A Group Of Female Autorickshaw Drivers From Bhopal Are Ferrying Food, Essentials And Providing Emotional Support To Abuse Victims
Living through trauma can never be easy. A uneasy recollection of the time, breaking into cold sweats in the middle of the day, fear of it happening all over again, all of these feelings nip at the victim or survivor, leaving them in perpetual fear and anxiety. And while there is nothing we can do about what has happened in the past, we can surely be there for the person who has suffered abuse or a trauma and try to empathise with their pain and situation.
And Bhopal’s autorickshaw warriors were trying to do just that, when they decided to help out women suffering abuse during the lockdown, by supplying them sometimes with a shoulder to cry on. And not just that. They also provided them with essentials and food to make sure they’re not starved. A group of empowered women in Bhopal, who trained themselves to become the first female autorickshaw drivers, have set a proud precedent for all those who want to make a difference during the course of this pandemic.
Some of them, who themselves had been abuse survivors, took it upon themselves to help other fellow women out who were victims of domestic abuse, reports of which have risen during the lockdown. Recognising the need to be there for them, in whatever capacity needed, they wove their way through the streets of Bhopal’s slums and reminded all those women that they weren’t alone in this.
This is the Gauravi One-Stop Crisis Centre in Bhopal, India, a place where women and girls can access a range of services when they have experienced domestic violence.
It has been central to our #coronavirus response in #India. Learn more 👇 pic.twitter.com/xsyr90o2Ta
— ActionAid USA (@ActionAidUSA) August 15, 2020
Also Read : #Trending : This Woman Hosts Podcasts In Iran To Help Victims Of Domestic Abuse Seek Counselling. This Is Their Only Outlet
Talat Jahan, a 29 year old autorickshaw warrior, who too had endured such abuse back in the day, shared, “Some women who were stuck at home with their abusive husbands, they would come and seek me out and tell me about their troubles,” after which she and her fellow volunteers from the Gauravi one-stop crisis centre would step in to do and provide for the needful. Perhaps, humanity and kindness is not dead in the world.
Gauravi the One Stop Crisis Centre at Bhopal helps women survivors of violence to recover from trauma through psychosocial counseling provides legal support and enable them to live life with dignity support @ActionAidIndia to continue Gauravi centre https://t.co/pop957Xrpj
— Puspasree Debi (@Puspasree_Debi) May 25, 2019
Gauravi was set up after the infamous Nirbhaya Rape case back in 2012, that enraged the people of the nation and subsequently pushed a lot of such centres and support groups to come into existence. Naming the centre ‘Gauravi’ was also because it means “brave heart”, which held significance to all the women out there having endured such assaults’ and trauma.
Jahan further shared, “I felt blessed to be able to help these women because I had been through the same and knew what it is like, this feeling of helplessness. When one of them said to me ‘Had it not been for you, I would have died’, I knew I was doing something right.” And despite not knowing exactly how that would feel, we were convinced after listening to this, that not all who suffer bad fate turn into monsters. Some of them emerge as the true warriors and do the saving, just like these brave bunch of women.
Meanwhile, Sarika Sinha, a director at ActionAid India who manages Gauravi also mentioned how, “It’s a difficult time. You lose your livelihood, you lose your food, you lose your security. So, where do these most vulnerable women go? That’s the larger picture that needs to be seen against the COVID-19 pandemic.” Owing the responsibility to themselves, these women are making a change towards a more compassionate world for women, and if anything we have a lot to takeaway from that.
