Unearthed Design Brief by Willhemina Wahlin

UNEARTHED stories of courage in the face of sexual violence DESIGN BRIEF 2015

Exhibition Organisation PROOF: Media for Social Justice Exhibition Project Team Curator: Leora Kahn (PROOF) Phone: 914-522-3109 Email: leora@proof.org Project Manager: Deb Driscoll Email: debra@proof.org Designer: Willhemina Wahlin Phone: +61 450 885 002 Email: willhemina@gmail.com

Local Partner (India) National Foundation of India NFI will bring this to Delhi and host a conference/March 8 National Foundation for India was set up in 1992 by a group of eminent Indians under the leadership of Bharat Ratna late C. Subramanian, late Dr Kamla Chowdhry and Dr. M. S. Swaminathan. NFI was conceived as an autonomous, professionally managed fund raising and grant-making organisation. The Ford Foundation provided pioneering support to set up NFI as an independent Indian Foundation to promote civil society action and public deliberation for social change. Mission: NFIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to help create a just and equitable society, by enabling marginalised communities to improve the quality of their own lives, by improving public understanding of social issues and promoting social justice. Core functions: NFI makes grants to support voluntary organizations working in poverty endemic and difficult parts of the country. We work to build capacities of individuals, communities and civil society to improve the quality of their lives and enhance their ability to negotiate from a position of strength. Contact: Monica Banjeree Phone: 91.9818516067 Email: sohini@breakthrough.tv

Breakthrough TV India Breakthrough works to make violence and discrimination against women and girls unacceptable. They use cutting-edge multimedia campaigns, community mobilization, agenda-setting, and leadership training equip men and women worldwide to challenge the status quo and take bold action for the dignity, equality, and justice of all. Contact: Sohini Bhattacharya Phone: 91.9818516067 Email: sohini@breakthrough.tv http://www.breakthrough.tv/ Photographer Smita Sharma Email: smitasharma3@gmail.com

About the Project

Unearthed, India

The Legacy of Rape project was created by PROOF: Media for Social Justice and to date has focused on the issue of rape used as a weapon during war and its effects on women and communities, as well as campaigning against the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators at local, national and international justice levels. The Legacy of Rape has featured the photographic portraits and testimonies of rape survivors from Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal. The exhibition has already been designed three times: in Swahili and French (travelling around the DRC with the American Bar Association’s travelling legal clinics), in French and English (shown at The Missing Peace Symposium, February 12-16, 2013, at the United States Institute of Peace, Washington D.C, the 11th Annual Forum and Film Festival on Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, and Yale University), Colombia (name of university) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (under the name “My Body a War Zone” and name of conference).

The Unearthed project is part of the wider Legacy of Rape project by PROOF: Media for Social Justice. However, Unearthed in India departs from the other exhibitions associated with the Legacy of Rape project in that it does not focus solely as rape within war, but gender violence in India as a social and cultural problem. It will also differ in that it will not only contain the testimonies of rape survivors in India, but also contain the testimonies of people who were upstanders against rape. Further, it will contain a series of photographs that document ‘places’ where sexual assaults occurred.

Background of Issue Rape in India has been described by the UN’s Human Rights Chief as a “national problem” and by Radha Kumar1 as one of India’s most common crimes against women. New Delhi has the highest rate of rape-reports among Indian cities. Sources show that rape cases in India have doubled between 1990 and 2008. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 24,206 rape cases were registered in India in 2011, although experts agree that the number of unreported cases is much higher. Recorded under the Indian Penal Code between the years 1953 to 2011, rape, has seen the maximum rise among all the total cognizable crimes in the country according to the latest data by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) - the statistical wing of Indian Police under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). With 24,206 cases in 2011, rape cases jumped to incredible increase of 873 % from 1971 when the oldest case of rape was first recorded by NCRB. Even in 1971, there were 2043 cases of rape, the NCRB report said. The NCRB had started collecting data on rape cases only from 1971 while other cognizable crimes have been chronicled from 1953. 1 Radha Kumar is an author and expert on ethnic conflicts and peace processes. She has been a director at the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Jamia Milia Islamia and is currently Director-General of the Delhi Policy Group. She was appointed as one of the three interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir appointed by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) of the Central Government of India. She is a specialist on ethnic conflicts and peace processes.

Delhi with rising incidence of such cases reported in the NCR region ranked one with 507 cases of rape in 2011. West Bengal, the State known more for its rich literary heritage ranks second with 2363 rape cases. In 2011, there were 9398 cases of rape involving children. Besides Kolkata (Calcutta), the capital of the State, when we take a look across the districts of West & East Midnapore, and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, India the cruelty, severity and frequency of rape, murder and all other forms of violence against women have increased hugely. It is to note that West Midnapore is still a Maoist inflicted district and East Midnapore is yet to recover from the trauma of hundreds of women being raped and butchered during the last Left Front regime and ironically the change of the State Government couldn’t control rape cases. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1952 (AFSPA), which allow the military to shoot or torture on grounds of suspicion, directly without going through the courtroom, raves havoc in the north-eastern States of India. Among the seven States, Manipur is the worst affected area. A few years ago, women in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, demonstrated a nude-protest on the streets against the torture and rape of Manipuri women by the armed forces under the cover of AFSPA. In Kashmir too AFPSA exists, incidents of rape and torture on women are rampant. As anywhere else in the world, rape is an important ‘instrument’ of war and conflict in this part

of the country and both the insurgents and the military make ample use of it in matching frequencies. In response to international attention to the problem, the Indian Government has made public a number of prosecutions of members of security forces for rape. However, reports of rape and other sexual assaults in Kashmir persist. The Kunan Poshpora mass rape case against Indian Army is still in the desk of the Indian Judicial Court remains unresolved. In spite of Indian Government introducing the ‘debatable’ Criminal Law (Amendment), 2013 brought against the backdrop of the country-wide outrage over Delhi gang rape, the nation still witnesses such torments almost every day. The threat of violence is a total intrusion into women’s personal space and transforms the daily life (for example, a walk in the park, a quiet evening at home, and a long train journey) into a potentially upsetting, disturbing and often threatening experience. We also have to consider the fact that in many cases the victim often faces innumerable inhuman troubles coming from the society itself apart from the trauma.

go unnoticed and unchallenged. Thus the issue has to be addressed consistently, intensely in various ways. It is not just India that is suffering from the trauma of increased violence against women it has been a global problem considering the various incidents that we come across through social media everyday around the world. The issue in hand is a malignancy and it needs to be addressed in a singular way with the active involvement of the target audience. Images – photographs and video - are a global language of communication and their impact can be enhanced by the introduction of intensive awareness campaign in the form of education, all run simultaneously at every location, with maximum mass participation ensured.

It took the beastly incident of the Delhi rape case in late 2012, to wake us up, once again, to the ugly truth of a steep increase in atrocities against women. With all the protests, concern and awareness campaigns doing the rounds throughout the country, the incidents of such violence and rape keep on happening almost every day. Those in the urban limelight sometimes get highlighted, but no one seems to have any idea about the numbers that

Background of Project In India, survivors of rape are often violated three times: once by the perpetrators of the crime, again when the police fail to take action on their behalf, and yet again, when they are shamed and shunned by their communities and families as unfit for marriage.

to educate policy makers and the general public about violence against women It aims to inspire young people to think about choices they make. Survivors of rape have bravely stepped forward to detail their stories in order to unveil the true legacy of violence against women.

But violence against women in India is beginning to get the legal attention it deserves. Since the violent gang rape and murder of an Indian woman on a moving New Delhi bus several years ago, women (and men) across India are demanding justice for the country’s rape victims and shaming authorities into prosecuting perpetrators.

The exhibit incorporates oral testimonies, photographs and workshops designed to raise awareness of rape prevention and the need for laws that will lead to the swift, just and humane prosecution of perpetrators, while capturing the strength and resilience of survivors. The exhibit includes rape survivors and upstanders – those who have stood up against the injustice in their communities and spoken out. One panel shows photos of places of incidents of rape that have happened around India.

Recently, villagers in Northern India were so outraged when two teenage cousins were found hanging from a mango tree they surrounded the girls’ remains and refused to allow the police to remove the bodies until the perpetrators were apprehended. Five men were eventually arrested for the rape, torture and death of the girls, including two policemen. And in Bangalore, a 6-year was raped at school. When the principal refused to take action, parents marched on the municipality. The child’s skating teacher was as arrested and is awaiting trial. Like elsewhere in the world, Indian politicians respond when an angry crowd demands justice. PROOF has been working on bringing the internationally recognized Legacy of Rape exhibit (renamed, “Unearthed: Stories of Courage in the face of sexual violence. ”) to India

The exhibit will travel throughout India. Only when often ancient community attitudes are informed about the violence of rape will security for India’s women and children improve, and survivors receive the compassion and justice they need and deserve. PROOF’s rape project has raised awareness and effected change in such diverse places as the Congo, Bosnia and Colombia, among others. PROOF’s Unearthed: Stories of Courage in the face of sexual violence” aims to bring the voices to the public and try to change attitudes of youth and affect policy.

Background of Project Aims

Further Reading

• Advocate for changes in local and international laws to facilitate swift, just and humane persecution of perpetrators. • Support the social science research on sexual violence and care for survivors of sexual assault and promoter commendations • To create an educational campaign.

“Rape: A Weapon of War” Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2015) Accessed 26 October 2015.

Projected Project Outcomes

“Becoming Abject: Rape as a Weapon of War” Bülent Diken and Carsten Bagge Laustsen “Rape as a Weapon of War” Caludia Card (2011), Hypatia, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Fall).

• Created a cadre of young upstanders • Drawing more attention to prevention and possible stories of those who helped.

Content Unearthed will have have four sections: introduction and photographersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; bios, rape survivors, upstanders, and places of rape.

Section 1: Introduction 01. Introduction (Dr Ranjana Kumari) 02: Photographer bios (Smita Sharma, Poulomi Basu and CJ Clark)

Section 2: Survivors 01. Shanti (quote and text) 02. Prajuna (quote and text) 03. Shabina (quote and text) 04. Beena (quote and text)

Section 2: Upstanders 01. Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi (quote and text) 02. Mangla Prasad (quote and text) 03. Sunanda Mukherjee (quote and text) 04. Runu Mondal (quote and text)

Content Introduction Dr. Ranjana Kumari- Unearthed Violence against women (VAW) in India continues to be a widespread and pervasive problem which women at all levels of society face on a daily basis. VAW is complex, deeply entrenched, and brutal. It has catastrophic consequences on womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health and wellbeing. Sexual violence and domestic violence are very effective ways to keep women from reaching their full potential, and from accessing their rights. They are the most blatant and cruel weapons of patriarchy.

the women in your entourage. It is providing emotional support to women you know who have been victim of violence, and defending them. An Upstander in the face of VAW, speaks out against victimshaming speeches of authorities. Bystanders to violence are part of the problem, and offering assistance to the victim, or threatening to call the police, should become the norm. India at large, its government representatives, officials, and its citizens have to choose to speak up and act against VAW.

India, a nation of 1.2 billion people, accounts for approximately 25, 000 reported cases of rape every year, with the number of reports increasing every year. Domestic violence has been the most reported violent crime against women in the country every year for the past 10 years. Since the December 16th gang rape of Nirbhaya, the amplified attention to sexual violence has shed light on the magnitude of this global plague, and has also put India in the spotlight. This kind of violence can no longer be tolerated. There are ways to fight back against such violence in our everyday life. Street harassment has been tolerated for so long because of the number of bystanders watching silently. Being an Upstander against violence can take many forms. It starts by calling out assailants on their actions, and placing the blame on the perpetrators. It can be as simple as ringing a doorbell to interrupt violence. It can also be expressed by not accepting humiliating terms towards yourself and towards

Content Photographer Bios Survivor and Upstanders SMITA SHARMA is an Indian freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer based in between New York and Kolkata. Her work has been published in national and international publications. She’s exhibited in USA, France, Cambodia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, UK and Myanmar. She is the recipient of The Washington Post award at the Eddie Adams Workshop, and the PVCHR Karmaveer Chakra Bronze award for Protection of Human Rights. Smita also received the Karmaveer Chakra National Silver award from Apeejay and iCONGO. Born and raised in the Himalayan foothills of Shillong City, India, she has lived and travelled widely in India, South Asia and USA. She takes deep interest in human rights and gender violence issues. Places of Rape

is photographer based in New Delhi, India. She is part of the VII Photo Mentor Program. She is interested in the lives of ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstance; in those individuals and groups who quietly challenge the prevailing orthodoxies of the world in which they live. POULOMI BASU

Poulomi divides her time between working on long-term personal projects and assignments for the international media and humanitarian organizations. Amongst others her work has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, International New York Times, Financial Times Weekend 12

Magazine, Monocle, NPR, Le Monde, Courrier International and she has undertaken assignments for UNESCO, Save the Children and Water Aid. In 2012 she was awarded the Magnum Foundation Human Rights Fellowship. www.poulomibasu.com is an award winning filmmaker and photographer. His film ‘Mother & Daughter’ won the inaugural BJP/Canon Open Shutter Award in 2011. Long-term photography projects include ‘Loyalists,’ about contemporary Northern Ireland and ‘Magic Party Place,’ about contemporary England. He recently directed ‘It Shouldn’t Happen Here’ an advert to launch Save the Children’s campaign on UK poverty. He is currently Asia Multimedia Producer for Save the Children. CJ CLARKE

Content Survivors of Rape 01: Shanti ‘I was kept in a government shelter for five months and I was not allowed to meet my family. They didn’t give me the pill to prevent pregnancy. When I learned I was carrying a baby, it was already at an advanced stage. I had no choice.’ Shanti, 15 years old, was called outside her school and abducted by a neighbour and his friend. She was raped and threatened with murder to keep quiet. During the time of this photo she was seven months pregnant, having been finally returned to her family and getting some medical care with support from an NGO. She recently gave birth to her son. The perpetrator was soon caught and imprisoned. There have been no investigations about the alleged negligence of the underage women’s shelter. 02: Prajuna ‘They took time to gain our trust, we were the only two girls in this community receiving an education. Ever since the incident, I have stopped going to school and I don’t bother speaking to any of my friends or neighbours. I have no hope.’ Prajuna and her friend Sonia , both 14 years old, were taken to “visit the market” in the neighbouring town by two truck drivers who had befriended their families, as they worked in the same brick kiln. The perpetrators waited till it was dark before driving them back, stopped midway at an abandoned

house on the highway, raped them and left them there to die. The girls walked back five kilometres in the dark, bleeding in torn clothes. The village leader and the kiln owner’s goons later tried to threaten the family and the case worker to release the rapists and drop the case. 03: Shabina ‘My husband’s family members still verbally abuse me every time they see me on the street. My son is the only reason I’m living. If I don’t bring my earnings to my mother and brother every week, they’ll throw me out of the house.’ Shabina, 20 years old, was raped seven years ago by a local man, threatened to silence, she only spoke up late in her pregnancy because it was impossible to hide. The man was made to marry her by her family and the community. His family constantly abused her and her child, till her father lodged a complaint and contacted a local NGO with his dying breath. She’s currently learning embroidery and working at a puffed rice factory earning a meagre 7$ per week. The court case is still ongoing. 04: Beena ‘I’m happy that I’m getting married, my fiancee knows of my past but he doesn’t mind. I’m looking forward to going to Pune city with him next year.’ Beena, 15 years old, was going to be married in eight days, when a distant relative, a man in his forties, with a wife and 13

daughter, said he’ll take her to meet her mother. She was abducted by him and taken to a neighbouring state, where she was raped repeatedly for weeks. The police rescued her soon after, the perpetrator was also apprehended and is in jail. Her previous marriage didn’t happen, the new groomto-be is from the same community and a city dweller. She is still underage (below 18) to marry.

Fighters for the Cause 01: Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi ‘The most common factor is the idea “the woman is my property, I can do whatever with it”. Another thing is the concept of revenge for a woman’s forwardness by humiliating her body and mind. The idea of masculinity that is taught to us from childhood, is skewed, and its extreme form is rape. This needs to change.’ Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi is the director of People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, an NGO that is active in trying to uplift women’s rights and change the patriarchal and feudal cultures throughout northern India. Disillusioned after seeing the outlooks of his community and village, he’s worked from the grassroot level upwards for decades, putting himself in dangerous situations, even getting shot in the process. He’s brought quite lot of international cooperation and raised awareness in his community in breaking ‘the culture of silence’.

02: Mangla Prasad ‘The local mafia and politicians actually support rape. The rapists are labelled criminals and are easily absorbed in organised crime to avoid persecution, they become bonded criminals, it’s a vicious cycle. When a girl is raped, I have seen, it is only her mother, who is truly supportive. The men are busy expressing outrage over her lost honour.’ Mangla Prasad is a grassroot level human rights activist, working directly with survivors of rape, violence and child marriage in the rural reaches of Uttar Pradesh. He comes from a poverty stricken family and was married as a teenager. When he wasn’t able to pursue higher studies or get a job in the police force due to lack of finances, he came in touch with a local NGO who facilitated him to keep helping people while sustaining a living. A lot of local politicians, police officials and village leaders would be more than happy to get rid of him for exposing them. 03: Sunanda Mukherjee ‘Since the last two centuries, we have been thinking about women, training them in the roles of caregivers, developing sensitivity in them, but men have been bereft of any such roles, relying only on animal instincts; the society cannot fly on just one wing. We need to adopt technology and forensic science when dealing with rape, it clears a lot of confusion and creates a permanent record.’ Sunanda Mukherjee is the Chairperson of West Bengal

Commission for Women. She has had a long and illustrious career fighting for women’s rights, preceded by a long personal struggle to get education in a pre-modern rural family. She currently hopes to utilise her position in the government to formalize a better procedure of law in handling rape victims. 04: Runu Mondal ‘The guilty parties stood at my home, offering more than quarter million in hard cash, just to withdraw the case. They threatened me with violence, rape, murder, and even said they’ll kill my family. They even mobbed outside a court to prevent me from being a witness. The fear is hard to overcome, but I can’t just leave the girls without justice.’ Runu Mondal, a social worker who has personally handled more than 20 individual rape cases over a decade, has learned to cope with the fear of local crime bosses hounding her, yet loves the girls as her family, often giving them shelter at her own home. She works with an organization which takes up women’s rights issues throughout the city of Kolkata and it’s neighbouring villages.

Images main

EXHIBITION - PROOF - DELHI -9

LENIN - RAGHUVANSHI - MANSITTING

MANGLA PRASAD - MAN - STANDING - HAY

BEENA- JESUSPHOTO -WALL

RUNU - MONDAL-WOMAN

SHABINA- SITTINGINBED

SHANTI - BLURDOOR

SUNANDA- MUKHERJEE -WOMANWINDOW

PRAJUNA- PINKSCARF

Images places

01_UE_PLACES_KOLKATA_CJ Clarke_The Rape in India Project

02_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

03_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

04_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

05_UE_PLACES_ AshokaHotel_Poulomi Basu_ The Rape in India Project

06_UE_PLACES_SouthDelhi_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

07_UE_PLACES_DelhiSaket_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

08_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

09_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_CJ Clarke_The Rape in India Project

10_UE_PLACES_RohiniDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

11_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

12_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

13_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

14_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

15_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_ Poulomi Basu_The Rape in India Project

16_UE_PLACES_NEWDELHI_Ravi Mishra_The Rape in India Project

Production

Production Notes

Design Shed Contact: Nitin Kant Office: 22A Bazar Lane Bhogal Jangpura New Delhi 110014 INDIA Phone: +91 -011- 41823676

1. Request that the walls be painted. Will created a spot colour for colour matching. 2. Design Shed (India) will set the Hidi panels. 3. Hindi panels to be designed separately to English-language panels and images. 4. Images also to be in their own panels with captions (photographer credit only). 5. Background: ask if a pattern can be added to the background (very faint - slightly lighter hue to the background colour - vinyl strips? If vinyl, so paint that contains teflon (vinyl will peel off). 6. This might also work with modular panels - ie 1 x panel for image, surrounded by 3 or 4 for background pattern. See section following on graphics. 7. Can we get gold leafing on the walls?

Factory Office: K- 212 Shakti Kunj Dallupura Village New Delhi 110096 INDIA Phone: +91 -011- 65269209

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE 2 NOVEMBER - 16 DECEMBER MON

TUE

WED

THUR

FRI

SAT

SUN

DESIGN STARTS

DESIGN

1ST DESIGN PROTOTYPES

9 PANEL DESIGN HINDI TYPESETTING

10 PANEL DESIGN HINDI TYPESETTING

11 PANEL DESIGN HINDI TYPESETTING

12 PANEL DESIGN HINDI TYPESETTING

ALL 1ST ROUND DESIGN

1ST ROUND PROOFREADING

20 1ST ROUND DESIGN EDITS HINDI EDITS

1ST ROUND PROOFREADING

19 1ST ROUND DESIGN EDITS HINDI EDITS

FINAL PROOFREADING

23 FINAL DESIGN EDITS HINDI EDITS

24 FINAL DESIGN EDITS HINDI EDITS

25 FINAL DESIGN EDITS HINDI EDITS

26 FINAL DESIGN EDITS HINDI EDITS

27 DEADLINE FOR PRINT- READY FILES TO DESIGN SHED

PRODUCTION

1 DEC

PRODUCTION

INSTALLATION

OPENING

30 PRODUCTION

Walls images

Walls sizes 2968.24MM 3006.34MM 3006.34MM 5137.66MM 1950.21MM

A-1

A-2

A-3

A-4

A-5

4572MM

B-1 2364.23MM

C-1

4549.65MM

C-2

6543.55MM

C-3

?MM

C-4

1962.15MM

C-5

4149.85MM ?MM 1962.15MM

E-2

E-3

E-1

2421.38MM

F-1

2831.59MM

G-1

3955.54MM

H-1

6543.55MM

L-1

?MM

L-2

Graphics preliminary ideas

Colours preliminary ideas

Typography Project-specific binary list to be completed.