The vulnerability of women outdoors is greatly determined by the physical and social environment, and is much worse where the communities (and law enforcers) have strong beliefs in male superiority and entitlement to sex. (Put simply, it’s the difference one feels between a Mumbai street and one in rural north India.) Girls, understandably, need protection with boys like these ones around, and the my-brother-strongest festivals of Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj are very important in this region, which has the most reported rapes in the country61. Dipu’s father told me that several Dalit women
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