Sample Protest letter: Abuse of sex workers in Kolkata

[Guest guest]

Dear Bacchu and friends

This incident is a terrible violation of all that we fight for, and of our very

right to live. I am outraged at the attitude of the officials. This is not the

first time that they have shown the bigotry and stupidity that is part of the

political and government offices in this country (and in too many other places

in the world). And I am also tired of putting all their misogynist actions down

to ignorance and thus letting them off lightly as merely misguided souls.

In LGBT circles too we talk about awareness-raising and other such moderate and

decent measures when it is clear that the goondas who walk the streets and sit

in police stations and speechify during elections are not just ignorant people

waiting to be shown the light; they are criminals on the loose making sure that

no woman ever has the right to be anything but a doormat.

Bacchu, please convey my best wishes and love to Swapna and Rekha. The

following is the copy of the letter I have written to the officials. Anyone on

this list can just send it to the e mail addresses provided.

This is my small contributiion to voicing our protest. And Bacchu, if there is

anything else that you think we can do from Delhi, please do not hesitate to

write to me or to PRISM (prism_delhi@...) - a forum concerned with

issues of margianlised sexualities. In solidarity

Dipika

E-mail: prism_delhi@...

___________________________

(The e-mail ids of The Chairperson, NCW, New Delhi, (2) The Chairperson,

WBSCW, Kolkata. E-mail: member_secretary@..., wbhrc@...)

Text of letter to send to various government bodies,

etc.

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Dear Ma'am/ Sir (name of official)

We are outraged at the incidents in Kolkata on 29 August, when Ms Rekha Lodh was

beaten up and severely humiliated by local hooligans. Also extremely

disturbing and unaaceptable is the subsequent abuse and beating up of Ms Swapna

Gayen, in October, 2002. Ms Gayen is the President of Durbar Mahila samanwaya

Committee, a sex workers' collective that has been locally, nationally, and

internationally lauded for the exceptional work that it has done in HIV/AIDS

prevention and control, and for the human rights of sex workers in India. She

was beaten up because she dared to stand up to the goondas to protect Ms Lodh.

We refuse to accept the behaviour of the concerned police authorities, who were

not only present at the time of the second incident and did nothing to protect

Ms Gayen, but subsequently refused to lodge an FIR of the crime.

As concerned citizens, we would like to formally lodge our protest against such

arbitrary and abusive beaviour and attitudes by those who are appointed as

guardians of social peace. We demand that the goondas responsible for the

violations be arrested immediately and be brought before a court of law. We

further demand that the police personnel involved immediately be charged with

abetment in the crime and be relieved of their duties before being brought to

court.

We urge you to please treat this matter as urgent because this is not the first

time that sex workers' rights have been violated in this extreme manner and

it will not be the last unless some action is taken to ensure that all citizens

of this country can enjoy the rights that the Indian Constitution guarantees us.

Regards

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