My Long Walk Across India for Women's Freedom | Srishti Bakshi | TED

Translator: Anne Svenstrup Grant

After days of negotiation, for the very first time,

Efter flere dages forhandlinger, for allerførste gang,

my parents allowed me to step out unescorted

gav mine forældre mig lov til at gå ud uden ledsager

for a movie with my friends.

for at gå i biograf med mine venner.

I was 14 and beyond excited

Jeg var fjorten og ovenud begejstret

with this new freedom I had.

for min nyfundne frihed.

With a big smile on my face, I ended up at the back of the theater.

Med et stort smil på læben satte jeg mig bagerst i salen.

And just ten steps from my seat,

Kun ti skridt fra mit sæde

I felt these heavy hands grab both my breasts.

mærkede jeg, hvordan et par tunge hænder greb fat om begge mine bryster.

And before I knew it, these hands disappeared.

Før jeg nåede af opfatte det, forsvandt hænderne igen.

I screamed and ran outside.

Jeg skreg og løb uden for.

And I still remember those dirty handprints

Jeg kan stadig huske de beskidte håndaftryk

on my white, crisp cotton shirt,

på min fine, hvide bomuldsskjorte,

announcing to the world what had just happened.

som fortalte alle, hvad der lige var sket med mig.

I returned home devastated,

Jeg vendte fortvivlet hjem,

kept the lights on all through the night and the outdoors terrified me.

lod lyset være tændt hele natten og var rædselsslagen for at være udendørs.

I didn't want to go out at all.

Jeg havde slet ikke lyst til at gå ud.

It is not news that women face rampant violence inside homes as well

Det er ingen nyhed, at kvinder også udsættes for vold hjemme

across the world.

rundt omkring i verden.

So if it's unsafe outside and inside, where do we go?

Så hvis det både er farligt udendørs og indendørs, hvor skal vi så gå hen?

Women in India are over 600 million strong.

Der er over 600 millioner kvinder i Indien.

That's a lot of people.

Det er mange mennesker.

But this is what my country looks like.

Men det er sådan, mit land ser ud.

The outdoors.

Udendørs.

You can count the number of women in these pictures.

Man kan tælle antallet kvinder på disse billeder.

And there aren't any, or just one or two.

Der er ingen, eller måske kun én eller to.

And this is by the day.

Og det er i dagtimerne.

But this number significantly drops at night.

Men antallet falder markant, når det er mørkt.

You don't see many women walking alone at night

Man ser ikke mange kvinder gå alene i mørket

because they're simply not safe.

for det er ganske enkelt for farligt.

400,000, that's 45 women every hour,

400.000, det er 45 kvinder hver time,

face varying degrees of violence,

må udstå forskellige grader af vold,

ranging from domestic violence to rape in India.

fra vold i hjemmet til voldtægt, i Indien.

A 13-year-old girl and her mother were gang-raped on a highway

En tretten år gammel pige og hendes mor blev gruppevoldtaget på en landevej

just 45 minutes from where my parents live.

kun 45 minutter fra, hvor mine forældre bor.

When I heard this,

Da jeg hørte det

I just recalled the same incident that happened to me.

huskede jeg hændelsen, som jeg oplevede.

I was devastated.

Jeg var knust.

I found myself in the same hysterical state

Jeg var i den samme hysteriske tilstand,

I was outside of that theater.

som da jeg var kommet ud af biografen.

For everybody around me, life moved on.

For alle omkring mig gik livet videre.

We are hardwired to think that this is just how the world is.

Vi er indrettet til at tro, at det bare er sådan, verden ser ud.

Instead of asking the fundamental question

I stedet for at stille spørgsmålstegn ved,

of how wrong this is.

hvor forkert det faktisk er.

I'm here and I'm fighting for safer spaces for women

Jeg er her og kæmper for et mere sikkert miljø for kvinder

by increasing their mobility,

ved at øge deres mobilitet,

by movement of the body and mind to take control over their lives.

gennem bevægelse af krop og sind for at de kan tage kontrol over deres liv.

So how I did that.

Hvordan gjorde jeg så det?

I wanted to prove to the world that I can face my demons.

Jeg ville bevise for verden, at jeg kan se mine dæmoner i øjnene.

And not just for one, but 230 continuous days.

Og ikke kun i én, men hele 230 dage i træk.

So I decided to walk across the length of India

Så jeg besluttede mig for at vandre på tværs af hele Indien

from the very south to the north,

fra den sydligste spids til nord,

a distance of 2,300 miles.

en strækning på 3.701 killometer.

(Applause)

(Klapsalver)

2,300 miles. How much is that?

3.701 kilometer. Hvad svarer det til?

If you started from LA, you would reach New York.

Hvis du startede i Los Angeles, ville du kunne tage dig til New York.

If you started from Stockholm, you would reach Cairo.

Hvis du startede i Stockholm, ville du nå til Cairo.

That's the distance that I walked.

Så langt gik jeg.

And mile after mile, as I walked,

Og for hver kilometer jeg gik,

it became very apparent that women's lack of mobility

blev det meget tydeligt, at kvinders manglende mobilitet

hinders their freedom to earn an income and exert any form of independence.

mindsker deres frihed til at tjene penge og udøve nogen form for uafhængighed.

On my long walk,

På min lange vandring

I wanted to understand what made India

ønskede jeg at forstå, hvorfor Indien

one of the most unsafe countries in the world.

er et af de mest usikre lande i verden.

I was determined to meet the women

Jeg var besluttet på at møde kvinderne,

who are facing challenges around their safety.

der oplever upfordringer omkring deres sikkerhed.

And above all, I wanted to understand if the situation is beyond repair.

Og frem for alt ønskede jeg at forstå, om situationen er uoprettelig.

So I walked through 170 cities, small towns and villages,

Derfor gik jeg gennem 170 storbyer, små byer og landsbyer,

and I met over 85,000 women,

og jeg mødte over 85.000 kvinder,

in small huddles to, like, large crowds.

i alt fra små grupper til store folkemængder.

This is a workshop.

Dette er fra en workshop.

This is with women of an organization in small huddles inside their homes.

Den er med kvinder fra en organisation, i små grupper i deres hjem.

And that's when I realized that mobility plays a very, very big role

Det var dér, jeg indså, at mobilitet spiller en meget vigtig rolle

in their freedom to pursue anything outside of their homes.

for deres frihed til at foretage sig noget uden for hjemmet.

When I was walking across the country,

Da jeg gik på tværs af landet,

in my conversations with these women,

mens jeg havde samtaler med disse kvinder,

I was talking to them about different topics.

talte jeg med dem om forskellige emner.

And this ranged from being financially independent

Om alt fra økonomisk uafhængighed

to taking defensive positions in times of physical assault.

til selvforsvar i tilfælde af fysiske overfald.

This is an activity we did where we want to anchor ourselves and find our ground,

Dette er en aktivitet, vi lavede for at forankre os og stå fast på jorden.

and if somebody comes, you push.

Hvis nogen kommer, skubber man dem væk.

Or just feel stronger.

Eller bare at føle sig stærkere.

What it feels in your body to be stronger.

Hvordan det føles i kroppen at være stærkere.

And most of the times our discussions were around finding your voice.

Vores diskussioner handlede tit om at have modet til at gøre sin stemme hørt.

(Video) (Speaking Hindi)

(Video) (Taler hindi)

(Together) Aaah!

(I kor) Aaah!

I wanted women to move with their bodies and to shift their minds.

Jeg ville have kvinderne til at bruge deres kroppe til at ændre deres tankesæt.

The media amplified our cause

Medierne forstærkede vores sag

and reported with new energy on a demand for a safer country for women.

og rapporterede med fornyet energi om kravet til et sikrere land for kvinder.

On my long walk, I met so many people.

På min lange vandring mødte jeg så mange mennesker.

And most of the times, I noticed that marriage in India

Jeg bemærkede ofte, at ægteskab i Indien

is treated a little differently from the rest of the world.

behandles lidt anderledes end i resten af verden.

You see, marriage means

Ægteskab betyder nemlig,

a woman becomes the property of her husband and his family.

at en kvinde bliver mandens og hans families ejendom.

And not being able to step outside to pursue an education, a job,

Ikke at kunne forlade hjemmet for at tage en uddannelse eller arbejde

or create a community of her own,

eller skabe sit eget fællesskab,

that's lack of mobility, both social and physical,

det er mangel på mobilitet, både socialt og fysisk.

that is what reflects the state of gender inequality in our society.

Sådan står det til med uligheden mellem kønnene i vores samfund.

On my long walk, I bore witness

På min lange vandring var jeg vidne til

to chilling, violent, incomprehensible human behavior.

skræmmende, voldelig, uforståelig menneskelig adfærd.

But at the same time, I met brave women, survivors of atrocious crimes

Men på samme tid mødte jeg modige kvinder, der havde overlevet grusomme forbrydelser,

who lit my path with their unbelievable strength to carry on.

som lyste min vej op med deres utrolige styrke til at fortsætte.

And then something miraculous happened.

Og så skete der noget mirakuløst.

I met this woman named Jai Bharathi.

Jeg mødte en kvinde ved navn Jai Bharathi.

On her motorcycle, she arrived in the same village I was in,

Hun ankom på sin motorcykel til den samme landsby, som jeg var i.

and she was there at a training camp, teaching other women how to ride scooters.

Hun var der på en træningslejr, for at lære kvinder at køre på scooter.

I had never seen anything like this before.

Jeg havde aldrig set noget lignende før.

She donned the narrative of being fierce, the odd one out,

Hun påtog sig rollen som stærk, én, der skiller sig ud,

smashing patriarchy every single time she rode her motorcycle.

som slår patriarkatet i stykker hver gang, hun kørte på sin motorcykel.

She was an inspiration for all women, young and old.

Hun var en inspiration for alle kvinder, unge såvel som gamle.

And at the training camp,

Og i træningslejren

I saw how revving a motorbike and holding a steering wheel

så jeg, hvordan det at give den gas og holde et styr

didn’t [justt] give these women the ability to drive

ikke bare gav disse kvinder evnen til at køre,

but that much needed control over their lives.

men også den nødvendige kontrol over deres liv.

And I knew instantly that having women take charge

Jeg vidste med det samme, at det at lade kvinder tage styringen

and create change for themselves

og forandre deres egen situation

is the only way to transform our broken systems.

er den eneste måde, hvorpå vi kan ændre vores ødelagte systemer.

It got me thinking: What if we could get communities of women moving,

Det fik mig til at tænke: Hvad nu, hvis vi kunne få grupper af kvinder i bevægelse,

actually physically moving away from the house?

altså rent fysisk forlade sine hjem?

That would open a window where they could move psychologically,

Det ville åbne op for muligheden for at forandre sig psykologisk,

where they could understand or realize that she could step out of bad situations

og kunne forstå eller indse, at de kan træde ud af dårlige situationer

and have the ability to do it.

og have evnen til at gøre det.

This way we would have more women feel safe and confident.

Således kan vi få flere kvinder til at føle sig trygge og selvsikre.

So Jai Bharathi and I, we both decided

Så både Jai Bharathi og jeg bestemte,

that we are going to join forces and create a movement

at vi ville gå sammen og skabe en bevægelse

exclusively for women,

udelukkende for kvinder

focused on mobility.

med fokus på mobilitet.

We have set up a system where a woman can train to drive for themselves

Vi har oprettet et system, hvor kvinder kan lære at køre for deres egen skyld

or for Ubers, taxis,

eller for Ubers og taxaer,

or just become delivery agents for Amazon and other big companies

eller blive leveringsagenter for Amazon og andre store virksomheder

or local businesses.

eller lokale firmaer.

That's money in the bank.

Det betyder penge i banken.

And the freedom and the psychological, you know --

Og friheden og det psykologiske i at vide,

know that I can step outside of my home.

at man kan forlade sit hjem.

We are connecting these women drivers on a national network

Vi forbinder disse kvindelige chauffører via et nationalt netværk,

where they can reach out to each other for support

hvor de kan kontakte hinanden for støtte

and to share experiences.

og dele erfaringer.

And not just that.

Og ikke kun det.

She can actually ping another driver in her vicinity

Man kan faktisk kontakte andre førere i nærheden,

if she is feeling distressed, if she's in danger,

hvis man føler sig truet, hvis man er i fare

or if she’s simply just waiting for her next ride or pickup

eller bare venter på den næste kunde eller køretur

and doesn't want to wait alone.

og ikke vil vente alene.

For us, receiving our first paycheck might be very empowering.

For os kan det at få den første lønseddel føles styrkende.

But for 59-year-old Nagamani

Men for 59-årige Nagamani

that moment arrived when she put her scooter on a center stand

kom det øjeblik, da hun parkerede sin scooter

and feeling physically strong,

og følte sig fysisk stærk

and proving to the society that she's beyond being just a sidekick.

og beviste over for samfundet, at hun har opnået noget.

We have trained 1,800 women who are road ready.

Vi har oplært 1.800 kvinder, som er klar til at køre.

(Applause)

(Klapsalver)

And raring.

Ivrige efter at starte.

Road ready and raring to go.

Klar til at køre og komme i gang.

And our decade-long mission is to bring one million women into mobility

I et årti har vi kæmpet for at få en million kvinder i bevægelse

and be the largest network of women drivers connected to each other.

og blive det største netværk af sammensluttede kvindelige førere.

By rethinking mobility for women,

Gennem et nyt syn på kvinders mobilitet,

giving them a safe transport and safety outside of home,

og give dem sikre former for transport og tryghed uden for hjemmet,

it is our hope to transform our culture.

håber vi på at transformere vores kultur.

Apart from having a profound impact on the Indian economy,

Ud over at have en vidtrækkende effekt på Indiens økonomi,

this is about something much bigger.

handler dette om noget meget større.

As you all know, when we move, we can be seen.

Som I alle ved, er vi synlige, når vi bevæger os.

The more women see other women in public spaces,

Jo flere kvinder, der ser andre kvinder i det offentlige rum,

the more safe, independent and empowered each one of us will be.

jo mere trygge, selvstændige og handlekraftige bliver vi alle.

So.

Så.

If we can learn how to walk, certainly we can learn how to fly.

Hvis vi kan lære at gå, kan vi helt sikkert også lære at flyve.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Klapsalver)