The Dignity March comprising survivors of rape and sexual violence arrived in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday after covering Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The participants discussed the situation around sexual violence and rape against children and women in Odisha and India. During the event, convenor, Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan, Dignity March, Ashif Shaikh along with survivors of rape and sexual violence, highlighted the important role of reporting cases and further advancing the cause.
They told that the March’s national online survey, ‘Speak Out!’ revealed that an alarming number of people have faced sexual violence, but 95 per cent of the incidents of sexual violence against women and children are not reported. Especially, in case of children, the majority of crimes go unnoticed and there is negligible conviction which leads to impunity of the culprits. A few rape victims also narrated their plight.
The campaign conceptualized and initiated by Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan, in association with several like-minded organizations, is a sixty-five-day national march which has a target to cover 10,000 km in 200 districts of 24 States in India. It was kicked off from Mumbai on December 20 and will culminate on February 22 in Delhi.