A young woman calls for flash mob on violence against women on the lines of Chilean feminist protest     

Taking inspiration from the Chilean feminist protest on violence against women, a young woman in Delhi has called all women to come together on December 7, 2019, as a part of a flash mob in solidarity against these instances of violence and rape.

“The Rapist in your way” movement which began in Chile spurred Shruti to call for this flash mob. “I just felt like I had to do it and it was about time that India caught up and did it too. Actually, after I read about the Chilean women protest, I check online to see if any women groups are organising a similar protest in the country, but when I saw that there weren’t any. I was disappointed and then I decided that I had to organise it,” explained Shruti, a young graduate from the National School of Drama.

She isn’t sure if there will be many people who respond to her call as she hasn’t partnered with any organisation. “Even if there aren’t many people, we will still perform at a popular place. If there are a greater number of people, then it will be at Jantar Mantar,” points out Shruti. If a number of people do not respond to her Facebook call, then Shruti will still do it at any other prominent place as then permissions are not required.

“I know that December 7, 2019, is just around the corner. But, the issue is in focus this week. In our country, we are never sure, if the focus on women’s safety will remain until next week. At least now, there are parliamentarians speaking about it even though SP MP Jaya Bachchan’s statement was inappropriate. A few Opposition MPs are speaking about it. Next week, some other issue will come, and women’s safety will be pushed to the background,” asserts Shruti, who does not want to be the face of the mob as she believes it will be a collective movement.

“Our country is not isolated in this matter. Patriarchy is everywhere. The recently released NCRB data showed that of the 3,59,849 cases of reported crimes against women in 2017, 32,559 cases of rape were registered in 2017: that is, 89 cases per day. That translates into one rape per 21 minutes. We need to focus on making the streets safe for women,” underscored Shruti, who is the founding director of Particle Collective, which is a firm which creates, curates and conceptualises projects which hope to bring about some social change.

“The politicians in the National Capital, which is called the 'Rape Capital', all speak in the tongue of patriarchy,” adds Shruti, who hopes many other women or organisations will also organise such events in their own cities.

On November 20, 2019, a flash mob organised by the feminist collective LasTesis first performed in Chile’s Valparaíso and then outside Chile’s Supreme Court and other government buildings across the country. A report on the Huffington Post stated the song’s title ‘A Rapist On Your Way’ is a twist on the police slogan ‘A friend on your way’. It has since been performed in Colombia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Spain, Germany, France, and Mexico, according to Chile Today.

Chilean women have been performing the song in party clothes or clothes women would wear while out at night, and with translucent black bands tied over their eyes.