The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that spans from 25 November, the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. This campaign aims to mobilise individuals and organisations globally to raise awareness and take action against all forms of violence and discrimination
‘Aspire to Inspire,’ a campaign initiated by KrayonMag, a social storytelling platform, had been developed last year to give courage to the women in Bangladesh, to be able to prioritise their hopes and dreams over any sort of obstacles.
Gender-based violence, unfortunately, is not a concept we are unfamiliar with. In fact, according to UNICEF, gender-based violence is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world.
The human mind is such that we always dream of a world where gender equality simply exists. We sing about it, build stories around it, and yet somehow, we are nowhere close to our considerations. Even after so many years of progress per se, we solely blame patriarchy for every shortcoming, when in reality it s every one of us who don t want to take the responsibility, break the shackles and live in a new world, defying the rules of yesterday rules that need to be modified to suit our development.
But all is not lost; there are handfuls amongst us, as there have been all throughout time, to question the norm, defy the archaic rules and live life to their own terms and not by the rules that have been dictated to them, because it suits the rest of the world.
To an idealist, this decision, would entirely be a personal preference; a choice that any grown-woman or man could make whenever they wanted; unfortunately reality seems to be quite the contrast for Rahman.
Her very personal life-choice, agitated the entire family, people she considered as her loved ones and triggered havoc in her private life. She is considered a disgrace by the near and dear, who expect her to be married at her age, embracing motherhood instead, causing her to naturally suffer from bouts of depression even though her career graph was rising in leaps and bounds. Aspire to Inspire, a campaign initiated by KrayonMag, a social storytelling platform, has been specifically developed to give courage to people like Rahman, to be able to prioritise their dreams and passion without any impediment or compromise. It s about time that young people in our country realised that it is ok to be unconventional, and that the imaginary clock that people keep speaking about does n