‘Black’ woman’s tale drives Nepal rights campaign (IANS)
“Dark, untouchable and a slave, yet Kali is the heroine of a campaign to protect the rights of the disadvantaged communities of Nepal, especially women.
“She is the central character in a street play, ‘Kali Aimai’–‘The Black Woman’–which has been sponsored by the UN to tour Nepal's remote districts to campaign against violence targeting women, exploitation and untouchability, and to train local artists to spread the message farther. [...]
“Though the government has abolished the ‘haliya’ system–the practice of slavery that sees a family working for an employer without payment all their lives–it still flourishes in Nepal. So does untouchability and a form of violence particularly targeting women from poor families. This is the ‘bokshi’ phenomenon in which villagers accuse any woman they dislike of being a witch who has caused either deaths or misfortune to them. The accused is forced to eat human excreta and at times beaten to death or set ablaze.”
Comments