CHENNAI: “ #Iwillgoout because it is my right to walk on the streets,” read one poster from Mangai. “#Iwillgoout because nothing in my culture stops me, no matter how you interpret it,” read another poster which was from Kanthimathi.
In a small but an important corner of the virtual world, women from Chennai reclaimed their right to public spaces on Saturday.
“We decided to organise our event in the form of a social media protest. As a part of this, we asked women from the city to send us testimonials about why they will go out and the need for them to reclaim public spaces,” said Kirthi Jayakumar, founder of The Red Elephant Foundation, who organised the virtual campaign with environmental activist and writer Archana Sekar, Rapper Sofia Ashraf and journalist Kaavya Pillai.
The “I will Go Out” movement, which was initiated after reports of women being molested on New Year eve in Bengaluru resurfaced, prompted women across the country to organise campaigns and activities on Saturday to reclaim public space and assert their rights.
In Chennai, the testimonials were shared through the day on the ‘I will go out | Chennai Chapter’ Facebook page as well as the national page of the campaign and there were over 90 such posts which spoke about how going out meant the right to work, the right to wear what one wished and the right to defy patriarchy.
“This is a movement that affects me personally. As a woman, I don’t feel safe anywhere. But in India, more so, because the state machinery that is meant to protect me, seems to be more interested in shirking its duty and offering me moral lessons instead,” said Sofia Ashraf, who also wrote a version of the A.R. Rahman song ‘Sadda Haq’, as an anthem for the nationwide ‘I Will Go Out’ march.
While a major chunk of the campaign happened online, a few people gathered at the Nageswara Rao Park on Saturday evening and took out a small march, which was followed by a Silambam performance by Aishwarya Manivannan.
The campaign was being held at a time when a lot is being said on social media about the peaceful jallikattu protests and the safety of women protesters. “A marginal gain like this does make us feel good when one is against a larger ethos of discrimination,” Ms Kirthi added, when asked about the current situation of women in the city.
