Can Sexual Violence be a fuel for Non Violent Civil Resistance?

Swati, a name of presenter from India during Young Scholar Conference held by The Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) on 5-6 March 2013 in Bangkok. The most interesting of her presentation was about the number of cases reported on sexual harassment in India is increasing. Not only that, even the current case of gang rape in India was able to shake people's emotion but not stay longer as a connector for social movement.  Why?

It is very common, when case of sexual harassment or sexual violence in public, there is a tendency for audience or reader of newspaper associating a victim with miss-behave, miss-dress up, etc. I call it as a blaming-victim perspective. People are so much interested in discovering what  she/he may do that provoke the perpetrator  but less interest to know what happen to victim. Even, some of them may try to seek weakness of victim that can be used as justification of the incidence. It is totally wrong. Case of sexual harassment and violence must be treated like human rights violation or even criminal. Because the perpetrator took the deep pride, private of the victim and destroyed her entire life. 

Judgmental opinion is embedded in our culture. For instance, when a rape case reported by media, just by accident it was happened in public at night time. Suddenly,  people may think, "she should not go home late".  Very view of them think "where is the police?" or there is less of security in public space for women. But even, when somebody thinks like, the solution come up, either to domesticate women at home or not allow women to travel night time. 

Though we hearth that a lot of people protested for gang rape case in India, but it seem difficult to use this issue to be a connector to create bigger and massive civil resistance a cross a globe that can influence the policy to take this issue seriously. One thing perhaps, we need to be in deep refection is "reframing" the issue.  It means how do people will feel the same feeling of empathy when this kind of incidence happen. So, it is a matter how media report. Secondly, also how the movement frame the message and use innovative tactic to approach public. BUT, both message and tactic have to be in line with values of peace where respect and avoiding judgmental opinion towards the case must be kept in mind. 

However, it is big challenge for media to reframe the case not using sensationalism but present the case as bad tragedy of human kind, which can destroy the humankind race. What we need to learn more is to explore discourse of life inside sexual harassment and violence, so we could use it as a fuel to non violent civil resistance? 

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