Are cows really more “respected” than women in India?

First, the most recent work of the Indian photographer Sujatro Ghosh may draw attention to the strangeness. After all, they are photos of women doing banal everyday things, like studying or talking on the phone – only wearing cow masks. The images, however, are much more than a mere “bizarre”, they are a provocation: are Indian women, after all, less respected in the country than the sacred animal of Hinduism?

“My art comes in the form of a protest”, explains the photographer in his profile. Instagram in which it publishes the images.

India is, in fact, often the scene of shocking cases of aggression against women. The collective rape and murder of a student in 2012, for example, caused worldwide commotion.

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According to a report released in 2016 by the country’s National Crime Records Bureau, in 2015 alone there were more than 34,000 cases of rape registered there. According to police statistics, 2016 saw around six cases of rape and 12 sexual harassments recorded daily🇧🇷

The relevance of Sujatro’s work becomes more than evident when one points out, for example, the stark difference in the way crimes against women and crimes against cows are punished in the country. While it is very common for abusers of women in India to go unpunished, certain districts of the country have laws that specify the death penalty for anyone who kills the animal.

In an interview with the newspaper The Guardian, the photographer claims to be in favor of the protection of animals – but to be concerned with the country’s sociopolitical scenario. “My intention is to make people aware of these issues,” he says.