Syed Ali Mujtaba
Bengaluru: Vimochana, meaning liberation, is an NGO working for women’s rights in the area of domestic violence, providing remedial support and socio-legal aid to women is organizing Covid Courts of Women here on January 20 and 21, 2023.
‘The Courts of Women is an event where we are searching for another concept of justice which will move us to a justice of healing and reconciliation,’ says Dr. Corinne Kumar, the conceptual creator and international coordinator of the Courts.
‘We bring together the testimonies of all the individuals who have been devastated by the violence perpetrated by the global pandemics. We will listen to the testimonies of the victims which will be analyzed by the jury members formed by a panel of experts and practitioners on the field.”
Dr. Corinne Kumar adds, “This time, we are focusing on COVID-19 as a precipitating factor responsible for varied forms of violence in the lives of women. The court will hear the stories and testimonies of the women who were victims of violence during COVID-19.”
“We will also have the testimonies of pain and suffering along with testimonies of resistance and resilience. It will highlight the extraordinary work done by the people on the ground to ameliorate the sufferings of such women. This will be followed by comments by the Jury who will be hearing the narratives and trying to reimagine an alternative form of justice for women in India and abroad.
“So far 50 courts of women have been held all over the global south since 1992. This event is an attempt to rewrite women’s histories, to reclaim our memories; to find new visions for our times. It is a women’s platform to voice not only stories of pain, but also of courage and survival; to find logic; another way to know the pains,” Dr. Corinne Kumar continues to elaborate.
The two-day event will follow a hybrid (online-offline) format to hear testimonies of the victims and comments from the experts. It will be held at Christ College Bengaluru.
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