Rising up to end violence

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Women make headlines everyday — for being victimised. For no fault of theirs, they are beaten, raped, left emotionally and physically bruised with their cries for help falling on deaf ears. But it’s time for change, claim a growing number of people who have resolved to stand up and speak out against this injustice.

On Monday in the capital, a group of concerned organisations, artists and activists came together for an evening of solidarity, condemning the growing violence against women and girls, raising the slogan — “Violence No More” at Select Citywalk.
Activist and consultant Farah Naqvi says that these little efforts by the civil society have started the conversation that we needed since a long time. “The law or the implementation of it is not going to end violence. The law is a tool, but to bring the change we have to hold conversations. It has to be a multi-layered effort. Gradually, we are going to see a multi-fold change,” she says and adds that this conversation that has started must go on.
“Unless this conversation that has started everywhere — from a kitchen and living room to offices and public transports — doesn’t stop, we are going to see a change,” she adds.
The change, it seems, has already started as women who have suffered have started coming out in the open to talk about their plight.
Karuna Thareja, a young woman who suffered violence at home and is now fighting a divorce case, says she kept quiet for very long because she was deterred by family and friends — but not now. Against the common notion that it’s usually a girl from a poor background who becomes the victim of violence, Karuna brought to notice that violence and abuse happens even in well-educated families.
“It happens all the time but one should have the courage to speak about it. The coming together of the civil society is important so that talking about sexual abuse, rape, violence, etc doesn’t remain a taboo any more. For a very long time, these topics have been closeted and have been brushed under the carpet. We need to bring it to the light,” she says.
Sunita Purakayastha agrees with Karuna. Sunita’s daughter Pallavi, a lawyer working with Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment, fell prey to a guard’s lust and lost her life last year and she is still fighting for the murderer to be punished.
“My daughter wasn’t alone at night on the road, neither did she take a wrong bus. She was in the confines of her home that we assume is the safest place, but still she became a prey. It happened because there’s no fear of the law in our country. It’s important for us to stand up and fight and make it our goal that laws are implemented and culprits are punished on time. That’s the only way to instill some fear in people with a criminal mindset,” she says.
The evening ended with Usha Uthup’s performance. Before she began her performance, she said, “Women as we say are shakti but we are nothing without men. And men are nothing without women. We need to walk on the same road, hand in hand, bringing a change.”

We have to change the mindset: Azmi
Actor-activist Shabana Azmi believes a collective voice will definitely be heard.
At the event to extend her support to the cause, she said opening up about the issue of violence against women at public spaces would help a lot. “It helps in reaching the right people with your message. The outrage that we felt after the Nirbhaya case was so loud and clear that the government had to take action. The Justice Verma committee was set up and laws were amended. Such is the effect of a protest by the civil society,” she says.
The actor read out verses from Kaifi Azmi’s Aurat, Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s Bol and Farhan Akhtar’s Little Girl. She says poetry has a power to revolutionise the world. “Poetry has been used as a form of protest. Song and music has been used as a tool to spread across the right message. But all of this is not going to bring an overnight change. However, it does create a climate of sensitivity in which it becomes possible for change to occur,” says Azmi.
However, she believes death penalty is not the solution. “It is the urgency of punishment being awarded that will help. The rapist must know that he won’t be allowed to get away and that will act as a deterrent,” she says and adds that laws in themselves are not going to change the situation overnight. “What we have to deal with is the mindset change.”