Chowk chowk ma galli galli ma,
Tempo bus ra micro ma
Hamilai chuna Paidaina
You dare touch me
I’ll not spare you! [break]
The area around Sundhara on Saturday afternoon echoed these chants. Over 400 people of all ages and from all across the Valley gathered to show their support for the campaign ‘Walk for Respect,’ as they marched from Sundhara to Purano Buspark along Tudikhel making their way back to Sundhara and culminated at Basantapur.
Drawing inspiration form the global phenomena ‘Slut Walk,’ which marches began in Toronto in January of last year after Michael Sanguinetti, a Toronto police officer, told a “personal security class” at York University that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”
After around ten weeks, a thousand people hit the streets of downtown Toronto in what became known as “Slut Walk.” To make the idea local, this walk focused on eve teasing and sexual harassment in public vehicles.
Nagma Mathema a participant at the rally said such an event was long due. “This is every girls problem, public transport has become a menace, we struggle everyday,” she said.
Another participant was Rajeev Kandel, who believed this campaign needed an equal support from men. “I think we men should stop doing this and if we see someone misbehaving, we should stand up for the girl.”
The event saw a large number of male participants too. Ram Babu Shah, National Information Officer for United Nations (UN) in Nepal was also present at the event. Showing his support for the campaign, he said, “UN supports the cause and will stand up against any form of violence against women.”
The rally ended with poems on the same theme, from Word Warriors Slok Gyawali and Ujjwala Maharjan.
“We are overwhelmed by the response,” said Deepshikha Adhikari, one among the organizers of the event adding “we had very low expectations.” She also shared that there will be many more events to come based on the same theme.
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