Jan 1 . Pledge #SafeCityPledge

Actor and Action Hero Ritesh Deshmukh takes a #SafeCityPledge



Dear friends and Action Heroes,

We are all feeling outraged and heartbroken. But the recent Delhi gang-rape is not an isolated incident. We are all aware of how tenuous this notion of 'safety' is and how dangerous it is for citizens to shift responsibility entirely onto the police or government. We risk being manacled, socially, but will still not feel safe because violence lies in the minds of our assailants, not just in our neighbourhoods.

Molestation happens in mobs, in crowded places. It also happens in dark, deserted alleys. It happens in villages, on hills, in buses, trains, cinemas, godowns. We know (and surveys have shown) that women feel safer in spaces where there are a lot of other women, well-lit spaces, where they can take it for granted that the police will do their jobs.

There is a deeply entrenched prejudice against women's social freedom. Citizens often believe that women should NOT be in a wide range of public spaces - dressed, speaking or laughing a certain way. And for this mindset, citizens have to take responsibility. We alone - we together - can affect change.

Change will be seen when the rape and molestation stops. But it will begin when we change the way we live, play, love, talk. When girls play cricket and football in public maidaans. When women take late night strolls. When we begin to challenge sexual intimidation/abuse instead of justifying it.

We are asking you to examine your role. What are the small and big ways in which you can help make a city safe? Dream it. Pledge it. How would you like bureaucrats or ministers in your city/state to make your city safe? Ask them to pledge it. Carry it on a placard.

Join us on January 1, 2013. We will be gathering between 4:30 and 6 pm. Join us (or help organise a similar Pledge in your town). Details below:

Bangalore: Cubbon Park MG Road

Delhi: Central Park. CP

Gurgaon:

Kolkata: Kolkata Maidan near fountain

Shantiniketan: Bolpur High School, Sri Niketan road

Mumbai: Carter Road

Goa: Miramar Beach. Near Coffee Day

Chandigarh: Sukhna Lane

Chennai: Elliot Beach

Pune :

Hyderabad:  GVK One, Road #1, Banjara Hills. (Near the Hard Rock Cafe Entry gate). 

Below are some examples of the pledges others have taken. Please. Take a pledge.

"I pledge to keep taking the regular bus and insisting on more fleets that are not as expensive as the ac volvos"

"I pledge to get proper street lights near bannerghatta road"

"I pledge to do what I have to do, when I have to, with whom I have to. I pledge to turn my anger into constructive action."

"I pledge to not listen when someone asks me to 'face reality'. I'll slap it."

"I pledge to counsel parents. Starting with mine."

"I pledge not to blame a rape survivor. No matter who/where/what she is."

"I pledge to never blame myself. For whatever I may have faced, no matter how "painted", "dented" or "sundari" I was."

"I pledge to refuse to fill up any kind of application(other) form that asks you for your father/husband's name."

Show up. Spread the word. Make your own #SafeCityPledge. Tweet it. On Jan 1, make this your Facebook status message.

Updates here: http://www.facebook.com/events/383859798366092/?notif_t=plan_user_joined

Text prepared by Action Hero Annie Zaidi

I Never Ask For It

No woman of any age colour character ever deserves to be sexually violated or what some might lightly call 'eve-teased'. There is no such thing as ' asking for it'.

Send one garment you wore when you experienced street harassment.

Your garment is a witness to the experience.

Your garment is a testimonial.

Together lets say out loud

 I NEVER ASK FOR IT. 

coming up- faqs campaign I Never Ask For It

blurtblanknoise@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/blank_noise

http://www.facebook.com/INeverAskForIt

things to do at home:

mongan iruna nayinte thalayil thenga veenathu pole
malyalam
is like a dog who was waiting for a coconut to fall on its head.
(sent by Aathira)

agar mittha samne hai toh makhi toh zaroor aasi

How would you say it in your language?

"I NEVER ASK FOR IT"

I NEVER ASK FOR IT.

(in Deutsche):
contributed by Ulrike Syha
Ich habe nie darum gebeten.
or
Darum habe ich nie gebeten.
I would prefer the latter.


(in French) :
contributed by Roselyne Titaud and Barret Clemence
je n'ai jamais demandé ça



(in Malyalam) :
contributed by Nandini Raja
njaan aavashyapettilla = I never ask for it.

contributed by Farid Jalal
jyaan teere athinnu choichitilla = I have never asked for it.



(in Oriya) :
contributed by Snigdha Sahoo
mun kebe bi e sabu chaanhi na thili - i never ask for it


(in Gujarati):
contributed by Niyati Patel
hoon kyarey magti nathi - i never ask for it
me kyarey aa magyu nathi - i have never asked for it
mane aa joytu nathi - i dont want this

(in Bangla) :

contributed by Sunayana Roy

Ami to chai ni -- I did not ask for it
Ami kokhunoyi chai na -- I never ask for it
Ami e shob chai na -- I don't want all this

(in Marathi):

contributed by Poonam Vaidya
मी कद्धी नाही हेचा साथी विचारल : mi kadi nahi hecha saathi vicharal= I never ask for it

(in Tamil) :

contributed by Miruna Varadarajan
naan varavazhaipadu alla = i do not invite
naanketpadu alla = i do not ask for it

contributed by R. Jai Krishna

naan ketkamataen = I never ask for it

(in Assamese) :
contributed by Arundhati Banerjee
"Moi ketiao chowa nai"......I never asked for it

(in Punjabi) :
contributed by Jasso Rani
mein maaf karna. eh kade meri galti nahin si= excuse me but it wasn't my fault.
mein kadey mangya nayi = i never ask for it

mein bilkul pasand nahi= i absolutely dislike it
akhir gur da ki kasoor= but why blame sugar? ( in reference to jithe gur uthe makhi* check image)
istey meri ki galti= why are you blaming me?


contributed by Gujan Chugh
Main eh taanh nahin si mangya= I had not asked for it

How was it implied in your language?

"She 'asked for it'?"

could be proverbs, statement, sayings from everyday conversations

"She 'asked for it":

1. Aap theek ho toh sab theek hai. (hindi) = if you are okay, then everything is okay.

2. ladki agar santo key beech par jayegi to santo toh bharka gain na? (hindi)= a girl can provoke the saints too.

3. agar mittha samne hai toh makhi toh zaroor aasi ( punjabi) = agar meethu sammey paduy che to makhi chokase avse( gujarati) =
if there's something sweet , then it is obvious that the flies will be there too.
gujurati version sent by Darshana Panchal

4. pennorumbettaal brahmanum (malayalam) = if a women wishes so, even Brahma cannote escape her advances.
sent by Suman

5. ila chennu mullil veenaalum mullu vannu ilayil veenalum kedu ilakkaanu =this is actually kind of cautionary stuff for all mallu girls of all generations. if the leaf falls on the thorns or the thorn falls on a leaf, whatever may be, it is the leaf that gets torn off.

(well actually a warning kind a.hey girl, do not go and do things, and then later on complain about it. whether you do it or they do, you are the one to suffer. hence, make no room for any such incidents only)
sent by Suman


6. ladki ki izzat kaanch ke jaisi hai. joh toot jata hai judta nahin hai = a girls modesty/respectablity is like glass. once broken it cannot be fixed.
sent by Nita Patheja

7. "Dangling a carrot in front of a donkey".
sent by Annie Zaidi

8. Juttu vippokoni gattiga navvey aada daani, yennadu nammoddhu!

old telugu saying = never trust a woman who laughs loudly with her hair open

sent by the much harassed Vijay Sai

9. streeche paul vakde padle ki samajacha naash suru hoto (marathi)= the moment a woman steps out of line (breaks social mores), the social decay begins.
sent by Pranav Joshi

10. andaman ki baarish aur aurat ka koi bharosa nahin hai= they say this in the andamans if they feel betrayed by women= the rains in andaman are unpredictable just like women.
sent by Rani Kamal

11. ek miyan mein doh talwar= 2 women in a house will always create havoc.
sent by Rani Kamal

12. jithe doh auratan hon uthe bhande kharakde hi hain= 2 women in a house will always create noise/ fight/ make trouble
sent by Indri

13. "Beware of the 3 Ws in life- women wine and wealth"
sent by Rani Kamal

14. aurtan ni gallan te nahin aana chahida. punjabi. statement = dont get into what women say.
sent by Rani Kamal

15. "Ela estava mesmo a pedi-las" Portuguese for "She was really asking for it", commonly used when, say, a rape is associated to the clothes the girl / woman was wearing at the time of the assault.

sent by Joao Lemos

16. "woh muchh hi kya jise fera nahi jaata; woh ladki hi kya jise chheda nahi jaata."hindi= ('what is a moustache that can't be curled up, what is a girl who is not teased.')

sent by Mohnish

17. "Shei orokom meye" is the sense of nudge, nudge, wink, wink, you know, she's that kind of girl. sent by Sunayana Roy

18. "Jithe Gur uthe makhi"= where there is gur/ jaggery- there will be flies.

19. "mongan iruna nayinte thalayil thenga veenathu pole"

this is a colloquial saying in Malayalam which literally means this(situation) is like a dog who was waiting for a coconut to fall on its head.
sent by Aathira

MAKE A SIGN

- by Ilona Granet



Make a street sign.

It can be in any city , street , lane , neighbourhood you want. You could think of signs in buses, parks, night clubs, movie halls, malls and markets- it is up to you to spell out which kind of place you want your sign in. It could even be in sites where women have experienced street sexual harassment- like here.

You are welcome to say anything you want.



Guidelines:

1. we encourage submissions that are affirmative.

2. your submission should include a brief note about which place you want to insert the sign in and why

3. it could be in any language but an English translation is important.

4. It does not need to have text. It could just be visual.

5. It does not need to have visual. It could just be text.

6. It could have both text and visual.

7. You must send us a web friendly jpeg/ png/ file, but remember not to throw away the original vector file incase yours is selected for printing!

8. you may be the recruiter- you could involve your local network to work on this.
for example- if you are a teacher- this could be a class assignment. If you are in college- you could organize a community of people to work on this.

9. Some of you might have better writing skills than visualization skills, in that case you are
welcome to send text for a street sign. Based on the response to this event we might have the option of someone with visual skills partnering with you to make this sign.

10. keep it simple

Your street sign will be put on the Blank Noise blog + flickr.
3 signs will be selected to be tried and tested in public. The selected signs could also be printed on t shirts.


Deadline: 17th May. 2009
Confirm your participation by emailing us at blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com
subject titled SIGN. We will add your name to the list below. Sign UP! Be an Action Hero.

We are always avaliable to chat with you about your idea for the street sign before your submission.



Here's what we want to say and why:

We are talking of safer cities not feared cities
We are talking of independent women, not paranoid women.
We are talking about collective responsibility- don't tell me to be even more 'cautious'.
We are talking about eve teasing as street sexual harassment and street sexual violence.
We are talking about autonomous women, not just mothers daughters and sisters amidst fathers brothers and sons.



resources/ reference
In the past we have discussed
this
and this
and this
and this
and this
and this

Sometimes we just love to walk, stand around, hang around, without looking ‘available'.

Updates from Bangalore!

Protesting the recent reported attacks against women in Bangalore and the apathy and indifference displayed by the city's Police Commissioner, Fearless Karnataka/Nirbhaya Karnataka submitted a memorandum to the State's DGP on March 7. When the group finally met him a few days later, victims recounted their experiences and the group submitted the memorandum again alongwith some specific questions:


1. Donna Fernandes (Vimochana) – Is it possible for a ½ day meeting with women from various NGOs and the police? We never get through to ACPs or Inspectors when we call the police station. We want time with you so we can better the system.

Ajay Singh – What I wanted was a half day meeting with the Commissioner. I will call Infant (ADGP law and Order, State) and invite some senior officers.

2. Group – Every month the Commissioner needs 2-3 hours to hear women's voices and NGO voices.

Ajay Singh – I can't disclose very much but I have written to him about the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and about your incidents. I have told him that these are serious investigations. It has been very disturbing for me to read your email (gesturing Rest House Road complainants).

3. Priya (victim) – Filing an FIR is the last resort and we are strong and vocal but there are so many more people who are not filing FIRs. Can a note be sent to police stations highlighting the particular incidents and urging police to take action in such cases?

Ajay Kumar Singh – Great idea will you help me work on it?

4. Group – Public communication, billboards needed.

Ajay Kumar Singh - This is a good idea.(The group needs to figure a way to take this forward)

5. Donna – It's crucial for communities to get together at various police station levels and the ACP should publicly commit themselves that these issues will not be taken lightly. We need to marginalise these intolerant voices. The local police, MLAs should be on the panel and commit themselves.

Singh – The MLAs will be busy till the elections are over.

6. Jiti – Can we build in measures like surety - what other legal interventions can be made to ensure justice?

Singh – We also get the blame for many things that are not our fault and that are the blame of other departments. For instance after the Mangalore open meeting women are saying we released the suspects but actually the courts released them. Surety/Self bail: I don't know what we as Police can suggest – may be you can meet the Administrative judge.

7. Archana – Is there any one single emergency contact number?

Singh – Well in addition to 100 do pass on this number, it's the DGPs control room and I will instruct them to contact the local police station: 22942111.

Referring to memorandum in front of him: I've agreed to almost all of these. I'll have to call the Commissioner and other officers and we can take this forward.

8. Donna - Can we have a higher monitoring committee of senior officers who will oversee the process of such cases right from the filing of the FIR?

Singh - I will pass an order immediately. (Calls PA in and issues orders to Pujar to oversee these particular incidents).

Agrees to a “a half day meeting that will end in something productive” and to issue a public statement after meeting with officers and going through the memorandum. Has also asked for a copy of all fled FIRs which was dropped off at his office the next day.

We are now waiting for him to revert to us.

Taking Back The Night:

Take Back The Night-
Zainab Bawa reports at citizen matters
(report coming up)
For now here are some photos.
For those on facebook- there are more photos
here .




I never ask for it
facebook








@ Ulsoor 6 pm- 8 00 pm- public interactions addressing bystanders of street sexual harassment.




A report is coming up. Photos for now:
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=68888473361&view=user#/event.php?eid=68888473361

Speak out, ring the bell

(excerpt from Moments of  a Long Pause. Blank Noise video)

This past month has been all about the spectator at Blank Noise. We asked you to send in stories of street harassment: what you saw, how you reacted, what provoked you, how you negotiated with the larger public around you when it was someone else being harassed.
We have many, many spectator responses.

I was walking to the gurudwara early morning.. One boy was dragging a girl forcing her to come on the motor bike. I think they worked at night and were returning home. The boy insisted that the she come with him. I was observing and walking past. I passed a shiv mandir/temple and it struck me that I should go help that girl.

I went in and said "what is the problem?"
The boy asked me to mind my own business.

" Let me talk to this girl if she wants to go with you then I have no problem. If she doesnt want to go then i will not let her go".
The girl said that she does not want to go.

I shouted at him. His friends also said that he should let her go.

I told him that I would call the police.

My mobile was ready with the cop thana no.

He asked me what my objection was. I said there are 4 boys and 1 girl and I have been seeing this react. I said " will you leave her or not?! "

He asked me what relation I had with the girl to interfere. I said " human being"

Finally he let go off her hand. The girl went off with another boy. I got scared thinking that now the boys might attack me. I hopped into a taxi and went to the gurudwara. This was a huge experience for me.


We are still asking you to share your experiences as spectator's. If you are a male and have witnessed street harassment, write to us. Speak out. As we continue with our Spectator's Special - the "special spectator's who acted as well - we join hands to support another effort - Breakthrough's Bell Bajao.

Breakthrough is a fabulous group that does advocacy around rights issues using new media, and their latest campaign is Bell Bajao, asking you to speak out and take action when you encounter domestic violence. Ring the bell, register your protest, speak up and don't look the other way.

It ties in beautifully with the phase we are at with Blank Noise as well, right now - asking for men's responses to issues of violence against women whether in the private space (as the Bell Bajao campaign highlights) or in the public sphere (which is what Blank Noise is about).

The Bell Bajao campaign is up here and it tells you all about responding to domestic violence, provides a forum to share testimonials, games to play, a Wiki page that details both responses as well as what the law says.

More than anything, it asks you to speak out and share. Go to their blog and break the silence around domestic violence by speaking out.

Donate to Blank Noise

Blank Noise has effortlessly pursued projects despite financial restraints. All Blank Noise activities were self funded. Some cities such as Blank Noise Kolkata, Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad actually created a kitty where each member contributed a nominal sum of Rs 20 per month( kolkata), while Hyderabad volunteers pitched in to create the Blank Noise pamphlets. While we are looking out for a sustainable method of generating funds, right now we would be extremely grateful with your extended support through donation.

At this moment we have posters and pamphlets to print, t shirts to make, new events to organize. To extend your support for Blank Noise by being a donor, please click on the DONATE button on the navigation bar to your right.

If you prefer to send in a cheque instead you could email us at blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com

Alternatively, if you have ideas on how Blank Noise could sustain itself, please email us. We always look forward to your ideas and suggestions.

On behalf of the Blank Noise Team (thank-you!!)

'DID YOU ASK FOR IT?'

1000 clothes in 40 days clothing meter counts 99 !!

Our volunteers are in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kashmir, Kolkata, Jaipur, Portblair, Singapore, Pune,...to contribute your one garment, write to us and get in touch with your city Blank Noise volunteer!

If you would like to volunteer your time and collect clothes towards the Blank Noise Campaign, Did You Ask For It? from your city, contact us at blurtblanknoise AT gmail.com

About 'Did You Ask For It?'

Whenever an incident of eve teasing or street sexual harassment takes place, the first thing most women themselves and the listeners to the incident ask is ' what was she wearing?' ,' did she 'provoke him'?

Testimonials of street sexual harassment/ eve teasing from women across age groups, and from diverse places tells us that women get sexually harassed in no matter what they wear.

Blank Noise also believes that women do have a right to feel good about themselves, and wear what they please, without being sexually violated, because 'you' think she's 'avaliable'.

We question, defy, and attempt to put an end to the argument that women 'ask for it'. To establish 'asking for it' as a mere excuse for sexual harassment, we are asking all women to send in one garment that they wore when they were eve teased.

Each contributed garment comes from someone's incident as a testimony, or a witness and forms part of a larger collective.

You could chose to send text, describing yourself, or the incident along with the garment.

The garments given will be strung together and installed in a public site. We require 1000 or more clothes from participants all over. The installation of clothing testimonials will travel across cities Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai...

We have collected 99 clothes so far. 901 more to go!
The clothes collected include saris, salwar kameez, school uniforms, track pants, t shirts, jeans..

Thankyou Sridevi, Gayathri, Manjula, Prasheila, Payal, Bhumika, Ratna, Naini, Sakthy, Rajvi, Meena, Sahana, Neha, Tanisha, Shravanti, Sneha, Sharda, Suren and his friends/ sister in Chennai, Naveed and Asiya from Baramulla Kashmir, Aarti, Pratima, ....

To participate, volunteer, send clothes contact us at 98868 40612 or email at blurtblanknoise AT gmail.com

thankyou for participating

There is power in numbers.