Monday, May 12, 2014

May 9th: Women's empowerment meeting

Today, we sat in on a women's empowerment meeting in a rural village in Rajasthan. Women here are under the ownership of men for their whole lives. When they're young they report to their father, when they're married they report to their husband and when their husband dies they report to their sons. In the village, married women are not allowed to show their faces in public or when there is a presence of a male so they cover themselves in sarees. The violence women experience here is economical, social and emotional. We compared this violence against women to ways in which women are discriminated around the world and living in Canada does not protect us from this. As a protest, we joined the NGO Jatan in writing slogans on the walls of buildings around the village. There is still so much to be done to give for women's rights all over the world.


Vienna Lam
DWC Volunteer Participant
Dhaneriyagadh, India: May 2014

No comments: