MERA HAQ’ (My Right)

This photo exhibition, organised by Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), reveals the untold stories and daily toils of the most marginalised and vulnerable of India’s population; ‘the forgotten people’. It pays tribute to the thousands of Indian woman and girls who have lost their lives during pregnancy, and to the women who continue to suffer from a pregnancy related illness or disability.

The photographs, taken by social activists, provide an entry point into the lives, struggles and determination of people to live with dignity in India. Maternal mortality is not a human rights violation that occurs in isolation, rather it is the culmination of a multitude of rights denials which include: poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, anaemia, child marriage and discrimination faced by marginalized/historically vulnerable groups, which is reflected in the disproportionately high levels of maternal deaths from the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribal community and young women under the age of 25.

For the last 21-years HRLN has consistently worked to ensure justice and accountability for victims of human rights abuses, by providing pro bono legal aid and empowering communities through legal advocacy and ‘know your rights materials’.

Preview : Friday, 21 May 2010, 6.30 p.m.