[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n February 14, when a part of the world was observing Valentine’s Day another set of people were joining hands across the great divide and came together for justice.Sex workers from the city’s red light areas in Kokata’s Khidirpur participated in the global One Billion Rising campaign. ONE BILLION RISING FOR JUSTICE is a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely in community outside places where they are entitled to justice – courthouses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not. It is a call to survivors to break the silence and release their stories – politically, spiritually, outrageously – through art, dance, marches, ritual, song, spoken word, testimonies and whatever way feels right.The women of Kolkata’s red light area participated in street plays and dances in a rally brought out as part of the campaign.100 women, including daughters of sex workers took part in the rally.
The play highlighted problems like trafficking of girls, before the rallyists submitted a charter of demands to police calling for steps to ensure women’s safety and support to witnesses of violence against women. Earlier the campaign was kicked off in the city with a workshop discussing the Sexual Harassment of Women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
In Nagaland violence including domestic violence has become the order of the day.
With every incident coming to light either by women’s groups or in the media that much more needs to be done in addressing the root causes.
A need to sensitise the younger generation on ‘gender violence’ is increasingly become a gap which needs to be bridged. This can only happen in an environment which encourages discussions on these topics. Our schools, colleges, universities and organizations which work on women’s rights need to create platforms to make such issues a subject of debate and concern.
A disconnect with the environment which is constantly changing can prove to be detrimental to developing a strong and reliant society in the future.
