1 Billion Rising Events

RISING TO MAKE OUR DEMANDS HEARD

India > Kolkata > > 2014-02-14 >

About The Event

On V-Day, sixty survivors of prostitution who are organized through Apne Aap gathered at various locations in Kolkata to raise their voices against commercial sexual exploitation. They came from from Munshigunge and Topsia. First the women gathered for an Open Mic session at Apne Aap’s office in Khidderpore, where they expressed in their own words the injustice they see around them and how they want to fight it. The women of Topsia focused on the problem of housing, while the women from Munshigunj focused on their need for an alternate livelihood and legal protection as well as education for their children. Thereafter, they marched from the office through the Munshigani Red Light Area while chanting slogans. They stopped along the way, where one of Apne Aap’s Kishori Mandals (adolescent girls’ group) performed a street play on sex trafficking and the struggle to break free. Then the women continued on to the Watgani police station, where they submitted a 7-point charter of demands regarding their right to education, right to fight against protection, and their right to oppose oppression. They demanded greater police #action and #accountability surrounding the local sex trade. #Rising4Justice

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