While rape has been increasingly rampant in a country like India – with at least one report of assault on women spreading on the news in a week – over the past two weeks alone, you might have come across the word ‘rape’ more often than you would have been able to stomach. And unfortunately, it’s a crime that takes place across the world, over and over again.
To say that we’re sick of it is to make one of the biggest understatements of the decade. And more often than not, it’s the mindsets that perpetuate the thought, let alone the heinous crime.
On November 20th, women protestors took to the streets of Santiago, reciting powerful words of a poem, titled ‘A Rapist On Your Way’. The women were seen blindfolded, wearing lipstick and chanting in unison, “El violador eres tu (The rapist is you).”
The protest was helmed by Las Tesis, a women’s collective in Santiago who rallied women together to start what has today become a global outcry.
Cut to the present day, 08th December 2019 and the country-specific protest form that started as a way to highlight the rising violence against women, has become a global outcry. The words of the poem have become a global anthem for women across the world.
The videos of the protest that was held outside Santiago’s National Stadium went viral over the last few days and reached the women of India who – in the given social climate and rising crimes against women – took no time to relate to the anger and even lend their own voices to it.
On 07th December, 2019, a group of Indian women took to the streets of Delhi to chant their own version of the Chilean ‘A Rapist In Your Way’, complete with blindfolds and slogans.
The India Chapter, in Delhi, was held at the Jantar Mantar in Connaught Place, starting 3 PM onwards and built enough momentum to see even men join in and echo the same sentiment.
The India chapter, titled ‘A Rapist in Your Way Intervention India Chapter In Solidarity‘, saw men and women come together to protest the sexual violence against women through the powerful poem.
The protest aims to address violence against all genders across all mediums. It addresses discrimination in terms of gender, religion, caste and class.
“And the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressedAnd the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressedAnd the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressedAnd the fault wasn’t mine, not where I was, not how I dressedThe rapist is you.The rapist is you.It’s the cops,The judges,The state,The president.The oppressive state is a rapist.The oppressive state is a rapist.”
We received the Hindi version of the poem from one of the India Chapter organisers, Shruti who rallied the Delhi chapter yesterday. The Indian version, too aims to address patriarchal norms while being inclusive of all genders and crimes. Speaking about the protest, Shruti stated, “We are responding to everyday violence – something that is intrinsic to the system of patriarchy – which looks at women and LGBTQIA+ as ‘transgressive'”.
Talking to ScoopWhoop, Shruti further explained that the point is to take this chant to various other cities and make it a revolutionary anthem with the hopes that officials take note and do something about the rise in crimes against certain classes of society, including but not limited to women, LGBTQ members and minorities.
When we put the Chilean feminist intervention in the context of India, we cannot overlook the intersections of class, caste, gender and geography.
As a nation; no, as a world, most women and men are done being silent bystanders as crimes increase with each passing day. While the law enforcements and the judiciary systems struggle globally to come to any concrete decisions and take solid measure to ensure the safety, the common people are definitely riled up enough to be part of the implementation process. And these global protests are proof.