Sheikh, fazal - LADLI - new in seal!

For almost two decades, Fazal Sheikh has worked among displaced populations in East Africa, South America and Asia, creating photographs and recording testimonies that make us understand the reality of their lives. For his latest book, Moksha, he traveled to Vrindavan, a holy city in India, where Hindu widows come to spend their last years. It was by listening to their stories that Sheikh came to understand to what extent Indian women are victims of religious and cultural codes that reduce most of them to the status of child-bearing maids. He returned to India to learn more about these young women who are growing up in a society that is certainly proud of its recent dynamism, but full of prejudices towards them. This book, Ladli - a word which in Hindi means "adored girl" - results from this investigation. The facts reported here will no doubt appear shocking: the abortion of thousands of healthy fetuses each year because of their sex, the murder of girls at birth, the kidnapping and rape of adolescent girls forced into prostitution, the exploitation of child labor, physical violence imposed on maids and, worst of all, the murder of young wives whose dowry, or benefits, do not meet the expectations of their husbands or their in-laws. Thanks to a network of activists working in the streets, Sheikh is building an image of India that contrasts with the country's new role as a modern democracy. THE' Subtle evidence from her portraits painfully reinforces the stories told by these women. Some of the loudest voices in this book come from older women, who have overcome personal tragedy and are determined to fight to keep other women from going through the same. What about a country which reserves such a terrible fate for women? It is not for lack of adequate legislation that women continue to be abused in India, but because the police, courts and government fail to enforce the laws meant to protect them. How to reform such a firmly entrenched system? In order to answer this question, we need to better understand the victims of this system, and in this endeavor Fazal Sheikh is a valuable guide. Some of the loudest voices in this book are from older women, who have overcome personal tragedy and are determined to fight to keep other women from going through the same. What about a country which reserves such a terrible fate for women? It is not for lack of adequate legislation that women continue to be abused in India

hardcover : 192 pages

Dimensions :  22.5 x 27 x 2.5  cm

Publisher : STEIDL

Language: : French

isbn : 9783865214393