| Dear Aishwarya, Anju, Anushree, Avantika, Anasuya, Amita, Ayesha, Chinmayee, Deepika, Ghazala, Harminder, Indrani, Joanna, Jaishri, Karishma, Kadambari, Kangana, Kate, Liz, Mahima, Mandakini, Majlie, Natashja, Nayani, Namaah, Nilanjana, Nasreen, Nishtha, Nisha, Prerna, Prema, Priya, Priyali, Rachel, Ruth, Roshni, Saba, Saloni, Sandhya, Sandhya, Sanjana, Shuma, Sindhuja, Shutapa, Sona, Sohini, Sonia, Simran, Simran, Swati, Swapna, Shikha, Tanushree, Tushita, Vani, Vinta, Varsha, the anonymous, and those who are on the verge of speaking. Thank you. Thank you for your courage and force in saying #MeToo. By speaking your truth,you have enabled another one of us to release ours too. |
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“ I feel safe when I am heard.
I feel safe when I am believed.
I feel safe when I don’t have to defend myself, over and over and over again.
I, Action Shero am your safe space, as you are mine.
I Never Ask For It ” |
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Dear All Women, Allies, Fellow Action Sheroes, Akeli Awaara Azaads, Survivors of sexual assault, All Persons,
Greetings from the midst of a good turbulence.
The denial is breaking.
We are speaking.
We are listening in. This is revolution - one woman, one Action Shero at a time. Every woman’s story and truth has processed shame, blame and fear to be able to speak. It resonates with efforts at the long term and ongoing I Never Ask For It mission; that which many of you have built over the years. While Blank Noise worked for over a decade to spotlight and arrest street harassment through testimonial building and community mobilisation, in recent years it has worked to thread the connection across spaces of violence by tackling victim blame. Our vision is to work, in collaborative ways with all women, organisations, communities so that sexual violence across spaces, including campus, workplace, home, streets, web, will be eradicated. This wave is taking us to new shores. Purge. Vomit. Heal. We #WalkAlone.Together. At Blank Noise we will continue to create a safe space to speak, be heard, strengthen, unite. We will continue to leap into designing actions; interventions that emerge from imagining and desiring the world we want. We will sleep in public parks (Meet To Sleep) talk with strangers ( Talk To Me) , Walk Alone at night. We will continue our fight to end victim blame by building testimonials of clothing, asserting our right to live defenceless I Never Ask For It. Akeli Awaara Azaad. We will continue to reach out, call you in, take shape with your voice, your experiences, your truth. You are the Action Sheroes. The opposite of victim blame is being believed and being heard.
Each of us carries the ability and potential to Listen.
The Listener is Active/ Present/ Is Learning To Listen Better.
Sit in to Listen this Sunday, October 28th, 2018, in Bangalore.
Listen. To know you are not alone.
Listen. To shift from knowing blame, to knowing empathy.
We Are Done Defending.
#INeverAskForIt
Date: October 28th, 2018
Time: 2 pm- 5 pm
Location: Cubbon Park, Bangalore
Share the event on facebook here and note too |
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Incase of any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Add your question to this document and we will update it by October 24th, 10 pm IST. Listening Circle FAQ .
In Solidarity,
Blank Noise Team |
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We Are Done Defending #INeverAskForIt |
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Listen also invites participants to bring in the garments they wore when they experienced sexual assault, threat, abuse, intimidation, or discrimination. The garment is memory, witness, voice. It resonates "I Never Ask For It".
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I Never Ask For It envisions ten thousand garments assembled in sites of public significance by 2023. Build it with your voice an truth.
Read more about it here Now This, BBC
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| The process of building “ I Never Ask For It ” encourages us to collectively build a new public memory and public reference where thousands of testimonies of garments will speak their story. Shifting from blame to empathy Walk Towards Healing. #INeverAskForIt |
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#TimesUp #MeToo #INeverAskForIt #WalkAloneTogether #AkeliAwaaraAzaad
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