These events, on the whole, tend to be largely comprised of those who are enlightened & the few victims who have come out of the other side of it. I take it the Auntiji set (and males who are complicit whether by passivity/ silence or by active involvement) that we frequently talk about on PP did not attend this event or others like it.

Apart from introducing new legislation to tackle the symptons how do we stem the cause?

Basically we need to also directly target the Aunti-ji’s et al.

For example, the organisers to hold mini events on the nominated day at religious temples.

Very well said. Some of the worst racists I know come over remarkably feminist when challenged on the racism by a woman. As if it’s impossible to condemn certain cultural practices without condeming entire cultures and people.

I think their headline message at the women is ‘rape is cheaper than a bullet’ for theri campaign on violence against women

Should read:

I think their headline message at the MOMENT is ‘rape is cheaper than a bullet’ for their campaign on violence against women

I noticed Liberal Conspiracy has a thread going on this, Sunny, well done again.

I still remember the amazing posters the Metropolitan Police published on the walls of the Tube on ‘how easy it is to walk away from domestic violence..’ a few years ago. Bring them back, please.

My earliest memory of being on a demonstration in London was sometime when I was 6 and the youth workers made us work on individual embroideries of our faces to mark us out as young women of the future. All the portraits got stitched up into a massive tapestry banner on a march on international women’s day.

Of coarse it’s not just a day in the calendar – it’s symbolic of the many days where women suffer the violation of their rights – in the most vulgar, habitual, ritual and exploitative of ways. And then there’s the c word – which in my books is a word I don’t like to use much – culture. And the excuses that go with it to justify the violation of rights.

I am particularly upset this year as domestic violence and violence against women seems to be the norm in Nepal. Two weeks ago a friend came to me in tears, a male friend, said his sister had been killed. It was devastating news. I was about to get on a plane to go to London and the news hit me like a juggernaut.

His sister was in an abusive relationship, married to a cousin of sort, mother of a 3 year-old, she was beaten severely the night before, had hot oil poured over her body and was then made to drink something toxic which eventually killed her. The cause of death was officially poisoning.

The local police allegedly were spectators with the villagers as the husband and the extended family abused her.

I am told this sort of thing happens all the time in Nepal, which is true. I am sickened. The police most likely won’t do anything as they treat domestic violence as a personal matter between man and wife. We’ve reported the murder to the national human rights NGO here that works to stamp out domestic violence in Nepal.

She died. It was personal but it was also a crime. The old feminist slogan comes to mind, ‘the personal is the political’ and this is why laws need to be challenged and changed so that crimes committed by husbands and extended kin are recognized as crimes, no more, no less.