A gathering in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan saw more than 5,000 survivors of sexual abuse across India.
For 34-year-old Varsha (name changed), a rape survivor from Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain, 'Dignity March' was not a mere event; it was a movement she believed in that voiced her demand to live with dignity.
"If men did not feel ashamed of raping me, why should I hide from narrating my story to people. I have been abandoned by the society for no fault of mine, but I deserve to live with dignity, pride as others do," Varsha told news agency IANS.
A gathering in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on Friday saw more than 5,000 survivors of sexual abuse across India, who traveled 10,000 km starting from Mumbai on December 20 last year.
The National Network of Survivors mobilised more than 25,000 survivors and their family members across 25 states and 250 districts of India.
"When we started the Dignity March, our objective was to encourage children and women to speak out about their experiences of sexual violence without shame and put an end to the wide-spread culture of victim-shaming. And we are glad to share that the nationwide journey has helped thousands of survivors to unite and fight for justice through Dignity March," said Ashif Shaikh, a covenor of the Dignity March.