The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Vimochana to hold ‘Court of Women’

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Thursday, Jun 18, 2009
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Vimochana to hold ‘Court of Women’

Special Correspondent

The event will be held at Christ University
in Bangalore
Two-day festival of films that focus on violence on women to be held

Bangalore: Bangalore-based women’s group Vimochana and the Asian Women’s Human Rights Commission (AWHRC) are organising a national-level “Court of Women” on dowry and related forms of violence against women in Bangalore from July 27 to 29 in partnership with several voluntary organisations.

Testimonies

Corrine Kumar, regional coordinator of AWHRC, said that the court looks at alternative systems of justice, where the focus is not on “retributive justice”. Through testimonies of pain and resistance narrated by the women themselves, the court creates a platform for women to speak out where they are not reduced to a “mere statistic”.

The Courts of Women is a global movement that seeks to re-look at rights and notions of justice from the perspective of women. More than 30 courts have been held in South Africa, Japan and Lebanon on diverse issues specific to the region.

New forms of dowry

Shakun of Vimochana said that in India the “Court of Women” would be dealing specifically with the changing face of dowry in the contexts of the ethics of consumerism and materialism. Donna Fernandes, also of Vimochana, said that the laws on dowry were full of contradictions and the delay in the legal system made justice even more elusive.

As a run up to the central event in July at Christ University in Bangalore, there will also be a series of interactive events in different rural and urban communities. A two-day festival of films that focus on violence on women and forms of resistance will be held at Alliance Francaise.

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