Leslee Udwin sent a moving appeal to the prime minister of India that he would allow the screening of the documentary in India, because everyone should see it. The finger is pointing to the government of India, but as far as I know Leslee Udwin is an independent filmmaker. She – like no-one of us – doesn’t need anybody’s permission in order to publish her creations or distribute them freely. When this issue is so important to her it needs only an hour to create an own Internet channel for the documentary film – if she has not sold the copyrights of the film to a commercial media house, who’s primary interest is to make money with her documentary. If this is the case she can blame only herself.
I wrote in the first part of this article that rape is for me most of all mental abuse, where another person uses his power to force another to carry out his own purposes. It is not only physical power over weaker one, but e.g. economic abuse or abuse of authority.
The documentary ‘India’s Daughter’ brings up the mindset prevalent in the culture in India that rape of a woman is almost a civil duty of a man, if a woman does not obey the norms and rules of the society.
Sadly the same mindset can be seen in everyday life also in the western world. The only difference is that it is not a question of physical abuse between men and women. It is mental abuse that people use to manipulate others, who they consider as their subordinates.
Mental abuse is also called psychological abuse or emotional abuse. Its signs are:
Threatening the person or threatening to take away something that is important to him,Ignoring or excluding, intimidation,
Name calling or insults, mocking, sarcasm,
Lie, Torment, Bullying,
Yelling or swearing, humiliation, belittling,
Denial of the abuse and blaming of the victim
Many of these can be seen as ‘spice’ in TV reality shows. Two first are commonly used as educational methods. Often with great success. They are not only bad things.
They have a negative impact when they prevent us from manifesting our true self and from interacting with other people, which means that we cannot freely participate in the cultural life of the community.
Since I opened this blog it has been very annoying that the videos I have linked to my articles are removed from Youtube when big boys discover that this is mine, this is mine, this is mine…
I become the feeling that I don’t have the complete freedom to interact with people, so that everyone could benefit from the symbiotic coexistence.
I have in my mind an image of Cinderella going to the royal ball dressed in clothing created by fairies and their helpers. As soon as her half sisters see her, one of them grabs her necklace and says: “This is mine”. The necklace breaks off and all pearls are rolling around the floor.
The European Union has done much to improve the life of its citizens by promoting the free movement of goods, services, capital and people e.g. by reducing artificial trade barriers. When will the Union promote the free movement of knowledge and our spiritual and cultural heritage, which is the most important thing in regard to our social life?
Copyright laws that most effectively restrict the free movement of knowledge and set limits to the creative interaction of people can be compared to the various customs practices of countries, which restrict free trade. This must be changed.
I am looking forward to it.
Read also:
HealthyPlace.com: Emotional Abuse
Susan L. Pollet: Economic Abuse – The Unseen Side of Domestic Violence
EurActiv.com (by Hans Martens): Why the internal market needs a fifth freedom