A practice session for the One Billion Rising movement

Ironically, as we celebrate International Women’s Day today to celebrate womanhood, numerous cases of violence against women through the city continue to be reported daily.

In 2008, a 360 degree ‘cultural and media’ campaign, Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell) was launched to bring an end to domestic violence against women. The campaign, by the global human right organisation Breakthrough, asked men to intervene to end domestic violence. Now, as the entire nation is seething over the rise in violence against women, the Bell Bajao campaign has decided to take one step forward and launch a global ‘One Million Men and One Million promises to end all forms of violence against women’ campaign on International Women’s Day.
“In New York, Delhi, Johannesburg, Rio, Selangor (Malaysia), Nepal and in six cities across India, we will host a lineup of keynote speakers and performances to create a vibrant, internationally connected backdrop against which commitments will be collected and publicly celebrated. The capital will see a dynamic, interactive event which will bring together bloggers, students, professionals as well as special guests from media, business, entertainment, and communications to inspire one million men to make one million concrete promises,” says Sonali Khan, vice president, India, Breakthrough.
The campaign will be formally launched at the British Council today. The prominent faces associated with the year-long campaign will include the likes of Indira Jaising, Amitabh Bachchan, Rahul Bose, Rajan Anandan, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, Advaita Kala and Anoushka Shankar.
Recently, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted regarding his support to the campaign, “From March 8, 2013 to March 2014… aim to get one million men to pledge support through @breakthrough…RESPECT TO WOMEN.”
The campaign will aim towards a shift in attitude of men. “The December 16 rape case made it amply clear that it is not enough to just adopt legal measures but it is immensely important to change the way people think. This can only be done by striking a partnership with men, as there are many who are upset about the plight of the opposite gender,” says Indira Jaisingh, executive director, Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative. The campaign is planning to use Facebook, Twitter and blogs to open up discussions on respecting women and pledging intervention in any form of violence against them.
“The support of every single person counts towards building a critical mass that will create a society where women are free of fear and brutality. We have seen positive winds of change with the Indian uprisings after Nirbhaya’s murder and in the global One Billion Rising phenomenon and I feel we will see a breakthrough in this area soon,” says Mahabano Modi Kotwal, theatre personality.
With blogging managing to attract a large section of the online community, Breakthrough has decided to partner with Indiblogger. “A blogger takes up issues with which he or she has an emotional connect and gives unbiased opinion. Over the last few years, it has emerged as a powerful voice. In the capital, we are planning to rope in about 150 bloggers for the campaign,” adds Nihal Lazarus of Indiblogger.
With most mass movements drawing in large section of student population, this campaign is also looking forward to their support. “I have decided to be a part of the campaign and draw in pledged support from my batchmates, students from other colleges, and academicians. The younger generation is most active on the social media and will help in creating the right buzz,” says Aanchal Mittal, a DU student.
The campaign will also have community-based programmes, and will use the radio and mobile platforms to reach out to people.