A Cry for Freedom
by Kehkashan Basu
Founder & President of Green Hope Foundation
2016 International Children's Peace Prize Winner
NGOCSD-NY Honorary Adviser & Youth Lead for the NGOCSD-NY
Empower Yourself: Write Your Story
Initiative for Anti-Bullying & Breaking the Cycle of Domestic Violence
On 22nd April 2003 – an 18 year old girl has acid poured on her face in an act of sexual violence. Her name is Sonali Mukherjee and she is an icon in India today for her bravery.
October 9th 2012 – a 15 year old girl is shot, because she wanted to go to school. The world knows her today as Malala Yousufzai. We know about them, because these are just a handful of incidents which the media has picked up.
The harsh reality is that around the world, there are more than 2 million girls much younger than me, enslaved in brothels and even though child marriage is banned, there are over 25 million child brides.
This is the irony of our times. On one hand we get excited about hyper-loops and space travel while in another part of the world women still struggle to come out of the shackles of the dark ages. Girls and women continue to be victims of violence and abuse despite us being in the 21st century. Age old social practices and archaic beliefs continue to hamper our freedom and equality. The impacts are felt and seen more in third world nations but they are present even in most modern and so called “progressive” societies too.
Everyday, everywhere girls and women face violence and abuse – simply because we are girls or women. This must change. But change does not come on its own – one must drive it oneself and not wait to receive it on a platter. Every person, young or old, boy or girl has the ability to be a change-maker and be strong enough to live a life of dignity and my journey so far is living proof of that.
I have been a victim of cyber bullying and abuse when I was in junior school. The perpetrator was the family of school senior who threatened me with violence and slandered me on social media. It was a harrowing experience, but I came out of it with the support of my parents who gave me the courage of speaking out against it and going public about my ordeal. I spoke about it in a television interview in a local channel. This scared off the perpetrator and it proved to me that bullies are essentially cowards – if you stand up to them they will back down.
Since then, I have made it my mission to raise awareness about this issue and speak at forums globally to build a movement to stop violence against women and bullying.
Gender equality and women's empowerment should no longer be a topic of debate or discussion. We cannot have different sets of rules and opportunities for one half of humanity. The dream of realizing the Sustainable Development Goals will depend largely on how successfully civil society empowers women and girls from all walks of life. It is imperative that we create a world of equal opportunity for both women and men as this will be the determining factor of true global progress.
As an Honorary Adviser of the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY I'm proud be a member of the NGOCSD-NY initiative “Empower Yourself: Write Your Story.” Together we help people of all ages in overcoming the guilt and shame that comes from these traumatic situations.
