The charge of the Red Brigade

Picture this. A young woman is walking down a small town street on a dark winter night. Two men spot her, and close in for a bout of sick evening entertainment. She hears them snicker and immediately takes out her phone to call for help. In the light of the phone, the men see her face clearly for the first time. They bolt. "One minute they are making lewd comments, the next minute they are haring away down the road as fast as their legs could carry them," laughs 25-year-old Usha Vishwakarma, the woman in question. And this is the same area where, a couple of years ago, a woman would be lucky if she ventured outside her home after six p.m. - and returned home unscathed.

What has brought about this change? "We girls have become more 'dabangg', that's all," she says. Founder of a spirited two-year-old movement for gender equality, Red Brigade, Vishwakarma has initiated a mini-sexual revolution in her neighbourhood in Lucknow, once notorious for crimes against women.

"I used to work with children through an NGO Balmanch. As they started reaching their teens, they came to me with stories of daily harassment and abuse they faced," she says. While this was traumatic in itself, the lack of understanding or help from their families and the police made it unbearable. "If we'd tell our parents, they would forbid us from going out," she says. And the police dismissed all their complaints saying, "Boys will be boys; it's their nature to tease!" Matters came to a head when an 11-year-old girl from Balmanch was raped by her uncle. "The uncle absconded, and the girl also disappeared. We were unable to find her again," she says sorrowfully. Months later, Vishwakarma experienced a traumatic rape attempt. "I was in shock for almost a year. Then I pulled myself together and started Red Brigade in November 2010." Fifteen girls aged 14 to 19 formed the core group of vigilantes, wearing red (for danger) and black (for protest).

Although the core group suffered initial criticism from families and neighbours, they found overwhelming support among girls, who started pouring in with complaints. One local boy used to publicly boast that he could force any girl to have sex with him - whenever he wanted. "When our remonstrations went unheeded, we lifted him in the air for everyone to see and gave him the beating of his life," she recounts.

Some time ago, they decided to visit the home of a boy who would make lewd comments and sing suggestive songs when girls passed him on the street. "By now, the neighbourhood had begun referring to Red Brigade as 'khatre ki ghanti' (alarm bell). As soon as the miscreant saw us marching to his house, he ran away in fear. But his parents realised what their son had been up to, and gave him a thorough beating when he returned."

Such vigilantism has helped banish some of the powerlessness that grips victims of sexual violence, filling the girls of Red Brigade with a greater sense of confidence. Now, emboldened by their success, they want to start similar movements in every ward in Lucknow. Through workshops on legal rights, sexuality and martial arts, Red Brigade is spreading its message of empowerment - one woman at a time. "It's time women reclaimed their equality and freedom. Let's show the men we're more than ready for a fight. After all, we are girls of today - and proud of it," she says.