Women should stand up for each other, says Annie Zaidi at Dhaka Lit Fest

Indian writer, filmmaker and poet Annie Zaidi takes public transport and goes out at night to make other women feel safer.

“It’s up to us for women to stand up for each other,” she says as she believes that most unsafe places for a woman on the street is where there are no women.

She believes her presence can make other five women safer. “It is my responsibility not only as a writer, but as a citizen or a person,” Zaidi adds.

A place without women also makes her nervous, she said, speaking at a discussion at the High Commission of India in Dhaka on Sunday.

High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla  organised a book reading session ‘Unbound: Celebrating Women’s Voices’ in collaboration with Dhaka Lit Fest.

Bangladeshi writer and academic Razia S Khan joined Zaidi at the session moderated by translator and academic Fakrul Alam.

The issue of sexual assault and harassment is now widely talked in the world after the beginning of #MeToo campaign. Women are using this hashtag for publicly naming and shaming the perpetrators in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.

Zaidi has hailed the campaign, saying it was “necessary”.

She said perhaps a shift has happened in a generation in the last 10 or 15 years.

“It was also possible because of the social media. Earlier it was very difficult,” she said.