Voices of Indian women.The unheard words.

Articolo di Francesca ZoppiFotografie di Marta Gabrieli.Su Italoeuropeo

A social project to give voice to the words of Dalit women in India run by two women

Nowadays in India, women are still exploited, sold, trafficked, and forced to a life of violence.

A great number of non-governmental organizations, together with some governmental and United Nation projects, work to help the victims. The majority of the projects are addressed to Dalit women (Untouchable) or to women like them, trafficked, abused, exploited every day in the illicit chain. They are both girl child and adult women. Their voices are never heard.

“Voices of Indian Women” (VIW) is a project founded with the hope to document the clearly visible minority condition of the Indian women compared to the male chauvinist society in India. It born from the MA dissertation of Francesca Zoppi about “Sex Trafficking in India.Are current Strategies working? A case study of the Gulabi Gang”.

The project aims to hear the voices of the victims and to highlight the respect of their human rights. The founders of the project are two girls both working in the international reality of women’s rights and fascinated by the magic of India: Francesca Zoppi and Marta Gabrieli. During their trip around India in June 2011, using a qualitative methodology, they have heard the voice of every female reality where the basic human rights are not considered, documenting it through interviews, pictures and video.

We have spent days with Hijras( trans gender), lesbians, women in prostitution, women and girls child rescued from the tragic chain of sex trafficking, girls child who hopes to have a different and normal life than their mothers, women fighting every day for women’s rights but always doubting of a successful results as Sampat Pal leader of the Gulabi Gang. Furthermore, we participated at the feelings and words of women living on the street with their children, Dalit writers, and widows that after the death of their husbands are waiting for their, conducting a spiritual life.

Sharing time with every of these women, giving them attentions and smiles that scarcely ever receive, we asked them to tell their stories and to leave a message to bring in the West for all the women of the world. Within a lot of difficulties, due to the cultural differences, to the fear to be caught by their pimps, but mainly by the fact to not be used to speak and give their opinion because women, thank to their eyes, sighs and hopes, every women and Hijras left a message. The aim of the project is to give to the West community the unheard collected Voices of Indian women and Hijras who live in a society where their human rights and their words are not as important as they should be, and they often remain unheard. Voices of Indian Women is running some events around Europe to give awareness about the issue and to spread the message left by every Indian woman.

If you are interested to collaborate or donate to Voices of Indian Women, you can contact us at:

Email: viw1@hotmail.it Facebook :

Voices of Indian women Twitter: @ V_i_W

http://www.italoeuropeo.com/global-questions/social/voices-of-indian-women.-the-unheard-words./