The first hoop that most #MeToo accounts have had to jump through is disbelief. Before a survivor can even hope for justice, naysayers will ensure that those sharing their accounts are accused of ‘not doing it sooner’. This is what Majlis legal centre, a forum for women’s rights discourse and legal initiatives, hopes to put an end to with their campaign, Voice. The initiative focuses solely on the reason it took time for a survivor of sexual abuse to speak out.
“We began this campaign with the hope that it would, first, encourage other survivors to come forward with their stories of assault or harassment. We wanted to start this initiative without making anyone feel uncomfortable or coerced into sharing the reason they took time to tell their story, so we spread the word among our social circles about it,” 16-year-old Zara Shah, a volunteer with Majlis who started the month-long campaign tells InUth.
While we’re an overindulgent bunch as a society that satiates its need to be relevant by putting every survivor’s account through a believability index, we tend to forget the trauma involved in sharing one’s story. “Most people are unsure of whether they want their story on a public platform. We make sure they’re comfortable with sharing as much as they want and only then do we go forward with the posts,” Shaha said.
The campaign also aims to inspire women to change the way stories of sexual misconduct are perceived. The Instagram page of Majlis Law has shared six posts so far with the prefix, “I did not report the sexual abuse because…”. “I was 13 and I thought I wouldn’t be allowed to leave the house alone next time,” says the first post.
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Why I did not report sexual abuse…. #metoo #metooindia #Voice #UseYourVoice #UseYourWords
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Post 2:
Post 3:
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Why I did not report sexual abuse…. #metoo #metooindia #Voice #UseYourVoice #UseYourWords
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Majlis, which is an all-women collective, provides legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and also conducts gender sensitisation sessions at institutions. In September, the group’s ‘Happily Unmarried’ campaign shared stories of six women who celebrated their singlehood. The other campaign, which went live in March, posted interviews of women who were able to reclaim their lives after obtaining help from the legal centre.
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