Pressnote on PIL on Extra-Judicial Killings in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh

Challenging State Impunity
A PIL on Extra-Judicial Killings in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh

Even as the Bastar police celebrate their “success” in having killed over a hundred alleged Naxalites this year, a Public Interest Litigation challenging the spate of encounters in Bijapur has been filed before the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur. The petitioners are two young women from Korcholi with extra-ordinary grit and determination –Suneeta Pottam (19 years old).and Munni Pottam (18 years old), who have been supported in this effort by a national women’s organization, the WSS (wssnet.org) as the third petitioner.

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(The Petitioners, Suneeta Pottam and Munni Pottam, with a copy of their petition, in their lawyer’s office) Continue reading

“My struggle will continue until AFSPA is struck down” – Irom Sharmila

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“My struggle will continue until AFSPA is struck down” said Irom Sharmila Chanu, the poet and activist from Manipur whose 16-year long hunger strike against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has made her a global symbol of non-violent resistance. Sharmila was speaking at a press conference organised by the “Stand With Irom Sharmila: Repeal AFSPA” Campaign, a global campaign endorsed by nearly 1000 women – from pioneers of global women’s movements to grassroot activists who have dedicated their lives to the struggle for women’s rights and freedoms.

Continue reading

Yet Another Fake Encounter – a young man in killed in Palnar, Bijapur

In yet another instance of police brutality, a young man in Palnar, Bijapur, Chhattisgarh was killed and tied to a tree. Palnar is just a few kilometers from Korcholi, where Sukku Kunjam was killed and a young mother was raped in November and January respectively. A combined team of WSS and Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) investigated the incident. A copy of the report detailing their findings can be found here.

Visit of Natasha Rather and Ifrah Butt, co-authors of ‘Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora’ to Kolkata – A Report

Visit of Natasha Rather and Ifrah Butt, co-authors of ‘Do you remember Kunan Poshpora’ to Kolkata during July 11 to 13, 2016

WSS, West Bengal arranged for the visit of Natasha Rather and Ifrah Butt, co-authors of Do you remember Kunan Poshpora, to Kolkata and held various programmes independently and with other organizations including students’ bodies. Following is a brief description of the programmes: Continue reading

Fact-Finding Report on the Ragging of a Dalit Student in Kalaburgi, Karnataka

Fact-finding in Kalaburgi

In the last week of June, the case of Ashwathi, a nursing student from a poor Dalit family being forced to consume toilet cleaner by her seniors came to light. On July 5th, 2016, a team from Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) comprising of Gowri, Dalit feminist and activist, Savitha, Research Scholar, and Greeshma, Advocate visited Kalaburgi to understand the situation better.

This is their report.

Eviction of Charan Khad Settlement Dharamshala: A Fact Finding Report

In response to disturbing information circulated on our mailing lists about the eviction of a long-standing settlement in Dharamshala, WSS (Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression) and Delhi Forum took the decision to field a joint fact-finding mission; with the objective of investigating the situation, ascertaining if violations of law and human rights had taken place and exploring the possibilities for resettlement and rehabilitation of the community.

Read the final report here and annexures here.

Stop Victim Shaming: No Tolerance to Misogyny at SRFTI

Stop victim shaming: No tolerance to misogyny at SRFTI by Nisha Biswas

Being female in this world means having been robbed of the potential for human choice by men who love to hate us. One does not make choices in freedom. Instead, one conforms in body type and behavior and values to become an object of male sexual desire, which requires an abandonment of a wide-ranging capacity for choice…
Andrea Dworkin

Aristotle portrayed women as morally, intellectually, and physically inferior to men; saw women as the property of men; claimed that women’s role in society was to reproduce and serve men in the household; and saw male domination of women as natural and virtuous, echoing the deep rooted patriarchy of those times as well as millennia to come. Marx and Engels said that the patriarchal family, private property, and the state arose together. Patriarchy is a system of
domination enforced through violence and the threat of violence that is
developed and controlled by powerful men, in which women, children, other men, and nature itself are dominated. Patriarchal system has originated in history, which means that it is neither eternal nor inevitable. Some women and some men have resisted patriarchy throughout its history. Continue reading