Two Sri Lankan musicians,on an India tour,revisit their musical journeys When it comes to victims of catcalls,wolf whistles or lewd acts,one is left furious and helpless. It was no different for Rubina Singh,a student,who recently passed out from the Department of Law,Panjab University. This,till the time she decided to stand up and fight against it. Not by putting up banners that talked about morchas and candle light vigils,but through youth-friendly methods that would grab attention and get students involved. She,along with some students of the Law Department,decided to spread the message through coffee meets and garnered support from members of social networking sites. The result: a new campaign group at the University,which has joined hands with the international street harassment movement Hollaback to form Hollabacks Chandigarh wing. The students are already busy downloading Hollaback applications on their mobile phones. Made for iPhone and Android phones,they give a real-time response to street harassment,breaking the silence that has perpetuated into street harassment, says Singh,who calls street harassment the most pervasive form of gender-based violence and one of the least legislated against crime. Their first meeting,which was recently held at Cafe Kaffee Kuchh,the group screened a film titled The Silence of Choked Spaces. The film made by city-based filmmaker GS Chani,talks about the increasing instances of street harassment in Chandigarh and how women are reacting to it . The group now meets periodically,hears out various experiences and looks for solutions. They also hold interactive sessions with their international counterparts,run local blogs and organise their communities through advocacy,community partnerships,and direct action. We are already collaborating with various local organisations to work in this area. And our effort is not just towards women; we also have members from the Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community on board. For,they face as much,if not more,harassment than women on the streets, points out Nishta Pirtha,a student of University Institute of Legal Studies. To walk down the street without being harassed,they are also planning to involve men. For its the men who are responsible for this menace. We need to have them on board so that they can also be a part of the education process, says Varundeep Singh,a Class XII student of KB DAV School.
