CHENNAI: It was a moment of pride for Shoba Ghasti, who waged a war against the age-old Devadasi system that robbed her of her childhood at the age of 12, as she was honoured by the US with Secretary of State’s 2012 Women of Courage Award.The award, presented by US Consul General in Chennai Jennifer McIntyre here on Wednesday, was to honour women who had demonstrated exceptional courage, strength and leadership in advocating for human rights, social justice and women’s equality. Shoba, who coordinated over 3,400 volunteers working in 500 villages in Karnataka to create awareness about the Devadasi system, said, “Our childhood dreams are plucked away at an early age by parents and society when we hardly are aware of our rights.”Although Shoba had been successful in eradicating the system in Belgaum, she was now working to provide relief to Devadasis in 10 districts of the state.“We don’t want just economic independence. We want our children to be treated well also,” said Shoba, who started as a volunteer in a NGO Mass, to later being elected its director. Later a film ‘Eyes wide Open’ was screened, highlighting the various evils associated with the system. Later, at a roundtable on women’s empowerment, panelists, including Geetha Ramaseshan, a lawyer for Tamil Nadu Legal Aid Board, S Anandhi, associate professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies and Payal Saksena, advocacy manager at EveryChild India, stressed on the need for a social and livelihood programme for women who quit the system.
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