Orphans take to streets to protest gender-violence

In an effort to protest against the recent incidents of gender-violence in the capital, orphans, aged between 5 years to 14 years are gearing up to stage a street play.
The 20-minute play, "Silence Violence" is scheduled to be conducted on May 4 by the NGO - Street Level Awareness Program (SLAP) which aims to reach out to the masses and sensitize them against their indifference to issues like rape, eve-teasing and other forms of molestation.
Around 20 children involving orphans of Katyayani Seba Asram are participating in the play.
"When we as a society break our silence (and give up being indifferent) the perpetrators of such heinous crimes will have no option but to back off'," says Mriganka Dadwal, founder, SLAP.

The children in the orphanage say they are keen and excited to perform in the play and they have been rehearsing since the past two weeks.
"We are very happy to perform and we will keep doing street plays in the future also," says 11-year-old Tejaswani,who aspires to become a doctor.

"We have been rehearsing everyday for the past two weeks. Didi (Mriganka) is teaching us everything. We are very happy indeed," says 13-year-old Vidya.
The children are aware of the heinous Delhi gangrape on December 16 last year.
"We know what happened from watching TV. And we are hopeful that this play will take the message ahead," says Vidya whose aim is to join the police force and help people in distress.

The children say they also want to learn martial arts so that they can be prepared to deal with any untoward incident.
12-year-old Sabita and 14-year-old Anshu who are also performing say the street play will certainly make a difference in the minds of the people.
Organizers admit they were initially hesitant to talk to the children about rape.
"Initially, I was hesitant to talk to them about rape. But when I first interacted with them I got to know they already have an idea of what is happening in the society. Thanks to the media for highlighting the December gangrape case. Of course, I avoid terms like rape but I don't feel hesitant anymore," says Dadwal.