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Indian Activist Gets Weimar Award

DW Staff (ah)December 10, 2007

Some human rights activists have become international stars -- Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi or Martin Luther King for example. But there are thousands nobody knows. That's why Weimar decided to establish a human rights prize in 1995, which is awarded every year on International Human Rights Day -- 10 Dec. This year’s prize of 2,500 euros has been awarded to Nimisha Desai, an Indian women's rights activist.

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Indian women's rights activists
Indian women's rights activistsImage: AP

After a conventional childhood and wedding in Gujarat, Nimisha Desai suddenly found herself a single mother. She raised her daughters on her own.

But as a single mother in India's patriarchal society, she was looked down upon by the mainstream.

Ever since, she has been defending herself: "We have our own children, we have our own family and friends, but still we have been called as ‘singles’ just because we don’t have a legitimate husband. This is a notion I would like to challenge -- and which I’ve been challenging for many years. Being a 'single', I enjoy my freedom and I enjoy my mobility and I feel very strong."

Olakh -- identity

In 1994, Desai set up the organisation 'Olakh' for women who live and think the same way she does. Olakh is Gujarati for identity.

"Where is a woman’s place and what is a woman’s identity?" Nimisha Desai asks. "Beyond wife and daughter and mother and widow?"

"Women’s identity is always recognised around the man. But women are individual human beings and they have their own qualities, their own achievements and their own perceptions. We need women’s identity to be perceived as an individual identity."

The central focus of Olakh's work is to strengthen women's identity and their leadership skills. Women are seen as actors, rather than mere victims. They are seen as key to leading the process of reconciliation and peace.

Building bridges

Olakh also offers psychological advice to victims of domestic violence, which is widespread in India. And it has also developed educational programmes about women's rights. Desai hopes to set up a resource centre in future.

Olakh is supported by the Cologne-based development NGO "medica mondiale". Its head is Dr Monika Hauser, who put Nimisha Desai forward for the Weimar Human Rights Award.

She strongly believes in Nimisha Desai, saying "she doesn’t just build bridges, she herself is a bridge. She brings people of different religions, ethnic backgrounds and castes together, and gets them to talk."

After over 2,000 people died in violent clashes between Muslims and Hindus in Gujarat five years ago, Desai acted as a go-between and looked after the victims.

But the Indian activist says women's rights remain her priority and she hopes Olakh will help "women win the struggle for their liberation".