02 June,2018 07:27 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
HOW would you react if you were abused? If the assault wasn't physical, would you call it abuse in the first place? How can an abuse victim be "groomed" to believe that their perpetrator isn't doing them any harm? These are the many questions that the organisers of The Plane Jar, a non-profit youth activism and outreach forum, hope to address at an interactive session, The Greyscale, this evening.
Describing the event as a "social experiment," Komal Wani, vice-president of The Plane Jar - launched last year to raise awareness on mental health and abuse - says that one of their volunteers, an 18-year-old student from Mumbai, will reveal her traumatic experience at the hands of her college professor.
"The survivor will open up about the progress of her abuse. What started as a great rapport between the professor and his students, turned ugly as he chose the more vulnerable girls among the lot, and exploited them to the hilt," says Wani.
In doing so, the survivor will also highlight the need to stem grooming - often used only in the context of child abuse. "Grooming is the slow and intentional process of manipulating a person to a point where they can be victimised, and also made to believe that the perpetrator is the only person who cares for them," says Wani, adding, "They tend to isolate the victim from everyone else."
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A close friend of the teen survivor will also be speaking to the audience about the change in the former's behaviour during the abuse and why it's important to be aware of these signs. "We will also be throwing many uncomfortable questions to the audience," says Wani. The idea is to make you challenge your morals and question everything you believe about abuse to be traditional. The abuser sometimes executes things so perfectly that it becomes hard to define it as abuse, she says.
WHEN: 5 PM - 7 PM
WHERE: 91 Springboard BKC, 2nd Floor. Kalina, Santacruz East
ENTRY: Rs 150
TO REGISTER: theplanejar.com
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