Audience
Priya’s Shakti is the first Indian comic book of its kind — not only confronting teenagers with the sensitive issue of sexual violence, but also engaging young people through its innovative use of augmented reality technology. — REUTERS
This first story was specifically constructed to address the problem of blaming victims of sexual violence and provided a character, Priya, who could inspire change throughout communities by appealing to audiences — especially youth — with an empathetic narrative. Priya’s story became a powerful voice a in the global movement for women’s rights and a symbol of solidarity against gender-based violence and continuing with the #MeToo movement. The creators of the comic book were honored by UN Women as “gender equality champions.”
The power of the comic book series is that it presents very difficult topics in a very approachable and empathetic way. Readers can relate with the characters and story, and especially the main character – Priya, and understand these problems. Creating a female superhero and using the genre of “superheroes” provides readers with a familiarity and accessibility to the comic book and these complex problems.
The story, engaging artwork, and interactive technology is perfectly designed for pre-teens and teenagers, and has been a success at the comic-cons and festivals. Although the comic book series is set in India, it has been popular all over the world. The comic books have been translated into English, Hindi, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish and Italian with more translations in the works. Major international news publications from Spain’s El Pais to Italy’s La Repubblica have published the entire comic book on their sites along with full page articles reaching their large readership. The series has also been popular with feminist groups, academics, and the Indian diaspora in US, Canada, and the UK. Over a half-dozen masters and Phd thesis have been written about the comic book at universities in USA, India, Netherlands, Spain, and other countries.
