
But even as it becomes easier to access pornography thanks to cheap data and smartphones, there is concern that this isn't being accompanied by any meaningful understanding of sex and relationships.
Local boys in the village freely admitted to the BBC that they watched videos of molestation and rape. One 16-year-old said he had seen more than 25 such videos, adding that his friends often shared them on their smartphones.
"Most boys in my class watch these videos together or sometimes by themselves," another boy said. "It feels fine because everyone does it."
Experts say this kind of introduction to sex is typical for many Indian men.
WhatsApp is the medium often used to share such videos
Why smartphones are skewing young Indians’ ideas of sex
- 28 December 2018
A troubling trend of rape videos going viral in India has led many to believe that smartphones and easy access to violent porn, coupled with a lack of sex education, could fuel sexual violence. The BBC's Divya Arya reports.
Earlier this year, a video showing a group of teenage boys trying to rip the clothes off a young woman was shared extensively on WhatsApp in India.
In it, she is urging them to stop, using the term "bhaiyya" (Hindi for brother) but they are jeering, laughing, clearly enjoying themselves.
As the video went viral, police were able to establish that it was filmed in a village in the northern state of Bihar. The accused teenagers were arrested.
The arrests caused anxiety in their village in Jehanabad, a four-hour drive from the state capital Patna, where village elders blamed the entire incident on smartphones.
Making pornographic material or sharing it is illegal in India.
But even as it becomes easier to access pornography thanks to cheap data and smartphones, there is concern that this isn't being accompanied by any meaningful understanding of sex and relationships.
Local boys in the village freely admitted to the BBC that they watched videos of molestation and rape. One 16-year-old said he had seen more than 25 such videos, adding that his friends often shared them on their smartphones.
"Most boys in my class watch these videos together or sometimes by themselves," another boy said. "It feels fine because everyone does it."
Experts say this kind of introduction to sex is typical for many Indian men.
WhatsApp is the medium often used to share such videos
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