29 Oct 09 India’s Mothers-In-Law Fight Back
BANGALORE — Each week, in a corner of Bangalore’s historic Cubbon Park, a group of men and women gather to swap stories and vent their emotions. They are part of the newly launched All India Mother-in-law Protection Forum.
It is a motley gathering of teachers, retired air force officers, doctors and software engineers, all educated, urban Indians drawn together by a common cause.
They are “victims,” who have banded together to fight the harassment and abuse they say they endure at the hands of the rude, domineering, greedy young women who marry into their families.
A hundred or more members attend these weekly sessions in Bangalore, a trend that sociologists say reflects the breakdown of traditional roles in India’s fast-changing urban society.
“These groups are a response to the growing tensions and ruptures within the established Indian family system,” said professor A. R. Vasavi of the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore.
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06 Oct 09 Mothers-in-law fight back
For years they have been the butt of jokes and regular figures of fun for comedians across the world. But in India, mothers-in-law are fighting back for a different reason. A new campaign group, the All India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum, has been set up not only to fight negative stereotyping but also push for greater legal protection of their rights.
“What’s happening in India is that mothers-in-law are getting persecuted at the hands of daughters-in-law. This is very rampant everywhere. But it’s not come out in the open,” said founder member Neena Dhulia.
“It’s always happening within the four walls of the house, so the mother-in-law is reluctant to tell anyone because society doesn’t accept her… There’s no one to listen to her. They are suffering in silence,” she told AFP.
The group’s chapter in the southern city of Bangalore has some 50 members and since it launched earlier this month has attracted interest from women in Mumbai and New Delhi who want to set up branches, she added.
Tags: campaign group, cornerstones, Daughter-in-Law, daughters in law, domestic violence, economic ladder, family health survey, group points, Indian Family, Marriage, marriage and the family, mother-in-law, mothers in law, national family health survey, neena, nfhs, rural women, Society, step mother, suffering in silence, violence against women, Women, Women's Rights
29 Sep 09 India’s mothers-in-law fight back against ‘persecution’
BANGALORE — For years they have been the butt of jokes and regular figures of fun for comedians across the world. But in India, mothers-in-law are fighting back for a different reason.
A new campaign group, the All India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum, has been set up not only to fight negative stereotyping but also push for greater legal protection of their rights.
“What’s happening in India is that mothers-in-law are getting persecuted at the hands of daughters-in-law. This is very rampant everywhere. But it’s not come out in the open,” said founder member Neena Dhulia.
“It’s always happening within the four walls of the house, so the mother-in-law is reluctant to tell anyone because society doesn’t accept her… There’s no one to listen to her. They are suffering in silence,” she told AFP.
Tags: campaign group, cornerstones, Daughter-in-Law, daughters in law, domestic violence, economic ladder, family health survey, Government, group points, Indian Family, marriage and the family, mother-in-law, mothers in law, national family health survey, neena, nfhs, rural women, step mother, suffering in silence, violence against women, Women, Women's Rights
