Freeze mobs power gender issues

Have you spotted a bunch of college students holding placards saying ‘Ladki tere baap ki jaagir nahi,’ ‘Real men don’t rape’ and ‘Don’t change your profile picture, change yourself,’ in public places of late? Don’t be surprised.

This is a group of Delhi University students spending their weekends on the streets of ‘rape capital’ Delhi spreading awareness on women’s safety issues in their own way.

Under a creative campaign called ‘My Body.

My Rights,’ over 500 students are holding street plays, ‘Metro plays,’ flash mobs and most importantly freeze mobs to shock Delhiites into acknowledging these problems.

Their most lethal weapons are their placard messages which inform women of their legal rights in the face of harassment and warn men to mend their ways, or else be prepared for a round ofthe jail.

Smriti Singhal, a postgraduate student of Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, is the brain behind this campaign.

She started it with two friends in early 2013 in the wake of the December 16 gangrape, and soon several others joined in the crusade.

She says, “We would see hundreds of boys and girls throng Rajpath, brave lathi charge, raise slogans, and wonder ‘what after these protests are over?’

Will women become more aware of their rights? Will men change their attitude? Doesn’t Delhi need a more sustained campaign where we continually remind people of this social evil? That’s how ‘My Body. My Rights’ was born.”

The idea of public discussions and seminars was discarded as it was deemed “too boring,” and soon they decided on street plays, flash mobs and the unique and powerful freeze mobs.

“We held one of our first performances in Metro compartments. The impact was visible. Quickly, we spread out to Connaught Place, Select City Walk, Delhi Haat, Satya Niketan, GK Market, South-Ex Market, North and South Campus, and other parts of the city. So far, we are over 1,000 freeze mobs-old and still counting,”
she claims.

Initially, people would be taken aback at dozens of youngsters appearing out of nowhere, holding a performance on women’s safety and then freeze with placards in hand.

Of late, a lot of them approach the students, read the placards carefully and also enquire about their campaign.

“We display names of women’s NGOs, helpline numbers, mobile apps, laws for women safety etc. Then there are messages for men too: ‘The problem is in our thinking, not their clothes,’ ‘I pledge to intervene when I see a woman being harassed etc,’” says Smriti.

“We have had cases where women have cried, they have come up to us and said they have faced harassment and don’t know what to do. Recently, a few foreigners saw us performing in CP and volunteered to hold placards,” she adds, “Ultimately, we want to hardwire our message into the psyche of Delhiites: Don’t harass, don’t tolerate harassment and raise your voice when you see it happening. A lot can change if people understand this.”