At a time when crimes against women and children are being reported with horrifying frequency, a roadside exhibition of cartoons that underlined the problems faced by them was held in the city on Monday.
‘Unarvu,’ the exhibition of works by cartoonist Hakoo (K.B. Harikumar), was organised by the district committee of the Purogamana Vicharavedi and the Aikya Mahila Sangham.
Crimes against women outside the home get widely reported, but danger often lurks within.
Domestic violence, often preceded by consumption of alcohol, is perceived to be something that women are fated to suffer at the hands of their menfolk, and often go unreported. The first cartoon on display focusses on the physical violence within the four walls. Liquor and its impact also figure in another cartoon where a man manages to finance his drinking at the expense of food and children’s education. Harassment of women, on the streets and in the workplace, and men luring women on the pretext of love and marriage are featured, but women who trap members of their sex by pretending to be well-wishers are not spared either.
Child sexual abuse and the necessity to teach young children to say ‘no’ to unwanted advances and temptations are poignantly brought out in a few cartoons.
The perils of modern technology have been talked about at large in recent times.
The cartoonist also touches upon its unknown and unseen faces.
The much-debated issue of women and what they wear too has not been ignored, not has been their harassment in educational institutions.
A cartoon of a pregnant woman, her womb under assault, highlights how their suffering starts very early on in life.
