In mid-October, my Twitter timeline was flooded with tweets about a viral Nepali Facebook group, Balatkari Sangathan, translating to Rapists’ Association. On the group, several hundred members shared memes about rape, graphically described committing acts of sexual violence and explicitly blamed survivors for the violence they faced. Although the group members were later arrested, I couldn’t get over the existence of such a vile group. How could it so brazenly promote rape culture and victim blaming despite the proliferation of sexual violence cases in the country? I was more shocked to find out that this group had been created as a response to a movement that had started a few days before.

On Oct. 10, a group of 25 girls took to the streets of Kathmandu, the capital city, chanting a powerful anthem titled Balatkari Hos Ta. This translates to You Are The Rapist, an adaptation of the viral feminist chant, A Rapist in Your Path, that started in Santiago, Chile in late 2019 and has since spread to over 200 different cities globally. The girls, dressed in all black with their faces covered with masks and black cloth, performed a two minute long flashmob condemning the ubiquitous patriarchy in Nepali society: its laws, incompetent governance and impunity for perpetrating rape and an entrenched culture of victim blaming. This was the beginning of a new social movement: Ajhai Kati Sahane, translating to How Much More Should We Tolerate.

Founded by six young activists, the group has redefined social movements against sexual violence in the country in just over a month. Through their emphasis on decentralization and inclusivity as well as their creative protests — each of which has complied with all pandemic measures set forth by the government — Ajhai Kati Sahane has garnered wide public acclaim and the attention of Nepalese authorities.

“We had all been reading about an alarming number of rape cases across the country where survivors had committed suicides due to the lack of justice, and this enraged us,” explained Sagoon Bhetwal, a third year Bachelor’s student pursuing Social Science and one of the founders of the movement. “This mutual sense of rage ended up connecting us members and in a span of a day, prompted us to create and perform the flashmob as well as initiate Ajhai Kati Sahane.”

According to the data from the Nepal Police, 2,144 cases of rape and 687 cases of attempted rape were reported in the fiscal year 2019-20, an increase from 1,480 cases of rape and 727 cases of attempted rape from fiscal year 2017-18.

As a result of the wide attention gained by the first flashmob, institutions such as the Human Rights Commission, Nepal Police and the Nepalese Attorney General, various parliamentarians and lawmakers reached out to the group to discuss their demands.

“I agree that there are multiple loopholes in our Constitution and there is lack of proper implementation of laws in the country [with regards to cases of sexual violence], but we have to give credit where it is due,” stated Bhetwal. “We were extremely surprised and thankful that the authorities have taken an interest in our movement and invested time in discussing potential solutions with us.”

In consultation with lawyers and activists, the group has put forward seven main demands to enable survivors to access proper justice as well as to develop more inclusionary and preventative policies. From demanding the use of gender neutral terms in laws concerning sexual violence to proper implementation of life imprisonment for perpetrators, the movement seeks to bring about a multitude of changes in Nepali society.

Amid immense frustration about the pervasiveness of sexual assault, many people have been advocating for the death penalty using the hashtag #HangTheRapist.

“Even well-known celebrities started promoting such an appalling and unconstitutional stance without proper knowledge on the issue,” expressed Bhetwal, explaining why the death penalty is not the solution. “If anything, it adds additional pressure on survivors, especially in cases where the perpetrator is a family member or a relative.”

“So, we wanted to raise our voice against this notion through our movement,” said Bhetwal, who has been advocating for alternative measures instead, such as provinces introducing proper sex education and strengthening the partnerships between the Nepal Police and local communities.

In a country plagued with caste discrimination and homophobia, one of the core values of the movement is to approach sexual violence through an intersectional lens. Rather than speaking on behalf of communities they do not represent, Ajhai Kati Sahane has been able to amplify the voices of survivors from every corner in the country regardless of their sexual orientation, caste or class.

“Unlike older movements, we wanted to show that sexual violence is a nation-wide issue faced by individuals in every part of the country,” stated Bhetwal. “Not limiting it to Kathmandu by making it inclusive and trying to represent marginalized communities from all over Nepal has let us … prove our point and make the government take us more seriously.”

The group has made all their resources public, including the flashmob choreography and their list of demands, to provide access to communities all over Nepal. Consequently, around 40 districts across the country have performed some version of the flashmob, paving a path to start a much needed conversation around a highly stigmatized topic. Additionally, in order to conduct a flashmob within a community, local leaders are required to have a conversation with the group members to ensure that their core values and beliefs align with the goals of the movement. This prerequisite also makes sure that all events taking place are compliant with the Covid-19 guidelines regardless of the geographical location.

“We wanted people to take initiatives by themselves, even at local levels, beyond just Kathmandu. But we wanted to make sure all communities understood the core of our movement,” explained Bhetwal. “And we’re very happy to see that it has been working in communities including Dalit and LGBTQI communities from the entire country.”

Bhetwal’s optimism felt contagious, despite the detached nature of a Zoom call, and sparked a moment of hopefulness for me. Hearing Bhetwal passionately talk about Ajhai Kati Sahane and watching her and the entire group bravely taking the initiative to create an inclusive social movement with such a strong emphasis on preventative measures inspires me. In a country where the #MeToo movement fizzled without gaining much traction, instead backfiring as a victim blaming contest with high profile perpetrators being set free with no consequences, Ajhai Kati Sahane has a long way to go to achieve their goals and bring about tangible changes in both societal and legal spheres. However, their attempt at changing the narrative around rape and sexual violence comes as a much needed sliver of hope in the country.

“We received a lot of negative comments and backlash, and that group is just an example of it,” reflected Bhetwal, referring to the Balatkari Sangathan Facebook Group. “I personally don’t feel hurt by such things and neither does our movement.”

“These actions portray and illustrate exactly what we are fighting against,” she added. “So they actually make our case stronger and allow us to gather more support from the public.”