The notion of women as ‘transferable property’ of men is most practically
observable in the community of the Devadasis (or Joginis). This idea is
demonstrated unequivocally in a saying in rural India that goes as ‘A Devadasi
is a servant of God but a wife of the whole town.’
As ‘servants of God’, these women
are disowned by the entire village
and only used for the sexual gratification of all the men there, including the
priests and the upper castes. Sexual abuse towards the lower caste women is one
instance where the religious ideas of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’ are disregarded
by the society in a culturally acceptable manner.
The United Nations identifies a
broader idea of slavery as follows:
[A]ny institution or practice whereby a child or a
young person under the age of 18 is delivered by either or both of his natural
parents or by his guardian to another person, whether for reward or not, with a
view to the exploitation of the child or young person.
The practice of ritual sexual
slavery through theogamy has existed for several centuries in the ancient
cultures across the world, including Africa, South Asia and even Europe, in
many forms. What is astonishing, though,
is the continuity of this practice in certain areas, primarily the Devadasi
practice of Southern India, which successfully resisted many years of efforts
of eradication.
Even in the twenty-first century,
it is unfortunate to witness large sections of an ostensibly democratic Indian
society being affected by the trappings of ignorant, discriminatory and unjust
practices like the Jogini system. The practice has persisted in the deep
recesses of southern India, has claimed the lives of women and has been
perpetuated in the lives of their progeny.
What are the key reasons for this?
Poverty, lack of proper health
care, social exclusion and systemic caste and gender exploitation is a daily
reality for the girls initiated as Joginis. Fuelled by caste, patriarchy and
inefficient legislation, the immediate future for the existing Joginis seems
rather bleak.
The existence of the Jogini system in today’s state should
serve as a bold headline for those left behind in the mainstream discourse of
development.
We need to talk more about it and engage all the resource we can engage for it. And you are agreed, as I can see. Wonderful. I am planning to run a resource on that. Contact me if you want to have apart. We are planning to order articles at professional resource, such as do my assignment help, to be able to post it every week. But we need more content managers. Writing is an important part of any business. So check the resource if you agreed
ReplyDelete