Gender politics and sexual violence are closely linked with the Hindutva project. Women have played an important role in the movement, sometimes in organisations such as Durga Vahini or the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, allowing the Sangh Parivar to reach new audiences. High profile individuals include Maya Kodnani, Sadhvi Rithambara and Sadhvi Pragya.
Many episodes of communal violence, notably the Gujarat pogroms of 2002, have seen systematic use of sexual violence against women. Men are urged to demonstrate their masculinity through rape and public humiliation of women and men of minority communities (see for example the VHP leaftlet quoted here). At the same time the protection of women is used to justify communal violence via myths such as "Love Jihad".
The backdrop to this violence includes Sangh Parivar moral policing, for example attacks on couples celebrating Valentine's day or out together in public; sexist imagery and threats of sexual violence circulating widely on social media; and the close linking in Hindutva writings of masculine power with the strong Hindu nation.
References:
• Speeches from a panel on Gender and the Hindu Right (UK, March 2014).
• Why Opposing Narendra Modi Is A Women's Rights Issue (Coalition against Genocide).
• Gender and Nationalism: the masculinization of Hinduism and female political participation in India (Sikata Banerjee)