What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape

Written by Sohaila Abdulali

Narrated by Sohaila Abdulali

After surviving gang-rape at seventeen in Mumbai, Sohaila Abdulali was indignant about the deafening silence that followed and wrote a fiery piece about the perception of rape—and rape victims—for a women's magazine. Thirty years later, with no notice, her article reappeared and went viral in the wake of the 2012 fatal gang-rape in New Delhi, prompting her to write a New York Times op-ed about healing from rape that was widely circulated. Now, Abdulali has written What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape——a thoughtful, generous, unflinching look at rape and rape culture.



Drawing on her own experience and her work with hundreds of survivors as the head of a rape crisis center in Boston, Abdulali tackles some of our thorniest questions about rape, articulating the confounding way we account for who gets raped and why. In interviews with survivors from around the world we hear moving personal accounts of hard-earned strength, humor, and wisdom that collectively tell the larger story of what rape means and how healing can occur. Abdulali also points to the questions we don't talk about: Is rape always a life-defining event? Is one rape worse than another? Is a world without rape possible?



What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape is a book for this #MeToo and #TimesUp age that will stay with listeners—men and women alike—for a long, long time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Nov 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781684416073

Sohaila Abdulali

Sohaila Abdulali was born in Mumbai and moved to the United States with her family when she was a teenager. Since then, she has lived in both countries. She has a BA from Brandeis University in economics and sociology and an MA from Stanford University in communication. Her undergraduate thesis dealt with the socio-economics of rape in India. She is the author of two novels as well as children's books and short stories. Her writing frequently appears in The Guardian and other newspapers. She lives in New York with her husband and their daughter.

Reviews for What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape

[adelaide1_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was mesmerized by the first page. This book illustrates the true conformity that people have succumbed to in order to simply exist. Abdulali is compassionate and direct in understanding people’s inability to change due to so many circumstances. She shows that regardless of fear, we must all fight against the “social norms” that we have allowed to continue in this still patriarchal society. Take the time to reflect and ask yourself if you are the type of person who will blame a victim of sexual crime, or who understands that it’s a crime but believes that change will never come; especially if you are a woman. We must hold people accountable, including ourselves. Rape is not a woman’s issues, it is a human being’s issue. Even with the strong direct language, this book is not a preach, it is a true word of experience and hope that tomorrow no person will endure the trauma of this horrible crime.

[arlenadean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Title: What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape
Author: Sohaila Abdulali
Publisher: The New Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape" by Sohaila Abdulali

My Thoughts...

This was definitely one incredible read where one will get a wide range of topics under this subject: RAPE. This well written novel will cover this subject from a 'political opinion, factual evidence and personal narratives' that is a easy read even though its a heavy topic with some horrible stories. I definitely found this information definitely eye opening as well as terrifying in what went on. Again, I will say this was quite a read where Sohaila Abdulali will draw one into her own 'experience that she had with rape and its aftermath.' This subject will not be a easy novel to read but in the end one will get a full understanding of what these survivors went through and yet it 'sends a message of empowerment for women.'

Thank you to both NetGalley and The New Press for my ARC of this book.