Healing in the Balance by Barabar (Bhawna Parmar and Rubina Singh)
Every so often when a gruesome incident of gender-based violence catches our fancy, one of the most common responses is to severely and corporally punish the perpetrators. In their quest for justice, these singular, seemingly justice focused statements refuse to take into account the varied factors that allow for systemic gender-based violence to thrive.
When an act of violation takes place, it’s not an individual assaulting the other. Neither is it a product of only one system at play. An individual act of violation, if peeled, shows us the various interconnected overarching systems that lead that individual to commit the act. It shows us how that individual is also a victim of all the systems at play. Further, understanding and acknowledging these layers will offer a space to imagine new forms of justice and conflict resolution.
When it comes to seeking redressal, what factors allow or prevent a survivor or victim’s access to different modes of conflict resolution? What pushes survivors of gender based violence to innovate new ways to use digital platforms in the quest for justice? How are our gender, caste and other identities believed versus perceived? Who is seen and heard, and who is silenced and cornered? What contributes to a culture of victim-blaming and shaming, even by the highest courts of the land? How do we move towards healing ourselves and our communities?
Through this piece, we examine and ask these questions in the context of personal experiences of gender-based violence.
(Disclaimer : The artwork in the exhibition represents the views and the work of artist alone)