Women stage unique protest against 'rape culture'

Kolkata: College and university students, professionals, housewives, and women from different walks of life converged in the hub of the city on Saturday to protest physical violence against women across the world including in India.

Around 200 women gathered before the New Empire cinema hall at 3 pm with their eyes covered protesting against the ‘rape culture’ and chanted a poem, which was adapted from a Spanish poem coined by the women protesters during a similar protest in Chile months back.

Priyanka Mukherjee, one of the organizers, said similar gatherings had been organized in Chile, many countries in Europe and in Chennai and Delhi.

“This is a good way to take out our rage welled up inside due to the incidents happening every day, here, elsewhere – in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the country. We want to register our protest against this rape culture, why should women be oppressed and subjected to such brutality,” Mukherjee said.

She said that the apolitical protest meets, which was organized by word of mouth and facebook campaigns, evoked “unprecedented response.”

“The protestors also aired their grievances against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and NRC which will create divisions in society,” she said.

Several men stood guard as the participating women held placards with clothes on their eyes to express their solidarity, she said.

The campaign ‘Dhorshok Tumi – A Feminist Intervention Against Rape Culture’ will be carried forward in the coming days to raise public awareness about the issue of abuse against women as well as minors, she said.

“We had also invited members of the LGBT community to the gathering,” she added.