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Known earlier as the Kolkata Park Street rape survivor, Suzette Jordan needs to be admired for her brave choice to reveal her identity to the world.
In February 2012, Suzette Jordan was raped in a moving car as she was leaving a night club. As usual, when the crime caught the nation’s attention, the victim-blaming tirade began in full force. Jordan’s identity was not revealed to the public, but the “character” of the mother of two came under severe scrutiny. Instead of bringing the culprits to book, fingers were pointed at Jordan and questions were raised by society: why was she out so late? Was she drunk? Why did she accept an offer for a lift from a stranger? The people in power seemed to completely miss the point – that the answers to these questions were simply irrelevant to the horrific fact that a woman was raped.
Last week, Jordan decided to reveal her name and identity because she believes that it is the criminals who need to be ashamed of what they did – not her. This is a remarkable decision by Jordan as she is fully aware of the repercussions that she would probably face in her everyday life. Hopefully, Jordan’s courageous move heralds a paradigm shift in perspectives and drives home the point that the victim is not to be blamed for rape – that it is not the woman’s fault.
Today Jordan works as a counsellor for women who have been affected by violence and she has transformed into an activist for women’s rights.
Why we find her inspiring:
– For being courageous enough to stand up and fight for justice.
– For being a comfort to other rape survivors and for reiterating the fact that victim shaming makes no sense whatsoever.
– For changing her adversity into an opportunity to help other women.
*Photo source: NDTV.
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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