Nepal Now: On the move

Young activists will endure rape culture no longer

December 04, 2020 Marty Logan Season 2 Episode 9
Nepal Now: On the move
Young activists will endure rape culture no longer
Show Notes

‘The rapist is you’. On October 10th a group of about 20 young women dressed in black took over a street in Kathmandu pointed straight ahead accusingly, and performed the anti-rape song ‘A rapist in your path’. The ‘flash mob’ was protesting what feels like an epidemic of rape in the country. In recent months it seems that every week the media is reporting another violent incident, often against adolescent girls, too often ending in murder. 

‘Ajhai kati sahane?’ (How much more must we endure?) is the movement’s name. As we mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, you’ll hear in this episode that what got the (almost all) young women onto the street was the growing chorus of voices screaming, via hashtag, — ‘Hang the rapist’. Movement members Sagoon Bhetwal and Sasmit Pokharel told me that their group of activists disagrees with that diagnosis, arguing that Nepalis need to confront a rape culture, not punish individuals to death. 

Ajahi kati sahane? is not taking credit for the government announcement two weeks ago that it plans to increase prison sentence for rape, and punish those who try to settle accusations outside of the justice system. But it considers the pledge a success, and plans to monitor the government to ensure the changes do really happen.

(Apologies for the audio quality in some places — it’s the price we pay for recording online.)

Resources

Kathmandu Post article about the flash mob and Ajhai kati sahane

Nepal Now social links

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Thanks as always to Nikunja Nepal for advice and inspiration. 

Music: amaretto needs ice ... by urmymuse (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/urmymuse/57996 Ft: Apoxode


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