By Ankita Ghosh:

"My mentee, Sharmeen, is a sensitive 13-year-old girl who finds great happiness in spending time with her baby sister and is disturbed for days when her mother falls sick. She’s a thinker, thinks a lot and talks less", fondly recollects Neha Mathur as she writes to me about the child she’s mentoring. Well it isn’t every day that an early morning correspondence via email plays you up like a little breeze. Neha is a 23-year-old marketing professional who’s gone out of her way to try and bring some positivity, a cup of latte a week and a rare change in the life of a kid, that’s probably not as fortunate as my niece growing up on the PSP.

[caption id="attachment_54468" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image source: The Green Batti Project[/caption]

There are in fact a whole clique of students and young professionals that are looking to help impressionable, albeit corruptible young children born into economically ill-fortuned and therefore socially marginalized households. They remind me of something I read in a catalogue for a leadership seminar about how given an opportunity, you can find a hero right in the next person you meet. In this case the opportunity is being fed by [envoke_twitter_link]The Green Batti Project, a mentorship initiative by Social Quotient[/envoke_twitter_link], that’s pairing a kid from a low-income group family with a young adult pursuing a degree or a working professional. You’ll be pleasantly taken by the meticulous and rather comprehensive modalities of this one-of-a-kind program that’s operating in collaboration with the United Nations Organization, Teach for India, Mumbai Smiles and Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Currently running primarily in Mumbai, The Green Batti project takes under its wings kids between the age of 11 and 15, recommended by partner organizations Teach for India and Mumbai Smiles.

Parental consent and psychological fitness of the child is a must to avoid accidental and irreparable damage, and same-gender pairing is also mandated. Prospective mentors are made to go through a systematic training period under Centre for Lifelong Learning, Tata Institute for Social Sciences covering areas like the role of mentor, cultural sensitization, session curriculum, problem-solving & safety procedures. Mentors also meet the mentee’s parents for deeper insight into the conditions in which the child is growing up and for future reference, in case of concerning situations. Through personal conversations, interactive activities and fun games the mentor assists the child in harnessing life skills, social skills and technological exposure, targeting key areas like goal setting, problem solving lateral thinking, self-efficacy, social adjustment and acceptance of responsibility. The mentor-mentee duo meets once every week at a public area like a coffee place. Thorough safety nets are in place to ensure that no harm befalls the child and meetings are regularly monitored to appraise progress.

From available referee reports, I gather that the kids on the receiving end are infinitesimally benefiting from the ‘friend, philosopher, guide’ rhetoric. Midway through Cycle 2 of the project, Neha observes that Sharmeen “has become more positive and happy, and makes a conscious effort not to let the negativity of certain things affect her.” In theory, this program is about the mentor assuming a voluntary leadership role to help a less fortunate mentee to strive to achieve the best of his/her abilities. But essentially it’s about one individual stretching an arm out for another to grab. It’s about micro-people doing macro-things.

Simoni Bhansali, a 25-year-old freelance communication designer says, "Ruby is a 12-year-old girl who lives in the Worli slums and studies at the Worli Sea Face Municipal School. Don’t be fooled or pity her for her humble upbringing, she has an extremely supportive and loving family, and she aspires to be a heart surgeon" about her mentee. Ruby in the meantime has grown “bolder and more confident. She is not afraid to speak up, and now she knows how to order whatever she wants at Cafe Coffee Day”, a moment of beaming pride for Simoni and one that abysmally melts your heart.

For the mentors, the experience has been singularly removed from experiences of routine altruism. From initially being intrigued by the idea of mentoring a child she has “learned how to be more patient and understanding”: Neha’s words. Simoni’s firm faith in the wonders of education had prompted her to take up the mentorship project and she has come out with greater perseverance, reiterating the belief that “with the right guide and assistance, a hero/heroine can come from anywhere.”

What Samyak Chakrabarty, Deep Master and Aakansha Kedia had begun three years ago, with humble aspirations, has grown to become a reason of immense gratitude for several children and their mentors. The Green Batti Project is not only turning a kid’s late Sunday mornings into a day they’re looking forward to every week, but it’s also helping them turn their lives around.

To know more about the program, click here.

The post Be Better, Be A Hero: The Green Batti Project For Socially Deprived Kids In Mumbai appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Vinay Kumar:

The landlord-tenant relationship has to go hand in hand like a marriage, if not, all hell breaks loose. I have always heard my friends (both landlords and tenants) complaining about tenancy issues, especially in Bengaluru. So, I took this opportunity to speak with few random landlords and tenants in the city to find a common ground that worked in everyone’s favour.

Here is what the tenants had to say:

• Manju – A student from Hyderabad pursuing a BE in CMRIT college, says that paying 10-month security deposit upfront for a house in Marathahalli was not at all easy for him. He had to ask his father - a florist, to help him pay the deposit which they did with a lot of difficulty. Manju mentioned that his father had to do extra hours at his shop & lend money from his relative to arrange the money. He also mentioned that it's not at all practical for a student to pay such huge amount upfront. He just prays that the landlord returns his security deposit in one piece.

• Biplav – An IT professional who hails from Kolkata, he had to pay a whopping 2.5 lacs as 10-month security deposit for his previous residence in Koramangala. His owner did not compromise on the deposit at all. At that time he thought the money is refundable when he move out. When he actually decided to move out, the owner cut almost 3 months’ rent in the name of painting and other maintenance. Biplay mentioned that there was no need for any painting since he had maintained the house like his own, No nails on the wall except for few airline cracks which happen due to climatic changes. Also, during his stay, the rent was revised every year without any kind of logic behind it.

• Mahesh – Professor by profession, he stays in A Narayapura. He mentions that he had the best landlord because they had settled for 5 months deposit and a very reasonable rent. But everything changed when he decided to move out of the house. The landlord cut 2 months’ rent as maintenance and he got just 50% of the remaining deposit even when he had given the landlord a one month notice as per agreement. Mahesh had to run behind the landlord for almost 6 months to get his remaining money.

Many tenants are taking to social media to cut down the 10 month security deposit in Bengaluru with an online petition started by a team from Flat Gradings urging Honorable Chief Minister Mr. Siddaramaiah to enact the Model tenancy act in the state. This petition has got a lot of public attention with more than 13k signatures.

Next I spoke to few owners and this is how the conversation went:

1. Why do you ask for a 10-month security deposit?
Bengaluru is a costly city and we have invested lakhs on the house. We pay high EMI's on loans every month. So, the only way to keep our property safe from any damage is to collect 10-month security deposit. What if we agree to a month's security deposit like other cities, and the tenant locks the house and absconds? What if the tenant causes too much of damage which would cost us a hefty amount to repair them?

2. What kind of damages are these?
At times, we have seen too many nails hit on the wall which leads to many cracks. My tenant’s kid had drawn on many walls. Geyser was not working. Few floor tiles had cracks. There was an instance where tenants didn't pay electricity & water bills before vacating.

3. How do you justify cutting hefty amount from security deposit while moving out?
We do not cut hefty amount, rather it's just a reasonable amount. Fixing the cracks on walls is not easy since filling cracks, painting two coats and labour come at a high cost. I would suggest every tenant to go and check the costs before fighting with us.

4. Why do you charge high rent per month?
We have enquired from most of our neighbors about how much they charge as rent and then we decided on pretty much the same amount. So, in our opinion it's not high, rather it's a normalized amount.

Based on the conversation I see that a lot of improvement is needed in existing tenancy laws and to my surprise recently the NDA government has readied The Draft of Model Tenancy Bill, 2015 which might strike the right balance between landlord & tenants to an extent with few highlights:

However, it may not cover two important points which are often the reason for conflicts:

1. The landlord’s interest in protecting his property from damage during the tenant's stay.
2. Landlords deducting part of the security deposit because of damage maintenance.

I see 2 viable solutions which could help the Indian rental industry:

1. Insurance – It is the best way to cover any kind of damage. And in this case home insurance can give the owners a sense of relief. But insurance comes at a reasonable cost - So who pays the premium every year? Both the tenant and owner should come to terms with this and it should be mentioned in the rental agreement. A small fee every year can save the huge security deposit cut at the end of tenure. This will be a win-win situation for both parties.

2. Property Managers – Considering the scenario that both parties do not opt for insurance and the tenant vacates the premises. Landlords cut some part of security deposit as part of maintenance without providing any kind of justification. So, what if there are third party companies (property managers) who can make a detailed study of the house (before tenants occupy the house and after they vacate) and provide the exact quote of damage with receipts? With so much transparency, tenants won't think the landlords are being unreasonable because these property managers would not be biased towards any party and they would also provide receipts for every repair they make. This could strike the right balance and both parties wouldn't have to break their agreements.

The post Hefty Security Deposits And Damaged Homes: Bengaluru’s Landlord-Tenant Problem appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Manjari Singh:

[envoke_twitter_link]Ten years have passed, but this rape survivor from Lucknow is still far from giving up[/envoke_twitter_link]. She is still waiting for that final verdict and is determined to prove she is more than just the 'Ashiana Rape Victim'.

What would Zahira's (name changed) father not give up to wipe out the haunting memories from his life of that fateful night of 2 May back in 2005 when one of his daughters, then 13-year-old Zahira, a housemaid, came back home from work in her blood stained clothes accompanying a stranger. Just like any other evening, she was returning home along with her younger brother after a day's work and what happened while the brother and sister duo were still on the way has become a lifelong curse for the entire family.

Around 6 pm, four youngsters armed with fearlessness and power dragged Zahira inside a moving car to rape her, beat her mercilessly and burn her with cigarettes. And that wasn't all. They made her watch porn clips and also inserted a gun barrel inside her vagina and the torture continued at a deserted plot in the Nishatganj area of Lucknow where two more boys joined them. When they were done, they dumped her to die on the empty roads.

The incident rocked the city which was anyway considered not very safe for women.

After much investigation, police arrested all six men involved in the heinous crime, namely, Gaurav Shukla, Faizan, Asif Siddiqui, Saurabh Jain, Aman Bakshi and Bhartendu Mishra respectively. Two of the accused, Asif Siddiqui and Saurav Jain were declared juveniles by the court, but died after few months in separate road accidents. The rest of them were sentenced to imprisonment of 10 years.

Zahira is 23 now, and all the injuries and marks on her body that the rape caused her have been healed, but the wounds on her mind are as fresh as they were ten years ago. The reason she says is the fact that the main culprit, Gaurav Shukla, is still roaming free. The Santro car and the plot, where the girl was raped, both belonged to him.

"My Daughter came home alive but life after that remained restricted to the court and Police station," says Zahira’s father.

[caption id="attachment_54520" align="aligncenter" width="690"] For representation only[/caption]

Shukla, proven guilty by the court, however, has been trying to prove that he was a minor when he raped her. "Gaurav is the nephew of Arun Kumar Shukla, a history- sheeter himself, who contested  the Loksabha elections from Unnao in 2009," says Madhu Garg, State President, All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA). "His elder brother is a politician too, because of which it is becoming tougher to convict him," she adds. The district court had declared him juvenile and now he is trying to challenge the court with all his might. The ultimate sufferer of this battle which seems like never ending at this moment is Zahira and her poor family.

Gaurav’s real date of birth is March 14, 1987, and that clearly means he was 18 when he raped the girl on May 2, 2005. But, the documents he presents, say he was born on October 2, 1989, that means he was 16 when he raped the girl. "We even checked the hospital records for his birth date and the document clearly stated March 14, 1987," states Garg. Shukla got a fake certificate made from some Chaya Public School, a school made up of tin and shade, which is apparently meant for students belonging to the lower strata of society. "The fact is, he had gone to schools like St Francis (one of the very prominent schools of Lucknow) and others from where he was chucked out because of his poor conduct. Why would somebody who roams around in fancy cars and lives in a sprawling house would attend a school made up of tin," asks Garg agreeing that this is a perfect example of how power and politics come into play. "But it’s been too long now, there are several other issues that are waiting to be addressed, we can’t be waiting for this one case to be resolved all our lives."

And that was not all Gaurav Shukla’s family did to prove him juvenile. Soon after the rape, he got involved in some petty issue and lodged a fake FIR at Mahanagar police station. With the help of fake school certificates, he proved himself to be a minor and went to a remand home for some time. "He used the same documents to prove himself minor at the time of rape and at first he succeeded too, but after further investigation it was found to be fake," says lawyer Jalaj Gupta, who has been representing Zahira’s case since 2009.

In fact, each one of them tried their level best to prove themselves as minors, barring two who are dead, and everybody else except Shukla got convicted in 2007 under the charges of kidnapping, abduction and rape. They are all out now on bail, it’s just Gaurav Shukla who has not been convicted even once.

Counting from March 2014, when the court finally declared him 'adult' during the crime, the hearing has been delayed more than 100 times and Zahira’s poor father makes it a point to attend every session commuting from one corner of the city to another, only to know that the hearing is further delayed.  "It costs me 200 rupees every time I come to court and I do that at least twice a month," says the father. "I reach the court at sharp 11 am, sit and wait for Gaurav to come with his lawyer. He signs some papers and leaves and there are times, when he is a no show," he adds with a tinge of sadness.

"Gaurav’s family has all the money in the world and they hire costliest of lawyers who try their level best to drag the case and perhaps this is all Gaurav’s family wants. They want Zahira’s father to withdraw," says Garg. "There was a time when he used to get driven in an official car, it was only after we created propaganda around it and the story came in the media, he started coming in his personal car," she adds.

And the day the writer went to court, in a hope to get the glimpse of the rapist, he chose to skip. His brother who is a public prosecutor was there and so was his bodyguard, but Shukla was nowhere to be found. "His whole family is corrupt, his brother got a second wife without divorcing the first one, the poor woman is wandering here and there for justice. That’s a separate story, but it breaks my heart all the time to see what a common man is to power and money," adds Garg.

All this breaks Zahira’s heart but doesn’t deter Zahira’s father from attending court and hoping to get justice one day. One look at Gaurav Shukla and he gets determined more than ever. "I am told that he is happily married and even has a child while my daughter has been labelled as 'Ashiana rape victim'," says the furious father. When asked why is it so important for him to see Gaurav behind the bars, he says, "I know he will soon be out on the bail after he is jailed but I want to see him going to the prison for once." He further says that he is aware of the fact that there are hundreds of rape cases pending for the decision and feels for those girls and families who succumbed to power and money. "I was also offered money, but I chose to fight and seek justice but yes this battle is getting longer than I expected it to be," he says.

In search of work, Zahira’s father came to Lucknow from Assam some 25 years ago. He worked as a rag picker in his early days and then slowly and gradually set up his own scrap business but these days it’s the court hearings that are keeping him busy due to which he has not been able to visit his native place. "And what would I tell them had happened to Zahira? All they want to know is why am I not marrying her off," he says.

But he is least bothered about the tattered reputation. "I am thankful to the government which has provided me monetary aid to fight the case. I do feel like giving up at times but quitting at this moment will mean wasting all the previous efforts," he says with affirmation.

Second amongst six siblings, Zahira seems to be just like another young girl, except that justice delayed has broken her inside out. "She used to be even more timid when I first met her in 2006, she would not stop sobbing and was not able to converse in Hindi," says Rohit Kant, who had been Zahira’s lawyer till 2009. Living with her family was not the safest option for her as the family was continuously threatened by politically connected people. Living at  various shelter homes across the city not only kept her safe but also boosted her confidence. She learnt many life skills like sewing and painting at shelter homes and also played badminton with other children of her age.

"We learnt that she was completely ignorant and can’t even write her name so we enrolled her for tuitions and she recently passed her eighth grade with decent grades," says Garg.

These days, she is trying to complete her tenth-grade exams through National Open School. Slightly weak in English, she aspires to become a judge someday, just to help get rape victims speedy justice. And she has questions. "Why did I not get justice the way the Delhi gang-rape victim got? All the culprits were behind bars within a week. Why did it take the  Lucknow police so much time to arrest my rapists and why is Gaurav Shukla still roaming free?." Recalling the incident she says, "I was bitten all over, and I heard Gaurav Shukla telling somebody over the phone that he wants to kill me."

"There was a helper at the plot who told her that Zahira was not the only girl they had brought to the plot, there had been many," adds Garg.

After the rape and after much pleading, Zahira got her torn clothes back and then the boys flung her on the deserted road where she was left to die. She was thrown somewhere near Nishatganj around 10 pm and her house is located at another corner of the city which is Sadar and she didn’t even know the address. She was found by a police constable and taken to the Ashiana police station.

The father filed an FIR the same night but was clueless how to go about the case as there was a pressure from the accused family to withdraw the case. With the help of activists, he continued the fight, but the trauma is here to stay. This is exactly the reason why Zahira’s father doesn’t allow his younger daughter to work or  study. "Zahira went out to work and look what happened to her. Now my other daughter will be homebound till the time she gets married. This big bad world is meant for only the rich and powerful, not the poor ragpickers," he signs off.

The post “Why Didn’t I Get Justice Like The Delhi Gang-Rape Victim? Why Is My Rapist Still Free?” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By YKA Staff:

You could be surrounded by honking cars on a road cramped with vehicles, standing in a metro or bus full of loud humans, or you could be having a hard day and want an instant pick-me-up. Music comes to our rescue wherever, whenever.

Studies reveal that listening to music releases the happy hormone-dopamine. It has the power to alter our moods, it can also make us better human beings, because music makes us more empathetic and sensitive.
In all honesty, nobody really needs a reason to listen to music.

The post You Might Not Realise, But Science Says Listening To Music Makes You Smarter appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Tinku Paul:

All humans are born equal and free, but restrictions in the form of duties are imposed on humans to ensure the rights of others. With unbridled social change both in the domestic and public sphere, there has been growth in the number of crimes. Empirical research has proven that these [envoke_twitter_link]crimes have mostly been committed by people who have been posed with confronting and compelling situations[/envoke_twitter_link] given their socio-economic and cultural ambience, that constructs and deconstructs their personality.

In this article I place before the reader’s some questions. 'What comprises justice?', 'Who decides justice?', 'Who assigns the authoritative power to do justice?.' India is a democratic country with people elected representatives ruling the people. In this context where the law is governed by the Constitution of India that safeguards the right to equality and right to life, I would like to know, 'In the Indian context is justice delayed, or is justice denied?.' Let me put forth a live example of a martyr Mahendra Gagrai, a prisoner released from Central Jail of Naini after 25 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Appalled by utter poverty, drought and starvation, Gagrai’s family was forced to migrate in 1989 from Jharkhand’s (then undivided Bihar) tribal village, Chaibasa of Singhbhum district, to work in Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time Mahendra had chosen to migrate to brick kilns for labour. He had earlier travelled to nearby cities for petty pipe fitting works in company provided residential houses. Mahendra was a father of four (Sukhmoti, Sumitra, Sumoti and Krishna) and had lost his eldest son, Jagdish, to acute diarrhoea. He attributed his death to some witchcraft (jaadu-tona).

Mahendra was contracted by his mother-in-law who assured him of regular work for 6-7 months. Along with him, 10-12 labourers also migrated. He, along with his wife preferred to do 'dhowai', i.e., carrying bricks from the site to the furnace.

The Poor Migrant Labourer Turns A Murderer

Once Gagrai’s mother-in-law promised to come back from the village with some more labourers. She asked Gagrai’s wife to care of her belongings in the meanwhile and especially instructed her to take care that no one used her bedding. A fellow labourer who came by his own to this kiln from a neighbouring village of Odisha ignored this instruction. He tried to use her bedding which offended Mahendra’s wife. Even after repeated instructions, he disobeyed. The person had a criminal background and threatened them of dire circumstances if they angered him. In the next few days, Gagrai’s only son Krishna became ill and suffered from loose motions. Medicines did not help. He then took him to an 'ojha' who he ardently believed in. The strong faith in orthodox superstitions had hardened with his past experience of his eldest son's death. Mahendra willed to leave no stone unturned to cure his son. The ojha told him that he smelt some foul play done on his son by a fellow labourer with whom he had had heated talks lately. Gagrai tried his level best to persuade the other labourer to take off the foul play (witchcraft) from his son, but the person denied and told him that his son was destined to die. His fellow-labourers told him that the man was ill-famous and notorious, for which he had been discarded from his native village.

Months passed, and Gagrai reiterated his pleas with no heed from the other side. His only son was close to death. Now he had no choice and he desperately willed to kill the man. One evening he smashed the man’s head with a lathi. Unexpectedly, the man died in one blow. Desperately, Gagrai alongwith some other labourers managed to take the body to a nearby well. Before disposing of the body in the well, Gagrai mercilessly culled the man’s hands, legs, neck and also his stomach.

Next morning, the body swelled up and floated to visibility of the nearby villagers who then informed the police. After interrogations, Gagrai was caught, and he accepted the crime. In 1989, he was convicted of murder under section 302 and conspiracy to hide evidence under section 201. He was sentenced to rigorous punishment and life imprisonment in the Sultanpur District jail. He was jailed at 37 years of age and his wife and three daughters (son passed away) went back to their native village to survive with the nominal options of life. In 1992, he was transferred to Central Jail of Naini, Allahabad. Here he was involved in dari (rags and coarse form of carpets) making, cultivation of vegetables etc. His outlook towards life underwent sweeping changes there. The once daring Mahendra now became submissive and God-fearing. He remembers some quotations from the New Testament which he read in jail. He even put off offers to become the ‘Nambardar’ in the jail. He refused this on grounds that he did want to inflict pain and torture on anyone again. He did not want to become dominant and forcing on others. He was happy and contented with whatever life had for him.

Acknowledging his good behavior and record, he was given a release order from jail in the year 2006 under the Remittance Act. The jail authorities informed the District Commissioner of Jharkhand to assure two sureties worth Rs. 5000 each and get him released. But, years went by, commissioners of the districts changed, but there was no response from Mahendra’s family. Mahendra even wrote letters to the administration and his family through the pradhan, but nothing happened. It was assumed by Mahendra that the 16 bighas of land owned by him and his three brothers could be one plausible reason for no response. Which turned out to be true.

[caption id="attachment_54660" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image Source: Tinku Paul[/caption]

Mahendra's brothers were apprehensive of land fragmentation after giving a share to Mahendra. Therefore, they declared him dead and all the letters written by Gagrai to his family from jail never reached his wife. She, being a tribal woman who had no outside contacts, blindly believed them. She removed all signs of her being married. There was absolutely no hope from either side.The greed of 16 bighas of land was enough for Gagrai’s brothers to ditch him.

Call Of God: The Saviour

Sheeba Jose, who, due to her relentless work has been accredited by the Uttar Pradesh State Legal Service Authority to visit jails and other confinement centers like nariniketans, juvenile homes, etc. and suggest improvement measures, took up the initiative to take up this case of Gagrai. The Senior Superintendant of Naini Central Jail provided all details and possible support to Sheeba Jose. She, along with her team of lawyers perused the case left and right. The district administration was questioned on its lackadaisical performance and interest shown on this case. Soon the BDO was obliged to reach the village and trace Gagrai’s home and family members. Within a month, sureties were arranged by the pradhan of the village and head of the community.

After 7 years of wait and patience, Gagrai, who had lost all hopes to see the outside world, gathered hopes to see his people once again. It was a new life for him. In the past 25 years, his family had slowly lost all hopes of his release or him being alive. On 3rd November, 2014, Gagrai’s release order finally reached by radiogram to the jail authorities. Early morning on 4^th of November, Gagrai was released and handed over to the intervening NGO. After his release, the pradhan, his wife and youngest daughter came to take him back home, not the brothers. The happy reunion of the family finally took place. Gagrai saw his wife and youngest daughter after 25 years, who he could hardly identify.

[envoke_twitter_link]The process of trial and justice is slow and painful[/envoke_twitter_link], imposing serious physical and mental burden on languishing prisoners. Acknowledging the state of affairs a prisoner is subject to in imprisonment, it may be conferred that every fundamental right of a citizen is conditioned by the functioning/malfunctioning of the State machinery. This bureaucratic fixation is supported by a callous attitude of the judiciary, protectors of judiciary and legislative functioning (prison authorities) and unawareness of the victims about their legal or judicial rights. Mahendra Gagrai is one example, but there are many more like him, still awaiting justice.

The post The Man Assumed Dead By His Family Was In Jail For 25 Years: Mahendra Gagrai’s Story appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Shambhavi Saxena: 

Almost everyone has complaints with their parents’ prying and hiding their electronics in an attempt to get them to study for an hour or two. But what happened with Shivy Bhatt, an 18 year old trans-masculine Indian citizen who had been residing in the US for most of his life, is nothing but domestic abuse and human rights violations.

While still living in California and attending university there, the first rift between Shivy and his parents followed his decision to cut his hair short. Shivy has described his parents, and especially his mother, as having a conservative outlook, which has led them to be physically and verbally abusive toward him. When his mother confiscated his phone and found out about his gender identity and girlfriend, Shivy’s life and safety was immediately in danger.

After moving out of his abusive home, and continuing his studies as a neurobiology major, Shivy thought he was in the clear, until his mother conned him into visiting his grandparents’ home in Agra, where he was immediately put in lockdown, with his identification papers withheld from him, forced to attend a local university, and subjected to physical violence. In an appeal on YouTube, he said, "My time in Agra would 'fix' me."

For too many the struggle can seem pointless, but for Shivy, it was about self-preservation. Seizing the first chance he had, he contacted friends in the US for help, and was directed to the queer feminist organization, Nazariya. With the help of LGBT activists, he was able to escape the veritable hellhole his family had created for him. This gave him the chance to move the Delhi High Court, which proved very favourable. Justice Siddharth Mridul ordered police protection for the young trans student, saying: "How is it that we are so quick to pass judgement on a sexual orientation that may not be our own? This is nothing but bigotry and this has no place in India, which is a tolerant country." 

But this tolerance is hard to find in India. Even as Manabi Bandhyopadhyaya becomes the first trans principle in India, trans filmmaker Joe Paul is refused a flat in Mumbai because of her identity. Even though ground-breaking court rulings grant trans persons long-fought-for rights, [envoke_twitter_link]there are thousands of Shivy Bhatts in India and abroad who need our support[/envoke_twitter_link].

While Shivy may no longer be in the suffocating atmosphere of his grandparents’ home where his movements were constantly monitored, the problem is far from over. Shivy’s father and the Uttar Pradesh Police have been relentless in their abuse, now targeting the activists who helped him escape to New Delhi. At 18, Shivy is legally a major, and still his family has filed a kidnapping case with the UP police in order to have him returned to their cruel regime.

Justice Mridul’s comments are heartening but are not reflective of any great change in the way people worship the gender-binary as the foundation of all life on earth. The family institution has wielded unbelievably cruel control over gender-non-conforming people, who, like Shivy are just trying to live their lives, and it must be hauled up for its excesses.

The post Forced Into Becoming A ‘Proper Girl’ By Parents, Trans Teen Shivy Escapes To Share Story appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Prachi Salve and Video Volunteers, Indiaspend.com:

Last year, in eastern Bihar’s Phulvari Sharif, 24-year-old Masahun Khatun was five months pregnant when she fell in the front yard of her house. For the next three weeks, Masahun and her husband shuttled between government hospitals and private practitioners, spending over Rs 40,000 on healthcare, as they tried to get an abortion. Masahun did not survive and her husband, a daily-wage labourer, is struggling to raise their four kids. This is their story:

India’s MMR, or maternal mortality ratio (number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live child births), was 178 in 2010-12, worse than poorer countries such as Myanmar and Nepal, and about the same as Laos and Papua New Guinea, according to WHO data. [envoke_twitter_link]As many as 50,000 pregnant women die every year in India during childbirth[/envoke_twitter_link], according to this UN report.

The positive news is that the MMR has declined from 212 in 2007-09. Some states, such as Kerala (66), Tamil Nadu (90) and Maharashtra (87) have MMRs that match richer countries such as Brazil (69), Philippines (89) and Cuba (80).

Assam (328), Uttar Pradesh (292), Uttarakhand (292), Rajasthan (255), Odisha (235), Madhya Pradesh (230), Chhattisgarh (230), Bihar (219) and Jharkhand (219) have the eight worst maternal mortality rates in India. These numbers match some of the world’s poorest countries, such as Mauritania (320), Equatorial Guinea (290), Guyana (250), Djibouti (230) and Laos (220).

The JSY gives pregnant women–who deliver babies at home and live below the poverty line–Rs 500 as cash assistance, irrespective of the mother’s age and number of children, to give birth in a government or accredited private health facility.

The scheme focuses on poor, pregnant women, with a special focus on states with low institutional delivery rates: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The scheme also provides performance-based incentives to women health volunteers known as ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) to promote institutional deliveries.

The Promise Of Direct Transfers

A direct transfer of JSY benefits to the bank accounts of pregnant women started in 2013 and is now underway in 121 of 640 Indian districts.

JSY beneficiaries have increased from 0.7 million in 2005-06 to 10.4 million in 2014-15, an indicator that many pregnant women know of the scheme.

About 900,000 ASHAs get performance-based incentives to motivate pregnant women to give birth in health facilities. Of 10.4 million JSY beneficiaries in 2014-15, a large majority (nearly 87%) live in rural India.

State Subsidies Available, Yet Women End Up Paying

As many as 60% of women in Uttar Pradesh acknowledged paying money from their own pockets for certain services, according to an assessment of JSY conducted by United Nations Population Fund in Bihar, MP, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in 2012.

Women in Madhya Pradesh reported the lowest out-of-pocket expenditure, Rs 299, followed by Bihar with Rs 719.

Households spent an average of Rs 5,544 per childbirth in rural areas, according to a recent survey by the statistics ministry.

Video Volunteers is a global initiative that provides disadvantaged communities with story and data-gathering skills, and IndiaSpend. Salve is a policy analyst with IndiaSpend.

This article was originally published on IndiaSpend.com, a data-driven and public-interest journalism non-profit.

The post Why Masahun Khatun And 50,000 Pregnant Women Died appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By YKA Staff: 

Many articles about working smarter, not harder have been doing the rounds of the internet. Any such articles would tell you about various methods that one can adopt to be more efficient with the least effort. However, we often ignore that the body and the brain need nourishment to perform smartly.

Did you know that 60% of the solid matter that makes up our brain is fat? And feeding ourselves essential and saturated fats keeps the grey cells active.

From staying hydrated to eating foods that have the same effect as the 'smart' drug Adderall, here’s a visual that’s going to help you fight mental lethargy.

The post Avoiding Eating Fat? Don’t. Your Brain Needs It, Find Out Why appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Asmita Sarkar:

The bias against working women is so inherent in India that a Chhattisgarh school textbook recently landed up in the news for carrying the message that working women are the cause of unemployment in the country.

Workplace gender discrimination, as this video reveals, is not much better at the western end of the world. "Not everyone believes the data, people have their own views about this and people have very biased views," says Consson Locke, Assistant Professor of Management at London School of Economics, when asked why there are so few women at the top management level when data reveals that having 30% more women improves operations of a company.

Talking about interesting solutions like diversity, flirting and flexibility, Professor Locke, reiterates that leadership needs to be more balanced, and these solutions seem to be working for the western world. Perhaps it’s time that India looked beyond gender divide and became more inclusive and innovative in its approach to management.

The post [Y]ral: LSE Prof. On The Need For Diversity In Offices And Why Women Are Better Co-Workers appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Pratiksha Mishra:

Children are little buds that need a healthy environment to bloom, and the abuse that is done to them makes them go into a peevish cocoon and never venture out. It could be a scar that time would fail to erase. [envoke_twitter_link]Child abuse is a form of corporal, emotional and psychosomatic mistreatment of children[/envoke_twitter_link]. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines child abuse as, "child mistreatment due to any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child."

[caption id="attachment_54755" align="aligncenter" width="644"] Image Source: Ibrahim Asad/Flickr. For representation only.[/caption]

As you are reading this, I can assure you that 1 in every 5 girls and 1 in every 20 boys is a survivor of sexual abuse. Well, if you haven’t seen one within close quarters, you can try to place yourself in their shoes, and the very thought will make your skin prick. Doesn’t it?

Listed below are some of the pointers that we should trace while dealing with this delicate subject.

• Strangers Are Not The Only Threat: - Gone are the days where our family was a utopian set-up and pedophiles were supposed to be only strangers who would want to quench their thirst by playing with random kids. We are now at a stage where we see cases of family members abusing children for their amusement. Beware!

• Good Touch And Bad Touch: It is very important for a parent or caregiver to make the child understand the difference between the good touch and the bad one. [envoke_twitter_link]Children seek love from everyone around them; it is our duty to ensure that they receive only the right kind[/envoke_twitter_link].

• The Scar That Never Heals: The mind of a child is very fragile. Once eroded, it is hardly ever possible to come back to the perceived 'normal' state. While being abused, they hardly realise its implications, but once the reality sets in, words like trust and innocence are gone forever.

• Gauging The Indicators: The indicators of sexual abuse could range from difficulty in walking or sitting; torn, stained, or bloody underclothing, too unwilling to change for or participate in a physical education class. It could also be withdrawal, fantasy, or infantile behavior. As caregivers, it is our duty to keep a lookout for these signs and definitely, not at any cost ignore them.

• The Importance Of Sex Education: It is high time that we understand that sex education is as important in the Indian context as much as a history lesson is. The Indian education system is still in its nascent stage and deals with this topic in a hushed tone. If we want to provide a healthy and holistic environment for the next generation, this is where we need to begin.

• Standing By The Child: Children have a very brittle mindset. It is to be handled in a subtle manner and an apt way. The child might not know what struck him/her; s/he might have to live his entire life under the shadow of guilt and shame. You can change that by being a supportive caregiver with whom the child can open up and share his/her experience without having the fear of being judged.

We now are standing at the junction where we have to decide to either take the train to a bright future or return to the hideous past. The choice is yours, so make a wise one. Help stop child abuse.

The post 6 Points That Tell You A Child Is Being Abused, And What You Can Do To Help appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By YKA Staff:

Globalisation has led to increased mobility across borders. 2010 data suggests that India plays host to more than 2 lakh expatriates and the number keeps increasing.

India is also the largest contributor to expat population worldwide. Whether it’s people of other nationalities coming to India or Indians going abroad, having knowledge about the country’s culture is always a plus and a large part of a country’s tradition and culture is the religion it follows, in which funeral rites figure prominently.

This visual will be a guide for all those who are culturally uninitiated.

 

 

Source: visual.ly

The post The Final Goodbye: Diverse Ways Cultures Across The World Perform Funeral Rites appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Devang Pathak:

Note: This article was originally published on Homegrown.

The duality of the Indian existence is a reality we must constantly remind ourselves of, even when we might loathe the answers they provide. The news of India’s surging female pilots, which defy the global average or the tremendous progress made by ISRO in furthering scientific thought and progress, must also be weighed against the widely-held superstitions and deep-rooted patriarchy, which Indians espouse to. If these stand-alone practices make our heads hang in shame, their confluence in the form of [envoke_twitter_link]witch-hunting in India is perhaps one of the most unbelievable phenomenons to still exist in our times[/envoke_twitter_link].

Witches, as defined by locals differ as per the states, save for some common characteristics. They are said to possess an evil eye or mouth, capable of killing cattle, eating humans, destroying crops and causing illness. If the term 'Witch-hunt' might be used now as a form of euphemism for a targeted pursuit against any unorthodox person or group in America, home to the infamous Salem Witch trials or in Europe, where the burning of 'witches' at stakes was a common practice in the Dark Ages, India fails to adhere to any such mild mannerisms.

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that 2,097 witch-hunt murders took place in between 2000 and 2012 alone. Jharkhand, with 363 reported deaths leads the chart, with the data from 2000 missing since it was a part of Bihar, while 11 other states join the list. Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam and Bihar have reported cases of witch-hunting with unofficial figures said to be even higher. In 2013 alone, 160 murders were committed with a witch-hunting motive out of which 54 were committed in Jharkhand alone, while more than 77 have been killed in Assam in witch-hunting related incidents between February 2010 and 2015, with 35 of them being women. But even the startling numbers fail to point out the brutality of the practice.

Brutality Spanning Decades

"In our village, a boy had been suffering from some ailments for several months. He confided to his parents that he dreamt of some witches, including myself, who had been harassing him. His parents narrated the incident to other villagers. Hearing upon this, the villagers flew into a rage and attacked us," told Sura Hembram to Uday India. "They beat us black and blue. Later, they torched our houses. The mob, subsequently, hacked to death three members of a family, including a one-and-a-half-year-old child on July 3, 2001," narrated Sura, who hailed from the Saharpur village in Kokrajhar district in Assam.

While witch-hunting is widely practised by certain tribes, the practice is now common even among the Dalits and few minority communities, and as one can predict, the horror of the events narrated above are widespread. A 60-year-old woman and her unmarried 37-year-old daughter were killed in Baralagra village in Jharkhand, in 2009 under the suspicion of them being 'daayans'. The mother’s body was recovered with ligature marks on her neck, indicating she was hanged while the daughter’s body was never even recovered. But a recent incident of witch-hunting broke through the mainstream due to the severe brutality shown, shaking the sleeping conscience of those who rarely report or acknowledge the widespread nature of witch-hunting.

Porni or Moni Orong, a 63-year-old woman in the No 1 Bhimajuli Village of Assam was brutally dragged and beheaded on 22nd July of this year by a mob. The mother of five was targeted by Anima Ronghangpi, a woman who claimed to be Goddess Lakshmi. She branded Porni a witch and ordered her execution, prompting a mob lead by Anima’s husband Biliram Bey as Porni’s husband and sons attempted to protect her. The incident serves as the general outline where a sickness or an untoward event in a village is referred to an "Ojha", a witch doctor, or a person claiming to have supernatural powers will prescribe various measures to correct the anomaly. The last resort would involve explaining the phenomenon through the presence of a person in the village, branding him or her a witch. At times, the person who claims to help or 'heal' someone is also attacked and branded a witch if he or she fails to save or improve the patient.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Teerath Sahu Was Beaten And Paraded Naked Until She Fainted After Being Dubbed A Witch Alongwith Two Other Women Image Credit: Baba Tamim/Al-Jazeera[/caption]

The penalty for such labelling is not certain death, but humiliation and ostracization. An elderly couple in Jharkhand were forced to ingest human urine and excrement in July 2012 for witchcraft which caused the death of livestock, while an elderly man in Meghalaya was forced to eat human excrement after he was accused of witchcraft, which caused four girls to become sick and dream of snakes. The most startling revelation about these practices lies in their reasons, which are not supernatural, but lie in the most natural human impulse of greed, covered under a strong scent of patriarchy.

Greed And Misogyny

The revelation of the NCRB data between 1991 and 2010 shows that 1,700 women were killed in the name of witchcraft. Jharkhand police have stated that they receive five reports a month of women being denounced as witches while the figure is nationally believed to be running into thousands. The question that beckons us is why?

"Single women are mostly targeted because they are weak and have no one to support or defend them. Also if a woman does not marry or is widowed, it usually is entitled to her father’s or husband’s property. In an attempt to get hold of the property, jealous relatives or villagers seek such illegal methods," says Ajay Kumar, the secretary for Association for Social and Human Awareness (ASHA), an NGO in Jharkhand who also added that women who turn down sexual advances are also branded as witches. "My stepbrother and I had inherited our land after the death of my father. In a bid to capture the property, my stepbrother in collusion with other persons branded me a witch," said Subhadra Basumatary of Silapara village in Assam. "One day, some villagers began to torture me. They even buried me with an intention to kill me, but I escaped," she recounted, a tale of thousands like her which ended in a more tragic manner of death.

Eminent Lawyer Indira Jaisingh, responding to questions raised after the Assam beheading sought to make an interesting comparison. She states how a witch is sought after by people for medical treatment as she is believed to have magical powers. But Asaram Bapu, a guru who is behind bars for allegedly sexually abusing a minor, who also claims to have magical powers to treat medical illness, would never be deemed a witch. She concludes that the true elimination of this practice lies in the removal of gender inequality and in the empowerment of women from the grassroots.

Law And Social Movement

Aamir Khan once said that India’s laws reflect the society we inhabit, a statement which perfectly sums up India’s anti-witch hunting laws. The states of Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have specific anti- witch hunting laws while the Maharashtra’s umbrella Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifices and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act of 2013 provides stipulations for witch-hunts.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Image Source: Telegraph[/caption]

Assam is ready with its draft of an anti-witch hunting bill, said to be the strictest in the country though many experts have pointed out that the bill won’t have the desired impact as it seeks to manage the crime rather than eliminate it. A study of the existing laws in various states has found that witch-hunts were rampant despite the provisions.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The Anti-Witch Hunt Icon Is The Only Woman From The North-East To Be Nominated For The Nobel Prize Image Source: Better India[/caption]

The other significant movement in the anti-witch hunt drive has started coming from civil society itself. Assam Mahila Samata Society is a woman’s rights group which has spearheaded the anti-witch hunt drive since 1995 with Birubala Raha, an icon of this movement. The only woman from the North-East to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Raha has been instrumental in saving the lives of more than 30 women after they were branded as witches. Raha used to subscribe to these traditional beliefs herself until one day when a prediction about her son’s death by 'one possessed by God' proved to be false. She then dedicated her life to protecting others from such persecution. The organisation has intervened in many cases where they were able to ensure that the women could resume their normal lives through dialogue and protection but in a few, women still face isolation and ostracisation as they continue living in the villages.

The Fault In Our Fears

The causes for the witch-hunts, which start from a personal dispute or desire, getting aggravated by the fears and superstitions of the rest, cannot be blamed on illiteracy and ignorance alone. The truth lies in our subscription of these superstitions even in the urban landscape, from the beliefs in bamboo trees for good luck to the urgency of reading one’s daily horoscopes. The superstitions we harbour, no matter how minute, indicate our patronage of fear, the same underlying emotion which propels those who practice witch-hunt into cruelty.

About the author: A firm believer in 'seeking the truth, no matter how devastating the revelation', Devang Pathak has been a writer and blogger for 4 years. He loves writing about anthropology, history, mass media, and human rights as well as satire and fiction.
Follow his blog, or tweet to him @DevangPat.

The post India Is Calling Women ‘Witches’ To Settle Scores And Get Away With Murder appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Bhavna Sultana:

[envoke_twitter_link]The rise of cyber assault in India is a very bothering issue[/envoke_twitter_link]. Considering the number of people that now have access to the internet, the matter's become worse. Every time I tune into TV to watch Crime Patrol and Savdhaan India, it actually shows the dark side of cyber crimes. These crimes go unnoticed, because the target population is easily influenced by the virtual world, and even if such matters are brought to light, the hearings go pending. The most alarming fact is that the cases of cyber crime that do get reported usually involve the death of the victim, which is shocking. [envoke_twitter_link]Social media has given power to the youth to voice out their opinions[/envoke_twitter_link]. Such tools are rarely used for a good purpose, by many people.

[caption id="attachment_54834" align="aligncenter" width="798"] Image Source: Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

I wish to share a story about my friend who is a survivor of internet crime that she faced as a teenager. It’s been many years since she was harassed online, but her story is one of the millions of stories that are part of cyber crime, prevalent till date.

Like everyone else, my friend had an Orkut account during her teenage years, then the most popular social networking site. There she met a man. He was around eight years older than her. The first thing that he said to her was how pretty she looked in her profile picture. She was happy. For the first time, she heard someone say that. Usually, the boys in her school would either call her fat or ugly. The virtual appreciation uplifted her confidence and she started to feel good about herself. All thanks to the man who called her pretty. But were the intentions really right?

Initially, the communication was restricted to casual talks online until they exchanged phone numbers. He started telling her how good her voice was, how beautiful her smile seemed and other stuff that impressed her way too much.

The conversations turned dirty. He asked my friend which colour bra she wore, which sex position did she like. My friend couldn't decide if it was all right to talk about such things. When she would refuse to answer such questions, he would usually go mad at her and stop talking for days. This continued till she finally submitted. She started replying to all his insensitive questions and would fall apart when he wouldn't talk about anything else.

Then one day, he asked her to meet him. He asked her to meet outside her school gates from where he would pick her up. The girl was happy, and scared. Happy because she loved him (or she thought she did) and scared because she didn't want to do all the things he talked about doing to her. It freaked her out. But she decided to meet him anyway.

The day arrived. My friend looked out for his car and saw it across the road. What made her doubt her decision were the tinted car glasses and the presence of more than one man in the car. She had heard about some really bad things in the news about how a girl was raped and killed the previous day. She dropped the idea, walked back into the school.

At home, her parents were waiting. She didn't know they had traced the calls she had made from the landline. What happened after that is too heartbreaking, and I don't wish to elaborate more on her plight. But, her parents made sure that she is safe and doesn't keep any further contact with this man.

She is now all grown up and knows how to make right and wise decisions. But her parents don't trust her anymore and she only wishes that she could do something about it. But she says she can't.

My friend escaped at the end moment from a major problem, but there are many who aren't that lucky. I would like to point out another incident that happened two years ago in my hostel. It was a male friend this time. He was being cheated on by a girl he met on the internet, who in the end looted him with the help of a male partner. To make things worse, she posted pictures of him on the internet saying that he had raped her and that she demanded justice. Both of them filed a case which they were asked to settle outside the court considering the huge amount of pending cyber crime cases. Surprisingly, the case was dismissed because the parties settled. Over what terms I wonder.

Considering the growing population that now has access to the internet, cyber assault becomes a major concern. The Government needs to intervene in this matter and address these issues. There can be a separate body dealing with cyber assaults. Awareness campaigns regarding 'assaults in the virtual world' can be carried out in schools and colleges which are the most vulnerable population. An article 'Pin The Creeps' published on Youth Ki Awaaz discussed an initiative, Safecity, that identifies hot spots where such crimes usually happen. It also allows users to fill in forms anonymously to file reports of such assaults.

I have shared this story for my friend and many others who are survivors and their voices have been shadowed. Some assaults leave scars that never really heal. They stay. And [envoke_twitter_link]virtual assaults happen way too often but are not brought to light[/envoke_twitter_link].

The post Harassed Online, Years On, My Friend’s Scars Still Haven’t Healed appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Shreya Chatterjee:

दुश्मन की गोलियों का सामना हम करेंगे, आज़ाद हैं, आज़ाद ही रहेंगे | — चन्द्रशेखर आज़ाद

(We will face the bullets of our enemies, but we will not compromise on our freedom- Chandrasekhar Azad)

As the nation proudly celebrates its sixty-nine years of independence, there is a feeling of concern that hides behind the wall of appreciation. There are innumerable things I ponder over. [envoke_twitter_link]Have we really attained freedom or is it just an illusion?[/envoke_twitter_link] Do we really get a fair chance to exercise our fundamental rights? Are we all really equal before the law? [envoke_twitter_link]Can we really retain our individuality in India? [/envoke_twitter_link]Are we really safe?  Here are a few reasons why I am pessimistic over the matter.

Despite the scrapping of Section 66A of the IT Act by the Supreme Court, many still face threats if they choose to express their point of view on a political matter. Police forces too don’t avert themselves from making arrests for anything deemed 'annoying'. You must have heard about the murder of U.P journalist, Jagendra Singh and the 'much-deserved' punishment he received for expressing his knowledge regarding the various 'illegal' activities under the minister, Ram Murti Verma, on social media. Almost every murder case like the Jagendra Singh case is given a false angle of suicide by fake forensic reports and forged documents. A series of suspensions of officials take place, but the actual felon stays immune since political career plays a shield to their felonies.

An eighth-grade student learns the eight fundamental rights listed in the Indian Constitution by heart, only to realize later the terms and conditions of exercising them in real life. The peaceful protest that went over the Nirbhaya case was unfortunately welcomed by lathi-charge and launch of tear gas and water canons. Who were the protesters? Hooligans? They had rage in their eyes, which demanded answers regarding women’s safety in the capital. Their grieving hearts had the right to seek scores of answers from the government. Our government spends years to decide capital punishment of a terrorist, but does not refrain from resorting to brutal display of force against harmless humans.

200 years of British rule gave birth to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes homosexuality. The Supreme Court also gave the same verdict in favour of the law on December 2013.  The biggest irony lies in the fact that three out of the four nations within the United Kingdom have already completely legalized same-sex activities. You can now very well trace the miles we have moved on the path of modernity from 'British Raj' to 'Swaraj'. What right does the Government have to call one individual's sexual preferences as 'unnatural' and criminalize it? Is this freedom? The recent incident of Mumbai Police picking up couples from hotels for 'indecency in public' throws some more light on the priorities of the Police forces. I wonder where else the couples should have gone for privacy?

There was a recent debate regarding the population decrease of Hindus. Even Ghar wapsi was introduced by VHP and RSS in U.P to combat the so-called 'extremely serious' issue of conversion. The reconversion drive of poor non-Hindus to Hinduism has gained decent momentum in our 'secular nation'. Is this how my or anyone's freedom to equality works?

Attacking art galleries, banning books and movies is not something new. Added to all this we had a short-lived porn-ban in recent times. Not to forget the legal prosecution that All India Bakchod (an Indian comedy group) faced, that exposed the declension of tolerance level of Indian society towards harmless humour. Show contents which include profanity clearly have warnings. Moreover, movies do have 'U, U/A, A'

labels, creating a clear picture of the audience that it targets. But sadly, my freedom does not let me decide what I should watch or do in my personal space.

Seems like our lawmakers poke their nose in almost every matter, leaving the ones which really demand substantial consideration. Every lapse in law enforcement reveals various hues of our leaders. Ironically, 'tonight the nation wants to know' many things, but unfortunately, all it is left with are piles of unanswered questions.

Thus, it would not take eons to conclude that we do have freedom, but in disguise. A true form of democracy can't be achieved as long as our freedoms are curtailed. Without the people having the freedom of speech and expression and right to equality, democracy is just an empty word. And without 'real' democracy, the true potential of the nation remains in a veil.

The post Stop Saying That India Is A ‘Democracy’, Because All Evidence Points To The Contrary appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Bhanupriya Rao and Saumya Tewari, IndiaSpend.com: 

States with poor development indicators for women (mainly sex ratio and female literacy) have higher representation of women in their vidhan sabhas (legislative assemblies) according to an analysis of Census and Election Commission data.

The female literacy rate in three of these states is lower than the national average of 64.4%. The northern states of Haryana and Punjab, known for their poor female sex ratio, have higher literacy rates than the national average.

Political empowerment, an important indicator of gender development, does not necessarily correlate with better development indicators for women.

Bihar Sees Surge In Women MLAs

There has been a surge in the number of women MLAs in Bihar since the 2000 elections, as IndiaSpend and GenderinPolitics reported earlier.

From 5.9% in 2000, women made up 14% of the Bihar vidhan sabha after the 2010 election, the highest proportion of women in any Indian state assembly.

The number of women contesting elections in Bihar has increased 62% since 2000, while the number of constituencies they contested from increased 33%.

Female MLAs Concentrated In Northern Bihar

In the currently dissolved vidhan sabha, women represented 34 constituencies spread over 22 districts. In 16 districts, no constituency was represented by a female MLA.

The districts of west Champaran, Sitamarhi and Patna have the highest number of constituencies (three each) represented by women. East Champaran, Supaul, Siwan, Begusarai and Purnia have two constituencies each represented by women; 15 districts have one constituency with a female MLA.

Constituencies That Elect Female MLAs Tend To Re-Elect Them

Another interesting pattern is that any increase in women MLAs has almost always been in these districts in the last two elections, 2000 and 2010.

Low Sex Ratios And Literacy In Districts That Elect Female MLAs

Apart from geographical proximity of these districts, another striking feature of these districts with the most female MLAs is their low sex ratios and literacy rates.

Except Siwan, Supaul and Purnia, rest of the districts with female representation are way below the state average.

Bihar has India’s lowest literacy rate at 63.5% and the lowest female literacy rate at 53%. Most districts fall short of the state average for female literacy.

West Champaran and Sitamarhi, which have the most constituencies with women MLAs, have poor sex ratios and low literacy rates.

So, [envoke_twitter_link]do districts with poor development indicators elect more women?[/envoke_twitter_link] In Bihar, that certainly appears to be the case.

Although the causal factors are unknown, the correlation, in Bihar’s case, is evident, which corroborates the larger pattern seen in many states with a high proportion of female MLAs and low human development indicators.

(This story is the product of a collaboration between GenderinPolitics, a project that tracks women in politics and governance in India, and IndiaSpend.)

This article was originally published on IndiaSpend.com, a data-driven and public-interest journalism non-profit.

The post Surprisingly, States With The Worst Sex Ratios Have Most Female MLAs In India, Says Study appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Minu Jaiswal:

I have finally gathered the courage to collect my thoughts and talk about something which left me speechless for so long. I know that it actually takes a lot of courage to change the world. And I lack it. My education is a sheer waste if I can’t save a man dying in front of me. My life is a waste if I can’t act upon what I want to do.

I was travelling to my hometown Kolkata in April 2014. My train, Punjab Mail, departed late from the station Bhadohi. I was sitting in the corner seat near the window when the train halted at the Mughal Sarai station.

I was looking outside the window, and just looking at a train. All of a sudden, there was a loud sound. The sound was an electric blast. It happened right above a train on the other track just across the platform, and below a crossing bridge. I got up instantly and moved to see this. What I noticed were back-to-back, two-three blasts of fire. I got the shock of my life, when I saw a man burning on the train and people running to move out of the train assuming it to be a fire inside the train. But, the moment they realised that it was not going to affect them, they boarded the train again and were very much relaxed!

Video of the incident captured by a bystander, verified by the author. Source: YouTube

In front of my eyes, that man was burning, trembling in pain and I stood right inside my compartment just staring at him in shock, tears trickling down my eyes. I was praying, hoping that someone would come to his rescue, and the man kept crying in pain, his body burning all over like a fire-cracker. People said that maybe he touched electric wires of 40,000 watts.

"See, this is India," suddenly my sister commented. Hearing this, I looked out of the window and noticed that there were a group of people making a video, and I was stunned to see this. Stunned to see that they did not make an attempt to save him but found making a video more important. I asked my dad, "Why isn’t anybody helping him out?" He replied, "They are waiting for the railway authorities." Angry, I shouted at him, "Should we wait until he dies?" I could smell human flesh burning, and, it felt so horrible! I just wanted to run out and help that man! But I do not know why, I just stood still! The burning stopped after he was half burnt and he was still lying there, crying out in pain. But no one made an effort to save him. Everyone said even they could be hurt in the attempt of saving him so why risk it?

Suddenly, he started moving himself to get up. After trying a lot, he fell off from the top of the train. It must have hurt so much! I could literally feel his pain! My train started moving, and then I saw the railway station authorities coming to save him. I turned my face around because I couldn’t see this anymore. Later my father told me that they just picked him up and left. That man, of course, did not deserve that kind of 'pain', or shall I say death, if he did not survive. And even if he at all survived, he possibly would not wish for what was clearly going to be a painful life ahead with the kind of burns he had sustained.

I do not know if that man is alive, if he is fine. People never tried to save him. But, they had all the time in the world to sit and discuss how he reached there! Some said he must have fallen down from the bridge, some said he was mentally disturbed so climbed up the train and some said, perhaps, he must have been a thief trying to escape!

Even now when I think about the incident, of that man, everything flashes in front of my eyes. I can’t erase those images from my memory. I can’t ever forget the trembling of that man. I felt so helpless and paralysed for being unable to help him. It is human nature to be selfish, and only think about oneself and one’s development. But [envoke_twitter_link]is it correct to let another man perish and revel in his pain by taking videos of him?[/envoke_twitter_link] Instead of gathering forces to help that man, everyone kept mum and waited for the railway authorities to do their job. It is our responsibility to help fellow human beings and support them during times of distress. I wish I could have done something that day, and I do hope the man is alive, wherever he is.

Featured image for representation only. Source: Ath-har Saeed/Flickr

The post ‘The Man Was Dying In Front Of Us, And People Were Making Videos’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Ekta Kapoor:

“It’s a simple number game I tell you, there are three of them but only you to protect her, so the wisest thing would be to back off and pretend nothing ever happened”.

When was the last time you decided to ignore a girl being cat called on a street because it wasn’t your business or she wasn’t someone you know? When was the last time you did not [envoke_twitter_link]stop someone from getting molested[/envoke_twitter_link] because you were too intimidated to speak up? It could have been someone you loved. It could have been you. Would you still rationalize it?

[caption id="attachment_55049" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Image source: Facebook.com[/caption]

It was this agitation of not having done enough that sparked a desire to create a novel approach to deal with the problem at hand. “On brainstorming we decided to take eve-teasing and sexual harassment in public places head on not only because there was a lot of passiveness associated with it but also because it was relatable to all of us. The quotidian nature of eve-teasing makes us susceptible to it- either as bystanders or as victims” quips in one of one of the five brains behind the campaign.

So what is this novel approach?

The [envoke_twitter_link]Taali Bajaao Campaign is an initiative to tackle passive bystander response[/envoke_twitter_link] to harassment. Started by Mugdha Jain, Ekta Kapoor, Hoshank Ailani, Ayush Bhattacharya and Akash Idnani of Shiv Nadar University, this campaign provides a fresh approach to tackling this recurrent problem.

“The intention was to come up with a non-violent approach to tell the harasser that his behaviour is unacceptable and that he should back off. We wanted a means to catch the crowd’s attention and their support, and the “taali” or clap was thought of as an action to warn the perpetrator. And thus, the Taali Bajaao Campaign was conceived”, says Mugdha. “One is quick to realize that such a campaign needs to get to as many people, one person clapping in a crowd hardly makes a difference,” quips Hoshank.

The campaign is online and targets youth from 18-25 years as they are highly likely to be bystanders in such situations. Social Media has been the best thing that has happened in terms of giving people of all ages, across countries, a platform to voice themselves. In a sea of social campaigns that feature in the media day in and day out, in a crowd where everybody wants to say something, how do you make sure your voice is heard? “To make the campaign quirky and a trend we started with dubsmashes to highlight the role of Bollywood in promoting eve teasing and sexist comments in one way or the other," explains Ayush. “It moved on to Terribly Tiny Tales- two liners that cleverly communicate a story. We used this idea to come up with the Taali Bajaao Tales, which is a quirky way of getting people to express their views on eve teasing in an impactful way. Posters and memes rounded up our online campaign content,” he adds. The team made use of the dramatics society in their university to put up a street play showcasing common ways a woman may get harassed and how the taali can be used to shame the perpetrator. They also had several group discussions at every point in their campaign to gauge the public’s mindset and track how effective the campaign was.

With a reach of more than 15,000 people in a matter of two weeks, this campaign has started gaining a lot of support from people and newspapers. What is it that these young people dream of achieving through the campaign? “Our dream is a simple one,” smiles Akash, "This initiative is a step in the direction of giving bystanders a voice so that when one person claps to make a difference, millions resound.”

The post Don’t Be A Passive Bystander When You Can Stop Molesters: Instead Of A Slap, Just Clap! appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Shruti Sonal: 

Recently, I came across an article about an initiative by two friends-Raj Desai and Pratik Agarwal - who came up with an amazing technological invention that encourages people to keep their surroundings clean by giving them free Wi-Fi in return. Named "Wi-Fi Trash Bin" it generates an access code on the LED display in front when trash is thrown in it. That access code can then be used to connect to the Wi-Fi network of the dustbin. The makers plan to generate a bin that smiles graphically when somebody throws garbage in it, thus providing non-materialistic incentives. This ingenious idea was just one of the many innovations that are combining profit-making and social welfare, aiming to build a better life for the citizens:

[caption id="attachment_55041" align="alignleft" width="352"] Image source: Facebook[/caption]

1. A Ganesha Visarjan Of A Special Kind

Rintu Kalyani Rathod, a Mumbaikar, chose to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in an innovative way. Owner of ‘Rini Bakes – Bake my Dreams’ she made a 38-inch tall chocolate Ganesha with 35 kg of chocolate in 50 hours. Posting on Facebook, she shared her plans of immersing the Ganesha in milk after 5 days and feeding it to hundreds of underprivileged. She wrote- "It pains me tremendously to see the way our environment is exploited in the name of devotion. I just couldn’t bare the sight on the beach after the Visarjan. Hope to distribute prasad to many more people this time, so Bappa can stay in them forever. After all, Bappa’s favourite place to reside is inside us, nowhere else."

2. The "Solar Bottle Bulb"

An example of a simple yet effective innovation was that of a one-liter plastic bottle filled with purified water and some bleach could serve as a light bulb for some of the millions of people who live without electricity. Originally developed by MIT students, the "solar bottle bulb" is now being distributed by the MyShelter Foundation to homes throughout the Philippines. This innovation helped to light up more than a million homes in the area.

[caption id="attachment_55042" align="alignright" width="208"] Image source: Better India[/caption]

3. An Eco-Friendly Way Of Disposing Sanitary Napkins

Shyamsunder Bedekar, an innovator from Vadodara, Gujarat, whose wife used to address the issue of menstrual hygiene in rural areas, decided to solve the issue of disposal of soiled or used sanitary napkins, his innovation – the "Ashudhdhinashak". Made of terracotta and concrete, his eco-friendly and low-cost incinerator has the potential to redefine hygiene in rural areas where there is no system of garbage collection like in cities.

4. The Humane Rat Trap

The ability of innovation to make lives better is not just restricted to humans but also animals. This fact was recognized by Aakash Dewan of ISD (International School of Design, India) who was named a Gold Award Winner by global design experts at the annual Fast Company International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) awards. He named his innovation - Onedown - a humane rat trap. The trap rests in a horizontal position on a circular foot. A bait inside would lure the rat into the trap, while a metal insert in the base coupled with the weight of the rat will tip the trap and bring it to a vertical position indicating that a rat has been trapped. Then the rat can be released instead of killed.

5. From Broken Toys To Mechanical Marvels

Who says one has to have degrees or be a MIT/IIT product to innovate? Vedant Dhiren Thaker, is a student of Class 6 from Maharashtra. Like many kids his age, he grew up with toys that broke frequently. However, he decided to use the broken parts - the remote controls, magnets, batteries, etc. - to build new things. Utilising the spare parts obtained from a broken remote-controlled toy car like remote control, the motor drive mechanism circuit, rechargeable batteries and the remote control (RC) circuit used inside the car, he made a prototype device that opens the lock of the main door in his house with a remote control, and has enough range to be easily operated from any part of the house. His simple yet innovative idea made his mother’s life simpler and has the potential to transform many more.

In the midst of a capitalist society driven by profit, such examples of innovation reignite the belief that ideas have the potential to change lives. One can only hope these sparkling minds receive the necessary funding and support from both public and private institutions to implement their ideas on a wider scale.

The post All It Takes Is An Idea, Sirji! 5 Groundbreaking Yet Simple Innovations That’ll Amaze You appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Arshi Dokadia:

When one thinks about Muslim women, there comes this image in mind, where we are dressed from head to toe in a burkha and only our eyes visible. We are not allowed to gain an education and go out and pursue careers. And when it comes to Hijab and us covering ourselves, everyone has an opinion on how we are suppressed and living under a male-dominated culture because of it. I am not even going to go into the argument of how all Muslims are not terrorists because it has been written on length about how we are not; and how we ourselves keep on pleading to the terrorists, who terrorise in the name of Islam, to actually learn Islam and accept it so they stop shedding innocent blood.

[caption id="attachment_55070" align="aligncenter" width="790"] Image source: Wikipedia. For representation only.[/caption]

In a society where feminists are criticized, I am personally a bit paranoid about some of their ideals too. Because, what I see in today's feminism is not a chase for equality, but a chase to overpower men. I want to tell these feminists that we can do much better than feed our ego by overpowering or suppressing the other. Let's just co-exist in peace. In an era where 'Feminism' is a stigmatized term, calling myself a feminist is some risk I am taking upon myself. Numerous times I have seen my male friends criticize one of my friends for claiming openly that she is a feminist. And to be honest, she counter-claims that I am not a feminist because I wear a hijab.

And as I interact with my readers on Wattpad, where I am their career counsellor, I realize that the stigma against Muslim feminists prevails.

[envoke_twitter_link]How can a Muslim woman be a feminist?[/envoke_twitter_link]Let's see how.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines Feminism as

: the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities

: organize activities in support of women's rights and interests.

So I can summarize Feminism as the belief that men and women should have equal rights. Now, let me quote the noble Qur'an:

"And for women are rights over men similar to those of men over women." [Noble Qur'an 2:228]

So, where does the holy scripture go against feminism?

Apart from that, I think that we must remember how feminism came into view- to fight for the rights of women. And what it represents now is a bunch of women who want to suppress men. But wasn't fighting suppression the main idea of feminism?

Why can't we just be humanists? [envoke_twitter_link]Humanity is the best religion, best principle and the best cause to chase after[/envoke_twitter_link].

We Muslim women, in general, are not suppressed, but that doesn't mean that there are not other extremes where women are suppressed. What feminists should do is fight for actually suppressed women and not the ones who choose to wear the hijab or niqab by choice. Often I have been asked to remove my hijab to show liberation of women. But [envoke_twitter_link]isn't liberation wearing what you wish to?[/envoke_twitter_link] I mean if a woman is fighting to wear jeans and a mini-skirt, or showing off her body in India, no one bothers, but one woman is asking to cover herself and everyone is just screaming suppression!

That my dear friends, is hypocrisy.

I am twenty, I am from an age group where your worth is decided in how many likes you get on Facebook and how many followers you have on Instagram. So, when I am moving away from the oft taken road, why are people so insistent that I should follow what everyone is doing? Be it what I wear or what I choose to study? That I gave up MBBS for writing? That I want to exercise my choice and wear a hijab?

Stop criticizing each other's life choices, this is not just for feminists, but everyone in general. Guiding someone, giving a suggestion is completely different from criticizing people.

We have many troubles to face, from the increasing prices and economic depression, from neck to neck competition, to global warming, to the danger to our own life through imminent nuclear wars. Do we really have time in this fast paced world to criticize others for their choices? Or for their level of religiosity or modernism? For anything, really?

Please, lets just live and let live.

Also read: In Iran, One Woman Is Leading The Battle Against Compulsory Hijab, Through Facebook

The post “How Can A Muslim Woman Be A Feminist? Let’s See How” appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.

By Anonymous: 

Trigger warning: This post has graphic content.

I was trying to give myself a mourning period. A period where I could eat what I wanted, slept as much as I wanted, neglect my work and basically do anything else I wanted that I thought would make me feel better. I walked around the house like a ghost, lifeless and emotionless. I felt like I was already dead. Over the past one week I had lost contact with all my friends and I didn’t even want to talk to them because if I couldn’t tell them what had happened to me, I didn’t want to take on the burden of putting on a pretentious happy face. I wasn’t ready for that but at the same time I felt like I was slowly suffocating, paying for the sins someone else had committed on me. Why did I feel so completely drained of energy and why could I not see the light at the end of the tunnel? What happened to me was not my fault. [envoke_twitter_link]The fact that I became prey to someone’s perverted, incestual fantasy had nothing to do with me[/envoke_twitter_link] but I still became the victim at the end of the day, didn’t I?

So many questions about that night swarm my mind, the flashbacks never stop, the constant reminder of something bad has happened lingers in the form of my heart constantly sinking. So many questions about family, love, trust and an unwanted touch torment me. So many childhood memories ruined just like that in the flash of a second. What angers me is not what this man who claimed to be my 'mama' (uncle - mother's brother) did to me but the fact that his one night of 'masti' took away so much from me.

How can I forget the night? I remember every little detail. From the way he smelled to how his swollen penis under his shorts felt rubbing up against my thigh. I remember the shock and how paralyzed I was, unable to say anything as my body still mustered the courage to retaliate. Throughout the heartbreaking ordeal, my mind wondered about all the articles I had read where girls narrated similar stories and just thought about how I was now one of them. I remember how my heart skipped a couple of beats in the worst possible way while my glassy eyes saw what was happening to me. It's like for a couple of second my soul left my body and hovered above, watching everything unfold, maybe that’s why I couldn’t say anything for the first 15 minutes.

He started by rubbing my back while I was looking up something on my laptop while we both sat in bed just 'bonding'. The constant rubbing in circular motions slowly but steadily escalated upwards and this process lasted a good 15 minutes. The whole time I said nothing, just giving this relative of mine a chance to redeem himself, giving him a chance to come to his senses or maybe I was just giving myself the chance to believe that this couldn’t possibly happening. In that moment, I felt dirty for thinking otherwise, for thinking that he was touching me inappropriately, but I knew exactly what was happening. My body just froze, I almost felt paralyzed. Earlier, when I couldn’t sleep, my boyfriend would often gently rub my back in circular motions and it would bring me so much peace before I drifted into deep slumber. Now, my uncle’s touch has forever ruined that touch for me.

I think my mind finally registered what was happening when his hands started moving towards the front of my body inside my shirt. I clutched my arms closer to my body in attempts to block his hands from touching my breasts and my body stiffened. I think this sudden retaliation from my end made him think of the whole scenario as a challenge so he immediately slid his hand into my pants and groped my ass. It was so sudden that I was almost caught off guard. To this point, not a word slipped my mouth, it’s like it didn’t even happen. I just moved myself to a different position and acted like nothing happened and I have questioned myself multiple times on why I didn’t slap him or say anything. Now I realize that my reaction was a product of my shock. [envoke_twitter_link]When something bad is happening to you, you don’t want to believe it's actually happening[/envoke_twitter_link]. You want to hold on to your last shred of optimism till tragedy really strikes, but what’s confusing about this situation is that tragedy had struck and I couldn’t say a word.

My mind started plotting my escape, even though that escape was not far, it was literally the next room where my mom was. This man had crossed all his boundaries and knowing that there were only women at home, I really wasn’t sure what extents he would stoop to, so I couldn’t help but think that if I said anything he would hurt my family. I stood up and went to use the bathroom as an attempt to try and collect my thoughts and give myself somewhat of a pep talk. I walked back into the room just hoping that the five minutes I spent in the bathroom would wake my sick uncle up and that he would come to his senses. I was so wrong and so naïve to believe that it would stop.

I told him I was going to sleep and he calmly asked me for a good night hug, I didn’t want to overreact so I leaned in for a half shoulder hug when he pulled me onto the bed and that’s when every bit of suspicion came to reality in the form of his erect penis which was now rubbing up against my thigh. Shell-shocked, to say the least, I was back in my paralyzed state of mind but I still did try and push him off. He forcefully tried to kiss me, taking my silence for weakness not realizing that I wasn’t weak but just shocked. My voice finally stood up for the violation my body was under when he got on top of me in the position a man would get on top of a woman to try and have intercourse with her. I said nothing of significance but at least I said something, "I think that’s enough." As soon as he heard me talk for the first time he grinned at me and said, "Are you sure?" I don’t think I have ever heard any 3 words condescend me that way before. In my head I couldn’t help but wonder what that even meant, how could he even ask me such a question? I think the fact that I finally said something let him know that I knew exactly what was happening and that I wasn’t going to go through with it. He got off me and without worrying about any consequences; I walked to my mother’s room and told her everything while he pretended like he was fast asleep in my room, on MY bed.

We didn’t say a word to him the next day, but I hadn’t slept the whole night. He woke up in the morning and left, but my family made sure to give him a piece of their minds individually over the phone. Today I wonder how this could have happened to me. [envoke_twitter_link]His explanation was baseless and he kept saying he had no bad intentions towards me[/envoke_twitter_link] and that he was just having a little bit of fun. I sit here scarred and wonder how that could be anyone’s definition of fun. I have always wondered why victims of sexual abuse never speak up or pursue their perpetrators legally and the answer is simple, it’s just too damn traumatizing.

Maybe I’ll pursue it one day or maybe I won't but for now I just want to concentrate on getting rid of the constant flashbacks from that night, I want to try and see my bedroom as my sanctuary again and I want to try and believe in the unity of family again. Why should one sick man define so many things in my life? Why should I have to bear the burden and hurt and disgust? Because that’s just the way it is.

I’m not writing this from a survivor’s perspective that has overcome and emerged stronger. I am writing this from a victim's perspective who is still desperately trying to overcome what happened to her and that’s probably why you won't find a name at the bottom of this article. Yes I am scared and there’s no shame in that but I also know that if this could happen to me, it could happen to anyone. If my over-protected and privileged background couldn’t prevent this from happening to me then I can't even imagine what other girls go through but I’m learning not to blame myself for it. "What if I had moved away sooner? What if I reacted sooner? What if I hadn’t been so trusting?" The list could go on but [envoke_twitter_link]what happened to me will never, ever be my fault and that’s what victims of violence like me need to understand[/envoke_twitter_link]. [envoke_twitter_link]I’m not going to let one man's overpowering sexual desire break my trust in humanity[/envoke_twitter_link] and even though it seems that way right now, I know things will get better. For anyone that’s going through what I’m going through, have faith that you will feel again one day, after all how long can this numbness last?

The post ‘I Wondered Why Victims Of Sexual Abuse Never Speak Up, Till My Own Uncle Molested Me’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz.