When their families ditched them and the police refused to register their complaints, this bunch of 15 sexually molested girls came together and fought back. And that’s how India got its very own Red Brigade — a group of girls who advocate self-defence. Usha Vishwakarma, an abuse victim at 17 and leader of this troop at 25, believes that every girl should be trained in self-defence in this country. “We, at Red Brigade, believe that only girls can protect themselves and it is high time they take charge.”
If you visit Lucknow, you can see these women dressed in red and black chasing away goons who tease women. Ironically, these are the same goons who gave the Red Brigade its name. “When we used to walk in the streets, the locals used to tease us by saying “Oh run, the Red Brigade is here. They will beat us up.” We kinda liked the name,” she smiles.
Just another girl at 17, Usha has started teaching at a local school in Lucknow where a fellow teacher attempted to rape her. She managed to run but only to be shunned by her family and the police. Taking charge of things, she decided to meet women of the same fate and form a group. “A group needs a representation. We chose it to be our dress code. Red represents the fight and black represents oppression. Thus, we are fighters who were oppressed,” she says.
The Red Brigade organises six-hour workshops on self defence all across the country. “We get calls from schools and colleges across India. Our core team of 15 members travels to these places to train them,” she says. When asked about her opinion of including self-defence as part of the academic curriculum, Usha’s voice was filled with enthusiasm. She says, “YES! Why not? We have our history talking about women like Rani Lakshmi Bai. She couldn’t have learned horse riding in one day to fight the British, right? If they can learn defence techniques in that time and era, what holds us back in the 21st century,” she implores.
Usha Vishwakarma’s ultimate dream is to make sure that no girl feels helpless and destitute after these unfortunate incidents. “Maybe there will be a time when the rapists will have to pay their dues but till then, only we can help ourselves. And we will. Nobody can stop us,” she signs off.
Reach out: red-brigades.blogspot.in/