“Even 65 years after our independence, we find that India’s progress towards establishing an equitable society has been slow and disappointing. Discrimination against women thrives and cuts across religion, caste, rich, poor, urban-rural divides. Secure in their solid economic and social foundation, men are men, and we are the other. Today, women realize that unless certain fundamental issues that affect gender equality and justice are addressed, women’s empowerment will remain at the level of rhetoric.” – Sharmila Tagore
Browsing: domestic violence
The word ‘home’ immediately conjures up images of comfort, security and peace – yet for many women, perhaps there is no more dangerous and frightening place than home. Behind its closed doors and curtained windows can be a whole litany of horrors from domestic violence to psychological traumas, intimidations and beatings to molestation by family members.
They gathered in the dark, in the biting winter cold in Union Square, Manhattan’s instinctive gathering place for protests and vigils, for remembrance and for times of loss.
Encircled by towering buildings and rushing, frenzied traffic, they had come together, carrying lighted votives which glittered in the dark of the disappearing day.
It was appropriate that they had gathered here for though Jyoti Singh Pandey’s story may have taken place in a street in Delhi, it has gone on to become a global catalyst, not just for women but for men of good will, for all human beings.
Looking at the somber faces, not only Indian but of every race, one realized that sexual violence is something everyone has to contend with. I could even imagine Jyoti Singh Pandey, huddled in a coat with a votive in her hand, standing in solidarity with the crowd.
She was us and we were her.
(Photo: Athanasia Kotopoulos)
“It is one thing to get out of an abusive relationship. It is another thing to be able to support yourself and your children afterwards,” says Reshma.
“Salman was my first boyfriend. I had a huge crush on him as a teenager. The crush led me to leave Florida and move to India and join films just so I could find him and get married to him. You have a license for doing idiotic things when you’re 15. However, I do not have a single regret of pursuing my first love.”
Somy Ali chats about Salman Khan, the Single Life, and her non-profit No More Tears on ‘Sex and the Single Desi’
When Mallika Dutt, director of Breakthrough, the international human rights organization, adopted the innovative, game-changing strategy of ‘Bell Bajao’ to combat domestic violence in communities, she turned to the advertising firm of Ogilvy & Mather to translate that vision into film.
Two of the films bagged the Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2010. Ogilvy & Mather had created these films for Breakthrough pro bono – so this just goes to show no good deed goes unrewarded!
WATCH THE AWARD-WINNING VIDEO. A CHAT WITH MALLIKA DUTT