[Three Women on the Way Meet the Eco Feminist] ① Feminism is needed for untouchable women.
- Choi Hyung-mi Women Scholar
- Approval 2019.02.19 12:50
- Revision 2019-02-20 12:56
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[Three Women on the Road Meet Echo Feminists]
Indian activist Vedanayagi
Indian activist Vedanayagi
"Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere." Documentary director Yoo Hye-min, environmental activist Go Geum-sook, and female researcher Choi Hyung-mi traveled to India, Kenya and Thailand with the support of forests and sharing. The insights and will muscles cultivated on the long journey will lead us further. The stories of women activists and environmental activists we met together became momentary. Biweekly stories of eco feminism and local women activists met by three women from different ages and in their travels.
In 2012, a female medical student in India was killed in a group rape case. Both men and women protested day by day, and the whole world paid attention to India's response. I wrote to Veda Nayagi, who met at the EGEP, a transnational women's movement, cheering Indian women for their strong response to the issue of violence against women, and then e-mailing them about the change. But he sent an unexpected reply.
“The sad cry of India now is only for middle-class elite women who live safely in Delhi. In the last 15 days of the demonstration, pregnant Dalit women were raped in Bhopai, Dalit women committed suicide in Punjab, and 15-year-old Dalit girls were raped in Pondicherry. In Velor, children aged 11 and 13 were raped. During the month of October, 19 Dalit women were raped in Haryana. But India was silent as everyone fell asleep, and the media didn't even mention it. If our society ensured the freedom and dignity of the most vulnerable women, Delhi would naturally be a safe place. ”I had no idea how the caste rule that governed India affected the women's movement. Veda, the Dalit Feminist movement, has not been contacted since.
The first person who came up on the trip came to me. We finished our interviews in Mumbai and Bangalore, India, and were preparing to leave for the first time at Hampi for rest. At that short moment a mail came to Vedas. 'Welcome to India. I would like to meet.' The accompanying friends seemed to have nothing to do with their plans, so they quickly resonated with my eagerness, and at a loss, canceled their express bus and hotel reservations. All of a sudden we headed to Tamil Nadu Belo, where Vedas live. The night bus dropped us off at 3:00 am in a dark Indian village where only chickens and falcons were heard. In the dark, I was afraid of seeing people, and uneasy to see them. Three girls were together and we trusted each other. After a while, the lights flickered from a distance. mow… It was a Vedic. He was contacted in the evening, waiting for us all night. What was it that made us meet? He led us to a nearby nunnery.
A woman who lived alone with her nephews
Veda is the youngest brother who grew up with the love of three sisters and her brother. But because of that love, iron first came out. When she was a freshman in college, her older sister was burned in domestic violence and suffered for a week. Other family members did not see it, but it was Veda who watched her sister until the dying moment. Police terminated the case as suicide, even after the victim's statement. Three years later, my second sister, a teacher, was burned and killed like a lie. The truth was only revealed when her husband committed suicide. It was the youngest Vedas to take responsibility for the nephews left behind. His pledge was to raise nephews alone and to help other women to avoid the tragedy of their sisters. Thus began his Dalat feminism. He now has a five year old son. A man of the Dalit Human Rights Movement proposed but refused. They live together outside the marriage system.
Dalit Feminism
Untouchable people in India are not beyond history. When visiting India, the statues of Ambedkar (1891-1956) wearing round glasses stand out. 'Economic development on top of the caste system is like building castles on dirt,' he said. He was a Ph.D. in economics at Columbia University and a lawyer who studied economics in the United Kingdom and even became a lawyer. He founded the constitution and served as the first Attorney General, but people did not call him the leader of the nation. He just regarded him as a leader of untouchables. Ambedkar felt the pain of the untouchable people and named it Daltra, meaning that he was trampled on by himself. The people did not drink water from wells such as untouchables, and the gods did not come near the temple. Only young landless women were invited to the temple with land and water to compel prostitution. Untouchables live far from the village where there is no electricity and no water. When the upper caste women talked about women's rights, people cheered, but when the untouchable women talked about human rights, they turned to their problems. Veda insists on the need for Dalit feminism only for untouchable women.
Do you visit the Dalit community?
Veda, a 13-year Dalit community activist, took us to town. Children and women greeted us between the sky blue and green pastel villas. Hyemin made friends with the children by touching the small camera directly, and Geumsuk greeted them with a bright smile. When they saw the Vedas, the village women constantly talked about something, and Veda continued to nod. It wasn't the Vedas who cried together in front of me talking about the family. He was a strong mother of the community and a strong leader. The villagers invited us to a community daycare. Veda introduced us to each one of us as a friend from Korea. A boy said he was beginning to learn English and encouraged us to introduce ourselves in English. First, he helped to wash his hands in a silver bowl with warm water and served with fried mango, chicken and rice. We could enjoy their hearty meal. Veda's Dalit women's self-help group was to share good food, educate children, and improve the housing environment. The women in the Dalit village were beautiful and the children were lovely.
Dalit Women's Movement Center established in town
Indian Hindu culture prevented the inhabitants from entering the temple. Ambedkar took their hands and carried out the movement to enter the temple. When the reservoir was not used, they went to the reservoir with them and drank water. The Dalit movement goes beyond this boundary. Veda set up the thendral movement center for the Dalit women in the heart of the village. It is easily accessible by public transport anywhere in Tamil Nadu. But at the same time, it is where upper castes live, which Dalit women cannot come. Like Ambedkar, Veda set up a Dalit Women's Center in the center of the village, beyond the taboo limits. The center welcomed women suffering from violence but had no place to go. The self-help group has spread to 100 and more than 2,000 women have been educated. Driving training, sewing training, and even play, empowered them.
But his movement has been struggling recently. Recognizing that women visiting the center were untouched, villagers falsely reported to the police that they were prostituted there. The owner of the center has raised the rent by 30 percent. Veda has accused them of 'spoiling of honor'. Rather, he is not going to retire, but this time, he is planning to build the Dalit Women's Center by pointing out the village vacant land.
From Dalit Feminism to Egg Feminism
Veda says he doesn't blame the upper castes. What he criticizes is their way of thinking and attitude which discriminates and makes them uncomfortable. He takes a step further from Darat feminism and insists on Agro Feminism. The Dalit women, who have nothing to do, claim that if they have a piece of land, they can farm and become independent. It could be free from the violence of family and society. He insists the government to use the vacant lot as a common ground for poor untouchables.
At Christmas, Vedas invited us home. Father, sister, brother-in-law and all relatives welcomed us in nice clothes. A large banana leaf was placed on the table and the pomegranates, yogurt, fried fish, and chicken were served as buffets. When we finished our meals, the family ate together. 'Woman is the head of the family. Are they protecting their families and taking responsibility? "If women are weak, society will be destructive." At Veda's home, where a strong mother protects her family, free but mean women who travel a long way are treated as VIPs. As if many untouchable women who came to him are considered noble and beautiful.
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