35 persons (including 3 men) gathered at YWCA, Andheri on 12th December 2015, for the Mumbai programme to commemorate the Day against violence to women. Since many were new comers as well as people of other faiths, Virginia gave a brief introduction to ICWM and the importance of knowledge regarding the Uniform Civil Code. Adv. Flavia Agnes presented a background history of the Uniform Civil Code which made us understand how complex an issue it really is for a pluralistic country like India which comprises of diverse legal traditions tied to culture and religion. Not all the cultural traditions are codified. Only those religions that had a ‘Smruti’ were able to have codified laws e.g. Parsees, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, etc. In answer to the question “Do you think the BJP will bring out a UCC?” She answered “Not in my life time.”
However she pointed out that a personal law is not as important as helping women in situations of violence. Anyway our legal system is so corrupt, very few women have access to the legal system and if they do very rarely do the courts deliver justice. Where do the women go for help when most violence takes place in our homes and neighbourhoods? She suggested a volunteer programme where women can work with police stations and perhaps even courts to support women to get justice. Adv. Flavia is prepared to offer training for such volunteers and even for Training of Trainers (TOT). These volunteers can disseminate information about the law in simple ways, show women how to get help from their local police station and empower them with knowledge to access such help. She has offered to give legal aid camps to colleges as there were several college students present, TOT programmes, and give information how to use the police structure to handle violence. On this positive note we ended with a sincere vote of thanks to Adv. Flavia, YWCA Mumbai, and Majlis, for helping us make this programme possible.
8 of the participants present joined ICWM.
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