In recent months, sexual harassment and assault have dominated the headlines. Over the weekend, actor Aziz Ansari was caught up in a scandal after an article in Babe accused him of ignoring verbal and non-verbal cues to indicate how “uncomfortable” one woman was during a romantic encounter. Activists point to phenomena like unwanted advances and catcalling as indicative of a broader culture of sexual violence.

India faces similar issues. Like in America, a culture of shame, patriarchy, and sexual conservatism causes many sexual crimes to go under-reported and under-prosecuted in India. 

Rema Rajeshwari is the superintendent of police for the Indian state of Telangana. She’s the first woman to hold such a position and commands 5,000 police officers. Rajeshwari has devoted her career to address sexual violence.

She joins Worldview to discuss some of her ideas. One new strategy is dispatching teams of plainclothes officers to intercept catcallers and physical harassers.