Blank Noise

Founded in 2003 by Jasmeen Patheja as a student project at the Srishti School of Art Design and Technology in Bangalore, Blank Noise is a volunteer-led collective committed to confronting and redefining the public conversation around street harassment and gender-based violence in India. Comprised of individuals across age groups, genders, and geographic locations, the collective emerged in response to the normalized and euphemized term ‘eve-teasing’—a phrase that diminished the seriousness of everyday sexual harassment.

Blank Noise builds its work around the lived experiences of its growing network of ‘Action Sheroes, Theyroes, and Heroes,’ whose personal testimonies form the foundation of powerful public interventions and direct street actions. These interventions aim to dismantle fear-based relationships women have with urban space and challenge social narratives that place shame and blame on survivors. Through projects like I Never Ask For It, which contests the idea that women invite harassment through their clothing, and The Safe City Pledge, launched after the 2012 Delhi gang rape, Blank Noise calls for collective responsibility and societal transformation.

Blank Noise’s work spans cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, and Lucknow, using performances, dialogues, posters, t-shirts, and public testimonies to provoke reflection, debate, and change. Rejecting passive victimhood, the collective empowers individuals to become ‘Action Sheroes’.