Online abuse targeting South Asians appears to be intensifying, with anti-Indian slurs and hostile rhetoric around immigration and H-1B visas continuing to spread across social media.
After the derogatory term “Pajeet” gained wider circulation online as a slur against Indian and Sikh men, a new term - “Latrinas” - is now being used by some users to target Indian women.
The word has appeared in posts on platforms such as X and Threads, often in content attacking Indian immigrants or calling for stricter visa policies.
Several users have openly used the term as a racial insult.
One account wrote, “Poopjeets for men, Latrinas for women,” while another post claimed that the term had become a “mainstream slur.” Other users encouraged its spread.
Images of Indian women at public events, tourist locations and festivals have also been reposted with the term attached to them.
The word appears to draw from “latrine,” which refers to a toilet. Its exact origin as an anti-Indian slur remains unclear.
One possible explanation is that it may have emerged from a recent social media phrase describing “Indian girls as the new Latinas,” which some users later distorted into “Latrinas” as an insult.
Trend-tracking website Twittrend reportedly listed “Latrinas” among global X trends on September 25, with around 1,000 posts associated with the term.
The spread of the slur has drawn criticism from Indian Americans and other users.
Seattle-based Anu A. told The American Bazaar that the term was “disgusting,” particularly given the economic and professional contributions made by Indian immigrants in the US.
Some posts using the term have attracted large audiences.
One X post referring to Indian women with the slur reportedly drew around 1.6 million views and 20,000 likes by September 27, while other users amplified it with posts describing it as a “new slur.”
The development follows the wider spread of “Pajeet,” another racist term used against Indian men. Variations of that term have also appeared in online discussions targeting Indian professionals, including H-1B visa holders.
The latest trend has added to concerns about growing anti-South Asian hostility online.
A report by Stop AAPI Hate found that anti-South Asian slurs rose by 109 per cent between January 2023 and December 2025 in online spaces associated with targeted violence.
The report also said January 2025 saw the highest monthly total of anti-Asian slurs since monitoring began in 2022.
The growing use of such language highlights how anti-Indian rhetoric is becoming more visible in online spaces and is contributing to a broader atmosphere of hostility toward South Asian immigrant communities in the United States.
