Brace up and refuse to succumb….. Women Empowerment & Women Safety – The topic seems complex, heavy and hardcore ‘women’s lib’ kinds. I am no cotton-sari-clad activist or any budding neta-in. Neither am I a pro in women specific stats nor a part of policy making system. I am a regular woman with a normal family and a usual 9-to-6 job. …
Category: Rape
Women are Rising Up: From the Burka Avenger to a CNN Hero – A “Sayfty” Story
It’s 2015 and of all the alarming statistics that plague public health, very few rile me up like crimes against women. Seriously, women bring us into the world yet sexual assault, trafficking, and public health disparities seem to only be rising. You can wait for public officials, governments, and societal leaders to make change, or you can create your own movement, …
No Country for Women?
On 16th December 2014, the National Commission for Women released an advertisement in all national newspapers. The advertisement under reference praised all women of the country by calling them brave and fearless. It “saluted” the spirit of womanhood in India. It was a move on the part of the state to appear as a body that respects women and believes …
The Many ‘Missing Voices’ in “India’s Daughter”
One film came and controversy arose. The furore over India’s Daughter, a documentary based on the December 2012 Delhi gang rape has been a subject of discussion over the past few weeks. Not just the content of the film, but issues like a ban on its broadcast have resulted in the documentary being discussed by people in India and across …
The Many ‘Missing Voices’ in "India’s Daughter"
One film came and controversy arose. The furore over India’s Daughter, a documentary based on the December 2012 Delhi gang rape has been a subject of discussion over the past few weeks. Not just the content of the film, but issues like a ban on its broadcast have resulted in the documentary being discussed by people in India and across …
Where the Mind is Without Fear
In 2012, I was visiting my family in Kolkata when I heard about the brutal gang rape of a young woman in Delhi. The fear and disgust is still fresh on my mind. It has been two years since that day but news related to sexual violence against women are unabated. Take for example, the recent case of a 25-year-old girl …
Does Woman Mean “Woe-Men” in India?
The janitor in her school raped a good friend of mine when she was less than 8-years-old. She was in the girls’ toilet, all by herself, when this heinous crime occurred. When she came home and told her parents about the violence, most of which she couldn’t comprehend, her doctor father conducted a finger test to ensure whether or not …
The Night that Changed Everything
She walked back home as usual on what was an ordinary night, It was a long walk on a lonely road with no one in sight. The sense of loneliness and uncertainty made her feel queer, But she held her head high and kept walking muffling her fear. Lurking in the dark, sat a beast disguised as a man, He …
Feminism or Basic Human Rights?
Growing up in an ordinary, military, middle-class family, I didn’t expect myself to become a feminist. When I was a teenager, the prevailing view was that feminism meant being anti-men. Feminists were women who were divorced, widowed, or victims of abuse and hated everything to do with men. They lobbied for women’s freedoms only so that they could take away …
Nirbheek in Today’s World: How Feasible is a Gun for Women?
The Indian Ordnance Factory in Kanpur has taken the call to give more power to women in the country quite seriously. As a tribute to the young girl who was gang raped on December 16, 2012 and whom the nation collectively christened Nirbhaya for her unparalleled courage, the IOF has manufactured Nirbheek, a 0.32 bore light weight revolver which is …