The story of a girl activist - India
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Version 0 of 1. When I was 12 a carpenter would tease, follow and harass me on my way to the school. I tried to avoid him but the situation became dire when he started making lewd comments about me. One day, he pulled down my <em>dupatta</em> [head and shoulder scarf] and I was really shaken up. I told him to stop harassing me; sometimes I warned him he would face serious consequences, but he did not take it seriously. He kept on doing it, so sometimes I would skip school to avoid him. Because of that, I decided to quit school. My family asked me why, so I had to tell them everything. They said the man shouldn't stop me from going to school and decided to file a complaint with the school's head teacher. The school did nothing so we decided to confront the man and his family. They denied it and said it was my fault for encouraging him. We spoke to a <em>panchayat</em> [local government representative] but they also failed to resolve the issue. After that, my family contacted Oxfam India's project Empowerment For Rehabilitation Academic and Health. They encouraged us to file a police complaint, which led to the successful arrest of my tormentor. After going through this challenge, I decided to join Efrah and fight for the rights of women and girls. I want to stop girls and women from suffering such problems in future. Girls in our community face various dire challenges. They are always fearful about their safety while going to school or market. There is always fear of sexual harassment, teasing and domestic violence. They do not feel safe in this society. <strong>Biggest challenge:</strong> In the beginning, people judged what I was doing negatively; they objected to my family and I doing any kind of campaigning. But that just motivated me to work hard and make the campaign successful. <strong>Proudest moment: </strong>Recently, I was interviewed for All India Radio's programme on harassment in public places, which gave me a good opportunity to share my experiences and raise awareness. My future goal is to campaign throughout Delhi. In the next five to 10 years I want to conduct campaigns across the country so that every woman in India knows their rights and are empowered to fight for justice. <strong>This content is brought to you by </strong><strong>Guardian Professional</strong><strong>. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, sign up free to become a member of the </strong><strong>Global Development Professionals Network</strong> Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |