Observer volume 15

The Observer An IIJNM publication

Vol 17, Issue 15

LGBTQIA community rises in solidarity against discriminatory laws | P 2

Friday, November 24, 2017

The Observer

@theweeklyobserver On the Web: issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs/ the_observer

Agriculturists of Belur village in Sagara taluk adopt organic farming | P 3

Probe Ravi’s death afresh, says family Demands that a different CBI wing or a judge should re-investigate it

Rayan Mitra rayan.m@iijnm.org

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he family of IAS officer D.K. Ravi on Friday demanded a re-investigation of his death, and asked the CBI to share with it papers of its inquiry into his death.

A different wing of the CBI or a judge should re-investigate the matter, they said.

Ravi was found hanging at his official residence in Bengaluru on March 16, 2015. Following claims that the popular IAS officer was killed because he took on land and sand mafia, the state government handed the investigation to the CBI a week later.

The central agency concluded that Ravi committed suicide due to personal reasons.

“The CBI did not use the brain mapping method which would have given them a lead in the case. There were injection marks in his neck,” Devaraja, the family’s lawyer, said in Bengaluru.

A repeat postmortem was not

IAS officer D.K. Ravi’s mother breaks down at the news conference she addressed with her husband and the family lawyer Devaraja (left). The family plans to move the high court demanding the CBI’s investigation files conducted as demanded by the family. The CBI did not bother to check the call details of the suspect, the lawyer said at a news conference he addressed along with Ravi’s mother and other relatives.

Ravi’s mother, flanked by her husband and lawyer Devaraja, claimed that was not a suicide. “There were injection marks on the neck of my son.

Moreover, the fan he hanged himself from did not bend. It was

a murder,” she said.

An emotional Gowramma claimed there were delays in the investigation process and there was an attempt to hide important information. “It has been more than two years since my son was

killed but justice has still not been done.”

The family plans to file a petition in the Karnataka High Court demanding the investigation files.

“We believe justice will be done,” the lawyer said.

Devaraja said that according to the CBI, then home minister K.J. George was interested in the case for his “selfish reasons”.

When The Observer called George for his reaction, he said he was in the assembly and could not answer questions.

Asked about claims that the family is using Ravi’s death to further its political aspirations, Murali Gowda, state president of the D.K. Ravi Fans’ Association said: “The damage was done by state-owned media, but we know what we are fighting for.”

Gowramma had spoken about contesting elections, Murali said.

“The Fans’ Association will contest in all the six taluks of Kolar district.” Gowramma will herself not contest, but will decide the association’s candidates.

No rains, but sewage still flows on Sultanpet Road G. Manashaa manashaa.g@iijnm.org

Ayushi Singh ayushi.s@iijnm.org

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hough there has been no heavy rain in more than a month and a half, Sultanpet Road, central Bengaluru, is flooded with dirty water.

Shopkeepers are in distress as their business is affected. Water from a drain mixes with water on the road, fouling the entire road and making life miserable for the shopkeepers, residents and commuters.

Nawaz A, a shopkeeper who owns a shop in Sultanpet, informed The Observer: “Every Sunday, this is the condition of the road. On weekdays, it is impossible to bear the stench that hangs over the area. Many shopkeepers have complained to the local corporator but to no avail.” Solid waste has blocked the drain that carries rain water.

To make matters worse, drain water from buildings sometimes flows on the streets, leaving them flooded.

“Commuters use this route to travel to their offices. Life has become hard for us.

Sultanpet Road flooded with rain water mixed with sewage | Credit: Manashaa Ganesan A lot of non-residents visit this area, one of the busiest markets in Bengaluru. There is a Sunday bazaar held on this road, which is affected due to these factors,” said A. Muhammad, a shopkeeper.

“Residents cannot keep their windows open due to the stench. It could prove harmful to children of the area,” he added. >>Concern over kids’ health, page 2

hree months ago, The Observer had reported on the garbage pile in an empty plot in ST Bed Layout, Koramangala. The situation has not changed.

The garbage mound remains as it has for the past two years.

This reporter saw garbage from the plot spilling onto the road. It has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which spread diseases like dengue and malaria.

“My house is very close to the plot. Many times when I open windows, a horrible stench from the plot enters my home,” Pavithra Mathevanan, a resident of the area, informed The Observer.

The BBMP said it could not do anything about it. “People dump garbage into empty plots because they find it convenient to do so. It is not the responsibility of the municipality to go inside empty plots and clear the garbage. Owners should keep track of their plots and get waste cleared from time to time,” said Anjana Iyer, a BBMP official

from the solid waste management department.

Vehicles carrying garbage are seen passing through the road, often dumping the waste into plots. Shop owners around the plot say the stench at times makes it difficult for their customers to stand there.

“I have small children and have to be very careful because dengue is on the rise.

Collected waste has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes due to which we have to live in constant fear of diseases,” said Sunayana VK, another resident of the area.

Stray dogs and cows are seen wandering around the area in search of food, littering the area even more.

Plastic waste, which constitutes more than half of the garbage, can choke or kill animals that chew it.

Residents of the area say they have complained to BBMP many times but to no avail. They have taken it upon themselves to urge residents to avoid dumping garbage into plots, and hand it in bags to waste collectors instead.

CITY

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The Observer Friday, November 24, 2017

Treat us like others, says Rural artists find opportunities at LGBTQIA community this Academy

Says discriminatory laws, provisions must be repealed

Pracheta Panja pracheta.p@iijnm.org

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Saket Tiwari saket.t@iijnm.org

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ince the day I identified myself as a homosexual, I’ve been looked down upon, even by my family,” says a despondent Siddharth Verma, a member of the LGBTQIA community.

Announcing the 10th anniversary of Namma Pride March, at a news conference in Bengaluru on Friday, the community demanded that IPC’s Section 377, which criminalizes homosexual activities, be reconsidered. It has also sought an end to discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.

They also asked for a repeal of Section 36-A of the Karnataka Police Act, along with rolling back of the ‘Beggar-free Karnataka’ drive as it affects the transgender community.

“The amendments proposed to the transgender community (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, should be accepted as well,” Rohini Malur, another member of the community, told The Observer on Friday.

This would give them the right to self-identification, decriminalize begging and sex work, make compulsory inclusion of transgenders in education, employment, access to housing and separate sanitation facilities.

The LGBTQIA community urged people to consider them equals and join them to help many others in their community | Credit: Saket Tiwari Apart from this, it will also give them an opportunity to have surgeries in proper conditions.

The community asked for a law that recognizes rape against anyone from the community as rape. “I am educated and have access to the Internet, which keeps me updated, but what about ignorant people in remote areas?” Rohini said.

The community also suggested sensitizing police and government authorities on the rights of the third gender. It has also urged the people and the government to treat marital rape as

rape “We also demand legal recognition of marriage, adoption, inheritance and other civilization rights of same-sex couples and members of gender and sexuality minorities’ communities," said Kristine, another member of the community.

They community has been organizing Pride Marches for the past 10 years. “We take pride in our gender and sexuality, and don’t think of it as a taboo. It is our choice and no one should ideally interfere in what we do in the bedroom,” Verma said.

rtists from rural areas of Karnataka struggle to showcase their art. The dire need of four artists from rural Karnataka to display their work has led them to the Karnataka Lalithakala Academy (KLA) in Bengaluru. The KLA arranges exhibitions every month to give exposure to such artists.

“Our objective is to give opportunities to rural artists who have talent but are afraid to come out of their shell and display their art,” KLA chairperson M.J. Kamalakshi informed The Observer on Friday. People approach KLA with requests to display their art. As an incentive, the Academy pays them Rs 1,000.

A freelance artist and guest at a KLA exhibition, Anuradha Singh, said: “Earlier, we never got many opportunities to exhibit our work.

Through these exhibitions, people get to know about the artists and their work. Usually rural artists confine themselves to their areas, and do not know where to go. This is a very good platform for them.”

The artists need a platform where they can communicate with people through their art.

These exhibitions help rural artists to publicize their work, and also earn from them.

This is important because many artists leave their passion because there is no monetary gain.

Sarvamangalya Patil’s painting that has received wide acclaim | Credit: Pracheta Panja One of the artists, Sarvamangalya Patil, said: “I try to explain freedom of women through my paintings. My family supports me, but not many women have this support, so I try to paint for them.”

Sarvamangalya, a homemaker and professional artist, is overwhelmed at getting an opportunity to show off her work.Sankar Lohar, an artist from Belagavi, said: “We need to exhibit our work to earn. If we do not get an opportunity to do this, we will not be able to sell our paintings.”

Road repair promise There’s concern Kids should be exposed is yet to be kept over kids’ health to art, says gallery owner Rachel Priyanka Dammala dammala.r@iijnm.org

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he Sun City road and the Bandemat road at Kengeri Satellite Town, are almost completely pothole ridden. This, despite a promise made by the ward contractor of Kengeri on November 9th after a pothole accident involving a school van carrying five school children, when the van partially toppled over after hitting a massive pothole on Bandemat Road.

Although the accident was a minor one with no major injurious to the school children or the driver of the van, Mr. Rangaswamy, the incident left the locals and commuters miffed.

The contractor, Mr. V.V Satyanarayana, had then said that he was unaware of the potholes on roads and that they would all be repaired within a week’s time.

It has been more than a

week since, and not much seems to have been done about it.

When contacted, Mr. Satyanarayana said that work is on only at Sun City main road and that it should be done by BWSSB or the Kengeri Housing Board. Because they are not responding to the situation, it has been handed over to the BBMP. But Mr. Suresh M.S., Assistant site Engineer of Kengeri Ward, denies this and said that it is still under the Kengeri Housing Board and not the BBMP. The roads are in such state due to the ongoing sewage work and the BWSSB site engineer Mr. Prasad said: “Work is in progress. The lines are being connected to the disposal and due to certain ROW (Right of Way) issues, it will take another 3 months at the least, to finish all the work and clear the road.

>>Continued from page 1 ometimes, we clean drain ourselves. Despite many complaints from us, no one from the BWSSB seems to care. It is hard for us to pass through the street,” said Ganesh, a software engineer who lives in Sultanpet.

The filth could affect the health of residents, especially children, who are more prone than others to waterborne diseases.

When contacted, BBMP health officer, south zone, M.N. Lokesh said: “Whatever has accumulated must be cleaned immediately so that more water does not stagnate. Diseases due to water contamination, like malaria, can spread. An instant measure would be filing a complaint with the BWSSB and making sure the water is drained.”

Residents have complained at the BWSSB Complaint Forum.

BWSSB sewage water management officer Shurudhayam, who seemed unaware of the problem, told The Observer: “I will look into the matter immediately. We need to check the wide sewage line. We will see to it that the situation is taken care of.”

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Sreejani Bhattacharyya sreejani.b@iijnm.org

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he demand for art is rising steadily, believes Shilpa Dugar, owner of Krishala Arts, an e-gallery.

“Not only affluent people but the general public too is buying art now. People today buy art not just for appreciation, but for aesthetic pleasure. Art adds warmth, colour and character to their homes and offices. The Indian contemporary art scene is very dynamic with a lot of upcoming talent. People are shifting to contemporary art from traditional art pieces,” she said in a conversation with The Observer.

E-galleries are slowly going to wipe out other ways of selling art.

“Through an e-gallery, one can easily buy art from any place….

There are only a handful of e-galleries here, so competition is less.

E-galleries are working very well and generating a lot of revenue,” Dugar shared.

Anindya Ghosh, an artist who

runs the Magic Palette art gallery, said: “The demand for art is growing. While on the one hand you have the old-school fine art, on the other, you have digital art taking up major space. Thanks to social and online platforms, art has expanded in terms of audience. Digital paintings are sold at a lower price range, giving conventional fine art stiff competition.

While digital forms shouldn’t be ignored, we have to ensure the more real art forms aren’t rendered extinct. The greatest problem with the growth of art is that it lacks balance.

Maybe with a bit of balance, growth could get more real and effective.”

Dugar said: “India is a culturally rich country, but kids are not exposed to art from a young age.

Parents would rather take children to a mall on a weekend than spend it in an art gallery.paintings and trips to museums. This is not the case in most other countries. It is time we took a leaf out of their books.”

RURAL KARNATAKA

The Observer Friday, November 24, 2017

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take Open defecation continues in Twitteratti’s on matters Ron, belying official claim of the world Rayan Mitra rayan.m@iijnm.org

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hree weeks ago, Ron taluk, in north Karnataka, was declared an area free of open defecation. Of the 38,537 households, 38,443 were reported to have toilets, 86 had access to community toilets, and eight were without toilets.

Amragol, Hirehal and Hullur villages were yet to accomplish 100% open defecation-free status.

But the reality is very different from the claim made in a panchayat survey report made public on October 31. Open defecation is rampant in some villages.

Riyaaz Kazi, a panchayat first division clerk, informed The Observer: “The most we can do is to build toilets; we can’t force people to use them. People’s mentality will take time to change.”

Schools in Belavanaki and Yavagal villages lack basic sanitation facilities. Students are seen defecating in the open during school hours. An area in Yavagal has only one toilet for 13 families.

Sarenappa, a resident, said: “Most of the times, the toilet is full. So we have no option but to defecate in the open.”

Letter to the Editor #TrollVandalism, #justasking

To troll someone these days is like putting up a gold star in your hall of fame. It doesn’t matter if somebody is sensitive to the issue, trolling is the ‘cool thing’ to do. If a person is sensitive, it is their fault. I stand with Prakash Rai and am #justasking is it right to troll somebody.

Barnana H. Sarkar

Do not waste the taxpayer’s money

The decision to demolish the Jayadeva flyover to make place for a new Metro line will be a waste of money, manpower and material. The flyover was constructed in 2006 at a cost of Rs 21 crore. Instead of wasting the taxpayer’s money, BDA and BMRCL should come up with alternative options.

Anjana Basumatary

Bicycle-sharing is a great idea

Trin-Trin, the BBMP’s project to introduce public bicycle-sharing, is a great idea. It is going to be introduced in cycling-friendly areas like Whitefield, MG Road, Vidhana Soudha and Indiranagar.

Such projects were implemented years ago in European countries.

We need more initiatives like this.

Debanjali Kabiraj

During monsoon, human waste is washed into stagnant water bodies from where villagers collect their drinking water | Credit: Rayan Mitra Sanitation infrastructure is poor, forcing people to defecate in the open. Some of the quarters provided under the Grameen

Ashraya Scheme lack toilets.

“There are no toilets, and we have to walk a long distance to defecate in the open even when

we are sick” said Manjula, a resident of the government quarters.

Open defecation poses a health threat during monsoon as human feces are washed into stagnant water bodies from where villagers collect water to drink. People of Yavagal, Asuti and Belavanaki village collect water from lakes and ponds. One of them residents offered this reporter a bottle of the lake water he had collect for drinking.

Dr Arvind, a doctor at the Savadi public health centre, said surveys have been conducted on the drinkability of lake water. If it is found unfit to drink, announcements are made in the villages, but the residents say reverse osmosis purified water doesn’t quench their thirst and results in joint pains.

“We cannot force them to drink purified water.”

Dr Arvind added: “The contaminated water does not have immediate effect but serves as leading factor in water-borne diseases like cholera, diarrhea and hepatitis. A lot of water-borne and infectious diseases are caused due to defecating in the open. Building toilets will witness a fall in cases of these diseases.”

Zero-budget farming yields good results in Belur village Kritika Agrawal kritika.a@iijnm.org

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ero-budget farming, which involves healthy organic methods of growing crops and zero cost of growing, is gaining ground among villagers of Belur in Sagara taluk in Shivamogga district.

In this method, the cost of growing and harvesting crops is zero because there is no need to buy fertilizers or pesticides.

Farmers in the village are encouraged to grow crops using the zero-budget process. “I am unlearning what I have learnt and hate high-input agriculture,” Vinayak Rao, block technology officer at the agriculture department in Sagara, informed The Observer.

Rao, who completed his postgraduation in agriculture from UAS, Bengaluru, is passionate about organic farming. He grows crops like pepper, coffee and coconut organically in his land in Belur. “My land comes under a high rainfall area and has red lateritic soil,” he explained. He has separate land for arecanut farming, where he uses lime and wood ash to control weeds and pests.

Besides manure, eco-friendly pesticides are used in organic farming. Jeeva Amruta, a mixture of cow dung, cow urine

Vinayak Rao uses wood ash and lime to control weeds in his arecanut farm | Credit: Kritika Agrawal and kitchen waste, is used to make the soil fertile and more resistant to pests.

Villagers are of the opinion that there is no need to use harmful chemicals.

Ramakrishna, a young farmer in Sagara, said: “There is no need for pesticides in farming here as we do not encounter any big diseases. For arecanut farming, we require Bordeaux mixture

to control the pests, but for the rest, we control weeds manually.”

He used Jeeva Amrutha on a small patch of his land and found it very useful.

Paper mulching, an idea that has been implemented by Rao in his farm, has yielded good results.

Mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of the soil. Paper mulch decomposes and becomes food for earthworms. In winter, it regulates soil temperature.

“Human interference in the fields should be reduced, so that nature can do its job,” Rao said.

He encourages farmers to mulch soil by using areca leaves, husk, coconut fronds and dry leaves to maintain the moisture in the soil and prevent it from weed attacks.

“The government must insist on quality over quantity, and encourage farmers to use organic fertilizers. How can we poison food, our basic need?” said K. Venkatesh, an environmentalist from Sagara taluk.

Charantana Raitha Kuta, an organization of farmers in the Keladi region, holds a meeting on the first Sunday of each month where farmers discuss different methods of farming and other agriculture-related issues.

Most farmers in the group have opted for organic farming.

They also encourage other farmers to go organic.

Subham Rath @SubhamRath1 In the Bangalore Pride March 2016, came across a very very poignant display. Some people were carrying a coffin Queer Girl K @QueerGrlKahanis ME WANT THEM SOCKS!!!!! #BlorePride Bangalore, India Pride March, 2016 Brendan Hughes @brendanhughes64 PSNI drops probe into 'F*** the DUP' displays at Belfast abortion rally - but still sends file to prosecutors over placard at #LGBT pride march.

Kati Piri Verified @KatiPiri Kati Piri Retweeted Hürriyet Daily News Due to 'public sensitivities', rights of #LGBTI in Ankara curtailed.

While Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country in which a gay pride march was held.

The Biggest Loser @ARedJayCoop Replying to @ZeroNepotism @VeronicaTalbot9 @CdnChange I agree it doesn't have "Leftist Roots" but they do stop Zionists from engaging Aishwarya S @Hyper_aice Reminder: Namma Pride March will be taking place in Bangalore on November 26th. It starts in Majestic at 2pm. Straight alliesSHOW UP. The Ranting Dingo @RantingDingo Gay sex is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in jail in India, but that doesn't stop these very courageous people from joining a pride march. Let's hope they soon get the justice and acceptance they deserve.

Today’s Weather Maximum temp (degree Celsius): 22.6°C Minimum temp (degree Celsius): 18.7°C Relative Humidity: 69% Today’s Sunset (IST): 05:50 PM Tomorrow’s Sunrise (IST): 06:23 AM Rainfall: Fog/mist in the morning and partly cloudy sky later

Observer Team Editor:Kritika Agrawal Desk: Anjana Basumatary, Arlene Mathew, Debanjali Kabiraj, Rachel Dammala, Barnana H Sarkar, Athul M, Ayushi Singh Reporter: Pracheta Panja, Rayan Mitra, Manikankana Sengupta, Shiny Kirupa, Saket Tiwari, Manashaa G, Sreejani Bhattacharyya

Culture & Society

The Observer SUPPLEMENT

Friday, November 24, 2017

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Art on the Go Can transforming metro stations into pop-up art galleries and performance spaces coax commuters to interact with each other, wonders Saiqua Sultan

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ver 3 lakh people pass through Bangalore metro stations every day, usually in a rush to get somewhere. But they often have reason to pause and take in the art installations, poetry and prose recitals, dance performances, videos, paintings and murals that now punctuate their journey. Metro stations have become the perfect canvas to take art to the urban commuter.

Inspired by similar initiatives from across the world, from Toronto to Singapore, artists, poets and students at Shrishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology aims to bring this idea home and create a continuous communication with Bangalore via myriad artistic interventions in metro stations around Bangalore.

The artists create motion-driven art work which they then display at Cubbon Park Metro Station and then record the reactions of the commuters that move through the station.

The ultimate objective was to see how the people interacted with the installations and whether they showed an inclination to do so.

Saksham Verma, a contemporary street artist used concentric shells of blue and pink at the Cubbon Park metro station to show art in motion. His aim was to create a flow of

motion through anamorphosis, a distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image.

The second such intervention was by Tanya Singh who wanted to

was her way to bring a sense of connection with the park outside.

Commuters have their own stories that they live on a daily basis.

This was the inspiration for Antra Khurana who created The Lost & Found, a series of 14 screen-printed

ages stopping to look at the paintings and engage especially in the immersive installations,” said Natasha Sharma, an artist at Shrishti.

The Participatory Art was an engaging, “crowd-bending” work which was done in three stages at the

was aimed at highlighting how fabrics moved when a metro rushes into a station. People were then seen stopping and crowding around the art work and clicking selfies. The purpose was achieved. The second installation was more of a live set-up with commuters being asked to finger paint a piece of fabric on a running stitch and make flowers. Sensor installations then used the flowers to interact with the commuters. rt in Transit was launched in Bangalore in 2015 with the Fabrice Grolaire’sgraffiti on the walls of the abandoned metro site at Peenya. Basing his inspiration on the scrapyard,now an abandoned place from where people had migrated, Fabrice created graffiti and made whimsical creatures using elementsfromthe scrapyard. The beginning of the art in transit movement saw interventions moving along the metro line from Peenyain 2015 to CubbonPark in 2017.

However, the objective and result remained the same, making artwork that catches the eye of commuters and brings them closer.

The next intervention is planned for December, which will be an amalgamation of the preceding art installations.

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October witnessed the joy of art in transit in Bangalore. Source: tfod.in bring Cubbon Park itself inside the steel and concrete metro station located at the edge of the Park. The mural at Entrance C of the station

posters on M.G. road and Cubbon Park Metro Station. “Such interventions were created to make people stop and interact. We see people of all

Cubbon Park Metro station. With small rectangular fabric pieces, a small figure of a boy tied to two poles was created; the intervention

Teach Your Children Respect for women must be inculcated in every child as a civic responsibility, says Sreejani Bhattacharyya

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analata Sengupta, who works with an MNC, vividly remembers what she went through when she was young.“I was repeatedly molested as a child,followed, teased and groped as a teenager.The funny part is if you discuss it,people judge you.They feel sorry for you.They let the molesters roam around wearing masks of uncles,brothers, friends, drivers, teachers. For all the nights that I couldn’t sleep, for all the days that I felt bad about myself,for all the hurdles that I crossed,I was alone,” she says.

Talking about sexual exploitation and abuse has always been a taboo, but things took a different turn last month when the #MeToo campaign gained momentum on social media.On October 16th, Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet”. Soon,social media was flooded with responses and the #MeToo campaign started trending on Twitter and was shared on other social media platforms.

Brave men and women put out their bitter experiences in the open.In India,where crimes against women are widespread and tolerated to a shocking degree, a few courageous women

decided to speak up.

Explaining why Indian women find it difficult to talk about sexual abuse, Vindhya Undurti, psychology professor at the school of gender studies,Tata Institute of Social Sciences,Hyderabad says, “Issues of stigma, bringing 'dishonour' to the family, community or organization, victim-blaming, power dynamics between the perpetrator and the affected, amongst other factors, have contributed to women suffering in silence. Sexual violence is one area of gender-based ex-

ploitation and oppression where historically there has been a deeply-ingrained culture of silence.”

The 'Me Too' campaign has enabled women to shift the focus of shame and blame from themselves to men and the social structures that sanction and perpetuate sexual violence. The World Health Organisation defines sexual violence as“acts that range from verbal harassment to forced penetration, and an array of types of coercion, from social pressure and intimidation to

physical force.”

But asProf.Undurti points out, “It is not very different in other countries too, victim-blaming in sexual violence is common. But in our country sexual conduct has always been associated with women’s honourand sexual violence with dishonour and shame. Hencethe emphasis on guarding the ‘purity and sexual propriety’ of women. This also reflects the linkages between women, family and caste.”

So what is the solution?

“Gender-sensitization needs to be

#MeToo has helped shift focus from the victim to the villain. Source:Cathy Meyer

introduced from the early years of childhood,” says Prof.Undurti.“Sexual violence is an indicator of unequal power relations between men and women. Thus, women must be enabled to gain more access and control over resources like education and employment opportunities so that they can be empowered to oppose and deal with instances of violence, instead of being silent.” here must be more responsive services available for women like helplines, prompt action by the police, fast-track courts and swift punishment for the guilty,” she adds. “While these measures are at the material level, we need more gender-sensitization programmes at the attitudinal level to make people aware of genderbased inequalities and to treat each other with respect.”

Banalata, however, has a different take.“That's a great idea,” she says. “But then again, kids spend 6 hours in school and the remaining 18 hours at home. It’s important for the parents to be aware, every sphere should be educated. I know some highly literate people who still don't know how to respect. It would be better if‘respect women’ is replaced by‘respect everyone,a human being, an animal, even a non-living thing’.”

“T