As I was about to leave the door I hesitated, for a few
seconds, it was cold, I was going alone. These hesitations only lasted for a few
seconds. My husband gently encouraged me
to go. My young boys understood, when I told them I was going to the open
meeting at the London School of Economic and Political Science on Gender
Violence.
Remembering the protest on the 7th January in
front of the Indian High Commission in London, I had no hesitations, I was
going and going with a determination, to find voices that felt the same
anger that I had felt in isolation, anger of the 50 million girls missing, of the acceptance
and support of abuse from government. This endless cycle had to be stopped. I needed to be the voice that had been denied
to millions. I felt so much in unison with all the girls that had died and
had yet to shout. The voices at the
protest on the 7th January were powerful, very powerful. We shouted, ‘Shame on you’ for hours, we demanded justice, freedom and sang, 'We are not just flowers we are sparks and
fire’. It was both a process of healing for all the hurt and an
opportunity to be with other women, who were strangers but shared a common
cause.
I was very lucky to be sitting next to my heroine Meera Syal during the open meeting at LSE,
I spoke to her briefly.
Then the discourse began.
One of the audiences began with ‘We need more judges’ in
India. Kavita Krishnanan Indian
feminist at the forefront of change was on face time live to answer questions.
Yes, Indian feminist will be watching closely the budget and assessing what
actually has been done to address the issues.
Having more judges is a right. But having judges with moral conviction,
having an ethos in the system which respects and supports women is just as
necessary and valid. Women’s issues have
lit a spark which will not die down to the unjust system until real changes are
made. Changes demanded by locals not just in urban communities but in rural
communities, as well.
Quote:
‘Women’s freedom is everyone’s freedom’
Is it a fight for the dignity of all our sisters, when one
sister is unhappy it affects all sister’s. If one sister is abused in the
global family then all our brother and sisters feel the pain.
There is a dangerous line that must be kept
in check, while we demand freedom from abuse, we must be careful not to label a
whole community of being abusive. It is the system, it is the ethos that must
be changed from the top that allows, if not encourages the abuse.
Confronting abuse with abuse is not productive. We are asking for justice against crimes, we
are asking for an end of reading, listening and knowing that millions of girls
were denied the right to life, around 50 million missing girls in India. If
they survived birth many did not see childhood, if they survived childhood, the
incidence of abuse was high, if they got married then abuse would continue if
they bore girls.
A member of the audience a lawyer who has dealt with crimes
against women for 20 years and seen men escape justice and commit abuses
against women. Now she cannot understand why the death penalty has not been
implemented widely in India for rapes.
There was ‘Boos’ from the rest of the audience. The problem with the death penalty is that
the police and the army are exempt and the government is selective for whom
they subjected death penalty to. Most rapes are committed by men whom the girls
know for example, relatives, neighbours community members; girls would be
under immense pressure not to ‘kill’ her abuser.
Rape laws as they stand in Indian are scandalous, they do
not include stalking, inserting objects in women’s bodies etc. The sexual harassment bill is very
problematic and as a first step this needs to change to encompass abuse against
women. The widespread abuse and rape of UK military and police force was
highlighted. The difficulties and issues
are similar for example only 6% of sexual harassment cases are brought to
justice in UK.
If the 23 year old student 'Damini' had survived, life would have
been no better than a ‘corpse’. One of
the audiences mentioned a cartoon she saw in paper. It had one candle burn out
and then next to it a million candles light up.
This movement needs
to continue, we must continue the dialogue, and we must stand up with the light
within us to shine the light of justice everywhere.
The workshop ended with a list of actions that demanded action from
Dr Manhohan Singh. Manmohan Singh is perfectly aware of the injustice to women;
he was quoted as saying once that what was needed was a moral crusade to stop
this. As if he was waiting for an outside force to deal with the problem within
his government. That moral crusade needs
to come from his government for effective change.
I was worried going back home alone but that light within me that
took me to the open meeting also gave me another light to walk home with. I made a new friend, usually
I say hello to an elderly man on the way to school run and occasionally I see his
daughter with him. I went home with his daughter and it was delightful to
connect and to hope for a better future.
by Gurmit Kaur
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