stories of our lives…

(Via https://www.facebook.com/NetherlandsinIndia/posts/519578764872028)

On the occasion of Human Rights Day, a great discussion on LGBT rights took place at the University of Delhi yesterday! Dominique Kuhling, Deputy Head of Mission, stated a.o. that acceptance takes time and expressed optimism for the LGBT community in future. 
After the screening of the film Stories of Our Lives the panelists and the crowd interacted in lively debate. 
Via this way we would once again like to thank our panelists and moderator:

– Anjali Gopalan 

– Aditya Bondopadhyay

– Shreya Gupta

– Bijayalaxmi Nanda
We were pleased to see the passion and dedication with regard to this topic amongst the each of the participants, this truly indicates a bright future for the cause! 

    
    
 

GSG Reading group session: An Experience

by Gourav

 

GSG की talk का प्रथम चरण लाजवाब था! नए जुड़े हुए सदसय के तौर पर, GSG के सदस्यों का ‘Thinking Sex’ लेख का अध्ययन व उस पर खुली चर्चा करना कुछ अलग सा, कुछ अजीब सा लगा। और मेरे हिसाब से यह ‘अजीब’ इसलिए था क्योंकि आज तक जिस समाज में हम पले-बढ़ें हैं वो हमें ऐसे खुलेपन की इजाज़त नहीं देता। इन मुद्दों पर उसने हमारी सीमाएँ निर्धारित कर दी हैं, हमारी सोच को क़ैद कर दिया है और उन सीमाओं को तोड़ने वाले को, उन परिधियों से बाहर सोचने वालों को दोषारोपित करने के लिए वह उन पर ‘बिगड़ैल’ की संज्ञा थोपता है।

परंतु एक शिक्षित व विकसित समुदाय के लिए यह आवश्यक है कि वह ऐसे रूढ़िवाद को हावी ना होने दे। समाज द्वारा ‘sex’ के चारों तरफ़ जो तिलस्म रचा गया है, हमारी ज़रूरत है उसे तोड़ने की, कि जो चीज़ें, क्रियाएँ हमारे जीवन में महत्वपूर्ण हों उन पर खुली, स्वस्थ चर्चा करना आवश्यक है ताकी किसी प्रकार की भाँतियों का निर्माण ना हो।

अंत में, GSG के सदस्यों का हस तरह की चर्चाएँ आयोजित करवाना क़ाबिले तारीफ़ है व मैं उनके कार्य की सराहना करता हूँ। उनके जज़्बे को सलाम!

FAQ booklets: availability

The Gender Studies Group FAQ Booklets are available at the following locations in Delhi for purchase at Rs. 50 each:

1. North Delhi

Photocopy shop, Delhi School of Economics,

University of Delhi – 110021

2. Central Delhi 

People Tree, 8 Regal Building, Parliament Street, 

New Delhi 110 001

Tel: +91-(0)11-23340699,23744877

E-mail: peopletreeonline@gmail.com

3. South Delhi 

Kriti Team, A-15 Tara Apartments, near Alaknanda market

New Delhi 110019 (nearest metro – Govindpuri)

+91-11-26027845/ 26033088

gestures.kriti@gmail.com

For bulk orders, postage, feedback or suggestions, please write to us at genderstudiesgroup.du@gmail.com

GSG Reading Group meeting: 3 October 2015

The GSG will have its first reading group session for this semester on Saturday, 3 October 2015 at 2 PM in sociology lawns, D school. We will be reading Gayle Rubin’s ‘Thinking Sex’. Here is a PDF copy of the text:http://www.feminish.com/wp-conte…/uploads/…/08/Rubin1984.pdf

It is requested that all members come having read the text. New members are encouraged to join in as this is the first reading group session after a long break.

Agenda for Booklet launch on 17 September 2015

Agenda

 

2:00 PM : Introduction to the Gender Studies Group and FAQ Booklets by Arunima Tiwari, Member , GSG

2:15 PM: Booklet Release by The Gender Studies Group Team

2: 20 PM: Interactive Session on Gender and Sexuality by Manak Matiyani, Executive Director, The YP Foundation

3:20 PM: Vote of Thanks

3:30 PM: Tea

 

FAQ Booklets will be one sale outside the venue 

Booklet launch poster

About FAQ booklets

https://www.facebook.com/events/1498725743780664/

This series of booklets brought to you by the Gender Studies Group, Delhi University is the product of years of working with issues of gender in the University. These booklets were planned and realised as we came up against recurring problems of violence, ignorance, hostility and even indifference to questions of gender. Through these booklets, we wish to make an attempt to dispel myths, dissolve ignorance and create a culture in which sexual violence and exploitation have zero tolerance and to encourage a healthy culture regarding sexuality.Our FAQ Booklets center around four broad topics:

1. The Body

2. Sexual Minorities

3. Sexual Harassment

4. Accommodation in and around the University

In each of these booklets, we will explore these topics in the context of the day-to-day lives of students in the University.
Let us look at the content of these booklets briefly:

1. Sexual Harassment

Definition of sexual harassment, Laws around Sexual Harassment, busting the myths around sexual harassment, Policies in Delhi University around sexual harassment, Case studies of Sexual Harassment Cases from Delhi University, Sexual Harassment of LGBT people , Difference between Moral Policing and Consent

2. The Body

Definitions of Sex, Gender and Bodily Rights, Personal Accounts of people discovering about their bodies, Masturbation and Myths , Male and Female Body Sexual Organs, Sexuality and Disability, Anal Sex, Bodily Hygiene, Contraception, Pregnancy, Abortion, Sexually Transmitted Diseases(STDs)

3. Accommodation of students in and around the University

Different types of Student Accommodations in the University and issues around them, Student’s Rights, Need for Collective Protests, Personal accounts of people living in hostels and PGs, Movements and Protests for safe accommodation and against discriminatory rules for women

4. Sexual Minorities

Sexuality, Gender Identity, LGBTQIA, Cisgender, Gender Reassignment Surgery, Hijras, GenderQueer, Issues of LGBT Students in Delhi University, Myths around homosexuality, Coming Out, Section 377, Sexual Harassment of Sexual Minorities, Helpline Numbers for LGBT people

Launch of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Booklets and Interactive discussion on Gender and Sexuality

Gender Studies Group Delhi University
invites you to;

Launch of FAQ(Frequently Asked Questions) Booklets on issues of Body, Accommodation, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Minorities prepared by the Gender Studies Group, Delhi University
followed by an

Interactive discussion on Gender and Sexuality;
facilitated by

Manak Matiyani, Executive Director, The YP Foundation
Date: 17th September, 2015 (Thursday)

Time: 2:00 pm

Venue: Lecture Hall, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Delhi University(Opp. Dault Ram College)
Booklets will be on sale at the venue.

For further details contact: 9910550736, 9650971469

https://www.facebook.com/events/1498725743780664/

SEXUAL MINORITIES EXPOSED AS DU’S ANTI-HARASSMENT ORDINANCE JUNKED

By Pallab Deb Apr 07, 2015, DU Beat

For long, Delhi University’s Ordinance XV-D, the Anti-harassment Ordinance was one of the best campus-based policies to address sexual harassment amongst students. It was gender-neutral, which allowed not just women who were harassed by men but also men and people of alternative sexual and gender identities to seek justice from the authorities in the University. But the recent replacement of the Ordinance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 took away the act which protected queer students in DU.

What Did The 2015 Delhi Elections Mean for Feminists? GSG answers

By Sanya Dhingra, theviewspaper.net

The election results have come out, and it is amply clear that this election has created history. As a feminist disillusioned with an absolute neglect of the gender issue in Indian politics, for me, the most positive aspect about the 2015 Delhi elections was the emphatic assertion of the women’s issues as an integral part of the election campaigns of all the three major parties. Women were considered a vote bank that needed to be appealed to, and to my mind, that is a massive achievement in itself for Indian politics.

We got in touch with the Delhi University’s Gender Studies Group and asked its members what they feel about how the issue of gender was dealt with in these elections, and this is what they had to say: