Category: 2018 Light campaign

The three boys ran into the CSJ office playing, hitting one another and laughing. Sameer, Binay and Bipin* are an energetic, mischievous bunch. They had come to meet our lawyer and...

In the eyes of many young women who’ve been sexually harmed, justice means overcoming stigma and shame attached to abuse and moving forward with their lives. To live with a supportive family, and even starting a family of their own. Tara’s story beautifully portrays this new beginning.

Tara was 16 years old when she moved from West Bengal to Delhi to live with her father and his parents. While she slept between her father and uncle, her uncle would molest her.

Tanvi was abused by her younger brother, father and an elder neighbor, who was like a grandfather to her. When she told her sisters about the abuse, they warned her to keep quiet and not tell anyone. But she confided in a worker from a local community-based organisation, who helped her report the case to police. As the case wound its way through the criminal justice system, Tanvi received no support from her family. They call her a liar and claim she was mentally challenged.

Many times, people equate convictions in court with justice. While convictions validate a victim’s story and may play an important role in securing justice, true justice requires much more.

As I look back on CSJ’s journey, it’s been encouraging when people express how they are moved by our work. In late 2013, shortly after CSJ started operations, CSJ supporter Kimberly Hocking painted a watercolor and wrote a poem that reflected the courage of one of our first cases: a gangrape of a teenage girl named Archana. The case details are less important than Archana’s courage to report the case and pursue justice in court.

Every time we meet Rahil, he exudes warmth and has a smile on his face. His sense of responsibility and capacity to love his family is uncommon for an 8 year old boy, especially with how much hurt he has already experienced.