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Documentary filmmaker Sehjo Singh has come up with interactive panels in the DESPITE women's increased visibility in public spaces, better education and work opportunities, and changing social attitudes, women continue to experience physical and emotional violence, both within their homes and outside. How does one address a crime as insidious, damaging and invasive as this in ways that are positive, interesting and relevant? This is what Jagori, the Delhi-based women's training and resource centre, had in mind when it asked documentary filmmaker Sehjo Singh to create advocacy and communication material for its ongoing campaign on violence against women.
While violence affects women across class, it is the lower middle and working classes that are the most vulnerable to it – the group that Jagori works with across northern India. Known for its attractive advocacy tools such as creative songs, diaries and posters, Jagori had a few pointers for Singh. First, the material must do more than just provide information on rights and laws; it had to focus on the social aspects surrounding violence so that the viewer would be forced to think about the issue. Second, it had to be youthful in its appeal, portable, cost-effective, interactive and communicate the non-negotiable message that violence was unacceptable even as it fostered a positive approach to taking action when one confronts such violence oneself. Finally, it had to reach out to both men and women and challenge the notion that this was a woman's problem. Keeping all these factors in mind, Singh came up with interesting, easy-to-follow interactive panels in the graphic novel style, with fictional protagonists and scenarios that the viewer can relate to. They are in Hindi and inspired from the scores of real life stories in Jagori's files of women who have emerged victorious from one form of violence or another. The violence has been divided into four broad areas: Public space, domestic/marital space, parental space and the workplace. An interactive element has been included to foster further viewer engagement. Working on finding characters that told a compelling story on each issue, Singh created four protagonists. There's Tai, who addresses public safety; Pappu, who focuses on sexual harassment at the workplace; Meeto, who fights familial discrimination; and a man and woman, who intervene in domestic violence. "For me the characters were very important," says Singh. "They had to be recognisable, and like the viewer, troubled by violence but do not know how to counter it." These protagonists then decide to do something about the situation, taking action that is realistic, compelling and inspiring. By being male and female, these characters subtly imply equal male responsibility in ensuring women's safety. Here is Tai's story board. Tai is an ordinary and yet strong, elderly woman living in an urban basti (slum) and she addresses safety in public spaces. Noticing local boys harassing girls and women on her street, Tai steps in and stops it. She craftily recruits the same young boys to watch the streets, making potential perpetrators responsible for women's safety, and appoints the old men who sit playing cards and the vegetable vendors with their well-lit carts to become the eyes and ears of the community — bringing everyone together through building awareness and developing a sense of responsibility. In the last interactive panel, she invites the viewers to share their responses to the harassment women face on public transport. Workspace issues are seen though Pappu's eyes. Pappu is an office boy who notices with dismay the various subtle and overt ways in which women employees in his office are harassed by their male colleagues and superiors. Coming across the Supreme Court's guidelines on sexual harassment in the workplace — that lists the different forms of behaviour that count as harassment and are discriminatory on grounds of gender — he distributes copies among colleagues. This initiates discussion and debate, paving the way for increased awareness and a more gender-sensitive working environment. Copies of the guidelines, containing a small tear-away section for queries, are given away which the viewer can drop into a box. The panel, Tring Tring, deals with domestic violence, building on the popular Bell Bajao campaign. Two neighbours, a man and a woman, ring the doorbell and interrupt a husband beating his wife. Their intervention halts the violence, and while the woman takes the wife for first aid and counselling, the man addresses the husband. Through examples of other conflicts that he resolves without violence himself, the husband is made to realise that violence is not a compulsion but an active choice, one he exercises each time he beats his wife. The fourth protagonist is Meeto, a bright and ambitious girl expected to abide by her parents' wishes. Meeto challenges these stereotypes by studying hard, working and choosing her own life partner. The Meeto panel, Singh recollects, was very special, as her story could have ended up as a tragic one. But after several brainstorming sessions with Jagori members, the story emerged as one that could inspire hope when told in flashback by a grown-up girl. Meeto's story uses an interesting device. It shows her having to choose between being good and being strong, and she chooses the latter each time. The viewer is called upon to make his choice with a red sticker. In addition, a fifth
space has been created to symbolise a woman's inner space, reflecting
the ways she often inflicts violence on herself by internalising the
discrimination and violence done to her. But, ultimately, this site is
also about self-realisation and growth. Six inspiring real life
stories from Jagori's files of grit, struggle and success are placed
here, depicting a woman's journey from "victimhood to
selfhood", as Singh says. — WFS
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