The US State Department on Friday honoured the victim of the horrific Delhi gang-rape last December as “a woman of exceptional courage”, whose bravery has inspired millions of women and men to rise against gender-based violence as never before.
“We honour a woman known simply as Nirbhaya - brave, big heart, fearless,” said Secretary of State John Kerry at a State Department ceremony, conferring the International Women of Courage Awards on ten women from across the world. “As she fought for her life (after the brutal gang-rape), she decided to fight for justice, too. She defied her doctors and the culture of silence, giving two detailed accounts of her attack that the police used to arrest her rapists,” Kerry said, adding: “Nirbhaya’s fight survives her.”
First lady Michelle Obama, joining in the ceremony, said the awards were really “a call for all of us to open our eyes to the injustices around us, and to ask ourselves just what kind of courage we’ve got inside our own hearts”.
A moment of silence was observed in memory of the Delhi girl, who was the only one to be honoured posthumously.
“For inspiring people to work together to end violence against women in India and around the world by displaying immense courage in demanding justice, as this inscription reads, and with great sadness, we honour Nirbhaya as a woman of exceptional courage, and we honour her posthumously,” said Kerry.
“We never imagined that the girl we thought was our daughter would one day be the daughter of the entire world. She was meant to be the daughter of the world. This is a huge achievement in itself,” the family statement said, adding: “Earlier, women would keep silent when subjected to sexual misconduct. They would not lodge any complaints. They were scared of the stigma. That has changed - the fear is now gone. And while her end was horrendous, her case is imparting strength to all women to fight and to improve the system.” Recalling her life, the family said: “She was always different from other children...Our daughter was made of steel - once she decided she had to do something, there was no looking back. She would work at call centers during nights, and study during day…And despite the odds, and our poverty, she always managed to achieve and move ahead. She had just one goal in life, to study and become a doctor.”
Apart from the Delhi girl, nine other women were honoured. They included Malalai Bahaduri from Afghanistan and Tsering Woeser (Wei Se), Tibetan author, poet and blogger (China). Bahaduri, a second lieutenant, joined Afghan law enforcement after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2002. “When her uncle found out, he broke her nose,” noted her citation, adding: “Undeterred, she was eventually elected as the first female member of the Afghan National Interdiction Unit. And to this day, she endures death threats.”