“You are 30! Get married soon or you will have issues in having a baby.”
“Don’t get an abortion or you wont be able to have a child in future.”
“Your child is three years old now, are you not planning another baby?”
“Don’t go for an abortion, you can definitely raise another child.”
“How can you have a baby? You aren’t . . .”
And so we hear every day. Every day—in conversations at homes, offices, parties and even with our doctors.
Why no child, why one child? Why three children? Why abortion? Why a caesarean? Why adoption? And the list can be unending.
And here’s how an amazing capability, a right, a matter of joy and pride becomes an issue of stress, judgment, shame, and often risk.
Right from the time of the first period, there are expectations that envelop our reproductive choices. There is a pressure to get married at a certain age or to have a baby “on time” and then to have the “right” number of children. And if you are unmarried, your reproductive choices are further scrutinized and deemed to be “limited”.
How can anyone enjoy their reproductive rights then? We can truly enjoy any right, when we have the freedom to make and exercise our own choices.
So, to celebrate reproductive rights and the choices and the freedom that must come with it, Love Matters India and Haiyya invite you to our event Jashne-e-Reproductive Rights – a mela to both increase awareness and celebrate reproductive rights and choices for all! Come join us at our fest on September 28th, globally observed as the International Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion.
Our objective is to increase awareness about abortion as a reproductive health and rights issue, and to demand that every person who chooses to have an abortion is guaranteed access to available, affordable, safe and legal comprehensive abortion care.
To ensure that this message reaches out to more people this year, Love Matters India and Haiyya are partnering up—in solidarity and with a shared vision and goal—to organize this exciting day!
LM and Haiyya will enable a safe, shared and inclusive space for people from diverse walks of life to gain information and develop nuanced understanding on reproductive rights issues, including about safe abortion, through the medium of engaging, interactive, and fun activities. The intention and motivation of the fest is to acknowledge, affirm, celebrate and gather support for reproductive rights and choices of all persons.
The fest would entail activities such as informative open sessions on talking and writing about abortion (and sexual and reproductive health and rights issues from a rights-based perspective), abortion speak-out spaces to hear abortion experiences of those who have had abortion(s), those who have supported someone who has had abortion(s), and those who have provided abortion care, as well as using range of performance art to increase awareness and celebrate reproductive right—spoken word poetry, music, street theater, art and painting, puppetry, etc.
The fest will also showcase fun interactive games that tackle myths around abortion and showcase short film and virtual reality (VR) film screening for the audience. The fest will culminate with a joint declaration/pledge for the audience to endorse to show their support for destigmatizing abortion and demanding improved comprehensive abortion care services for all persons in India.
The fest, although, open to everyone, will focus on reaching out specifically to college students (of all genders), young working women from across different socio-economic status, gynecologists, support medical staff, journalism students, local government representatives, media, other NGOs/foundations/groups working on SRHR issues and based in Delhi.
Time: 3-7 pm
Venue: Crafts Museum, Delhi, India
Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2384307931891629/
Book your tickets here: http://bit.ly/ReproMela