Hi Smriti and others, I thought that Smriti's response in it's encapsulated form was self-clarificatory in many ways. Although I have not expressed my views on this so for, I have been paying close attention to the views of the list on this topic and being a male researcher specialized in Gender I have the following views. I would like to list them in the form of some questions so as to make them thought provoking.
1. Can the sexual harassment of women in general and visually impaired women in particular be comprehended in isolation from the larger structural and cultural variations such as caste, class, gender, race, the state and other forms of social communities? 2. Should we reduce the gender discrimination within the visually impaired community to the existing dominant social attitude that considers man and woman as the two opposing categories? 3. While talking about various institutions for the visually impaired women it is absolutely essential to ask the question: What kind of institutions are available for women and who controls them? 4. Should the awareness campaign be confined only to the sensitization of women? Isn't it essential to realize the fact that it is men in general and visually impaired men in particular need to be told that women are not just the readily available sexual objects, rather they are also active human beings who deserve a meaningful and respectable human life with dignity? 5. Shouldn't it be necessary to extend any such awareness campaign beyond a few handful of English speaking audience? 6. Can such awareness campaigns be materialized without the support of certain institutions like the state, advocacy groups, NGOs, and activist movements? I think that we need to address these questions in order to put things in perspective. Vetri. ----- Original Message ----- From: "smriti singh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 2:24 AM Subject: [AI] A Burning Issues(replies) > Dear list members, > > I don't have regular access to internet, otherwise I > would have participated fully in the discussion. > Anyway, here are my quick comments on all the > responses: > > To begin with, I feel that not much replies have come > on the basic issue I raised. I am actually talking > about institutions who keep visually challenged girls. > Either they have schools for them, or they provide > hostels. I think we all know that girls are not safe > there. It does not mean that all the institutions run > in the same manner. > > As far as one's isolation is concerned, university > students, particularly visually challenged, are > already isolated. So, I'm not scared of being > isolated. I do agree that institution like Nab raise > their problem concerning to study, but no institution > take care about their social rights. Even for > scholarships, some institutions do not allow girls to > use their institutions' address. So, they have to give > address of their friends for receiving the > scholarship. > > I'm also very upset that women have not responded on > this issue. Most of us talked about the self-defence > and martial arts, but do we think our visually > challenged girls have enough sex education? That is > why they are more vulnerable. So, before teaching any > self-defence trick, I think it is necessary for > visually challenged women to understand what they have > to protect themselves from. I would like to inform all > of you that I am not thinking about this issue only > since that NDTV report. I am thinking about this issue > for a long time. I have worked on a project with Prof. > Romila Thapar. For that project, we had conducted > interviews of visually challenged girls. Besides, I > have many visually challenged friends who are staying > in such hostels. So we know what situation is like. I > and Mr. Shobhan Singh have written a joint article > about visually challenged women which was published in > International Journal of Disability. So, it is not > that we are unaware about laws. There are certain > governmental law, true. But, when these NGOs for women > go to register themselves, they are not asked what > precautions they are going to take to ensure safety of > those women. In other words, there are no code of > conduct that governs these NGOs or institutions. > > Being an academician does not mean that one cannot > raise social issues or one is unaware about it. I > would like to request all access India members that, > more than anything, it is necessary to spread > awareness about the entire matter. > > With Regards, > > > > Smriti Singh > Programme: M. Phil (English Literature) > Room # 03 > Sabarmati Hostel > Jawaharlal Nehru University > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Have a burning question? > Go to www.Answers.yahoo.com and get answers from real people who know. > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
