On a snowy Sunday evening, about 25 people gathered at Harvard Square to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Nirbhaya incident in India in December 2013. They stood silently with lit candles and placards denouncing violence against women. Poems empowering women and a pledge to actively fight against violence against women were read. The event also focused on the positive changes that have occurred in India because of the brutality of the event. Some of these changes are stronger laws against rape and sexual assault, increased jail terms and harsher punishments for rapists including the death penalty, acid violence, disrobing, stalking and voyeurism are now specific crimes (section 326, 354 and their subsections in the Indian Penal code) and their punishments have been prescribed, security blankets that protected police officers who failed to register complaints has been removed, non-military public servants who commit sexual assault will now face compulsory jail time, evidence procedures and the trial are easier for women now, definition of rape has been expanded  and absence of physical struggle doesn’t imply consent, healthcare providers are now required to give free immediate medical care to victims of rape and acid attacks, and, finally, grassroots activism for women’s rights has increased dramatically all over India, not only among educated urban women, but also among rural and tribal women. The event ended with the group singing “We shall overcome” in both English and Hindi. The event was held on December 15 and organized by 3 South Asian organizations: Saheli, Support and Friendship for South Asian Women and Families, WRISE, and Dawn Worldwide.

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