Over the last few days....all of us are flooded with messages in social networking
sites and in any get together conversations. Emotional messages. Thoughtful
messages. Provoking messages. Intuitive messages......all about violence
against women.
I happened to participate in a peace march and an awareness workshop on Violence Against Women.
Experts and Social workers came and spoke about self-defense, their experiences on working in this space and the experiences of the victims they work with.
Lots of gruesome/horrific/horrendous (list is endless) real life stories of rape, violence, molest, sex trafficking and any other possible assault.
After hearing all these, I was wondering, what is that I can do? Is there anything at all that I can do?
The debate of "Will system change the society or society changes the system?" is never ending.
But the fact is - every victim has the potential to be an assaulter later. And every assaulter can create 100 victims later.
How do i stop? Where do I start?...lots of unorganized, haywire thoughts going on in my mind.
Few points that I can do/influence are:
1) Don't just sit and crib about the system - Legal/political. It is not helping any one. It is not changing anything.
2) If I really want to make it happen, I need to start from my family, as it is very much within my circle of influence. - Teach my kid to respect every human being irrespective of caste, gender, social status, educational background. Respect and behaving gently goes hand in hand.So, Respect...that’s everything. And that’s what is lacking big time today.
3) Break the "social wiring" and the "gender stereotypes" in my mind and help break this in anyone in my social circle.
4) Don't be a spectator. Yeah...i agree. It’s fun. But, it’s a spineless job. So,I will do my bit in whatever way i can - Help an orphanage, sponsor orphans, teach the under privileged kids, tell them how wonderful they are, spread awareness about crimes, educate women on self-defense, feed one meal to a beggar I come across.....it could be any damn thing that I come across!
5) Give the freedom to kids in the house to talk about sex. Depending on the age of the kid, parents should choose the level of conversation , that their kids can have with them. But, it cannot be a "no-no" topic anymore in the family circle.
6) Getting emotional about the "helplessness" and the corruption in the system, will not lead anywhere. So, think rational on "what is that I can do?" which is more important than, "why is the system not changing?" question (more productive too!)
7) Spread the awareness as much as possible...whenever, wherever.
8) Last...but, not the least....don’t expect others to change....unless I change!
Yeah....by doing all these, i may not see a better world in my life time. But, my grandchildren may!
If I can be even a drop in an ocean to make this world better for them, I would say.......
Yes! I have lived my life!
I happened to participate in a peace march and an awareness workshop on Violence Against Women.
Experts and Social workers came and spoke about self-defense, their experiences on working in this space and the experiences of the victims they work with.
Lots of gruesome/horrific/horrendous (list is endless) real life stories of rape, violence, molest, sex trafficking and any other possible assault.
After hearing all these, I was wondering, what is that I can do? Is there anything at all that I can do?
The debate of "Will system change the society or society changes the system?" is never ending.
But the fact is - every victim has the potential to be an assaulter later. And every assaulter can create 100 victims later.
How do i stop? Where do I start?...lots of unorganized, haywire thoughts going on in my mind.
Few points that I can do/influence are:
1) Don't just sit and crib about the system - Legal/political. It is not helping any one. It is not changing anything.
2) If I really want to make it happen, I need to start from my family, as it is very much within my circle of influence. - Teach my kid to respect every human being irrespective of caste, gender, social status, educational background. Respect and behaving gently goes hand in hand.So, Respect...that’s everything. And that’s what is lacking big time today.
3) Break the "social wiring" and the "gender stereotypes" in my mind and help break this in anyone in my social circle.
4) Don't be a spectator. Yeah...i agree. It’s fun. But, it’s a spineless job. So,I will do my bit in whatever way i can - Help an orphanage, sponsor orphans, teach the under privileged kids, tell them how wonderful they are, spread awareness about crimes, educate women on self-defense, feed one meal to a beggar I come across.....it could be any damn thing that I come across!
5) Give the freedom to kids in the house to talk about sex. Depending on the age of the kid, parents should choose the level of conversation , that their kids can have with them. But, it cannot be a "no-no" topic anymore in the family circle.
6) Getting emotional about the "helplessness" and the corruption in the system, will not lead anywhere. So, think rational on "what is that I can do?" which is more important than, "why is the system not changing?" question (more productive too!)
7) Spread the awareness as much as possible...whenever, wherever.
8) Last...but, not the least....don’t expect others to change....unless I change!
Yeah....by doing all these, i may not see a better world in my life time. But, my grandchildren may!
If I can be even a drop in an ocean to make this world better for them, I would say.......
Yes! I have lived my life!
