India – Girls of Holy Family Update
July 2018 Update on all the girls - and the Sisters.
Delhi Metro: GBV Conversations and Theater
In Delhi, change initiatives are going straight to the people! And what better place to start than the metro? Volunteer students from Delhi University, all men, are taking up posts at ten metro stations and talking to commuters about gender equality, patriarchy, and violence. Organised by the Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), it's a small but necessary start to raising awareness. Volunteers are also helping individual victims by providing a toll-free support line for help and more information. And, near and dear to my own heart, the CHSJ is releasing a book of four plays about gender-based violence…
Nirbhaya: Three Years Later
December 16 is the 3rd anniversary of the horrific attack and rape of Jyoti Singh, later called Nirbhaya, in a neighborhood not far from where were living in Delhi. She died of her wounds shortly after, galvanizing a movement in India to speak up about the prevalence of violence against women. The outcry garnered international attention, a critically acclaimed play ("Nirbhaya") and a fine film, banned in India, ("India's Daughter".) The event was very much the backdrop for SPOILED, the play I created last year. Today, however, three years on, it is clear that meaningful change will be slow at…
MAVA Mumbai
Who? Based in Mumbai, Men Against Violence and Abuse - MAVA - is a group I discovered while doing research for my play SPOILED. One day I cold-called Harish Sadani, MAVA's founder and 'chief functionary', from Delhi, seeking information about how boys and young men in India develop attitudes toward women and what some typical experiences were. Harish was gracious and helpful, sending me links and information. When I traveled to Mumbai last year, we had a long lunch together. He fielded all the questions I could think of and supplied both hard data and an authentic, local perspective. You…
Alpha Montessori Update
It was a total delight to visit Alpha Montessori this past April. The first class of nine students just graduated in an emotional and inspiring ceremony. (See photos below or watch the ceremony here.) Many of these children started in the very early days of the school when Alpha Montessori was not much more than a concept, a vision of what education could bring. Yet all have now been accepted into English medium upper schools, a fantastic accomplishment. They are stunning examples of how confident, competent, self-directed, and articulate Montessori children can become, regardless of background. The students presented individually chosen and…
WSLR Interview
Redressing gender imbalances, life in India, CEDAW, the making of the play SPOILED, and many other topics were covered on the WSLR program "On the Red Couch." Listen here. Rachel and I would love to know your thoughts. Contact me at scott@elizabethscottosborne.com or Rachel through On the Red Couch.
SPOILED – Staged Performances
Thanks to the wonderful support from many colleagues, family, and friends, SPOILED will be on the stage in workshop performances In New York this February. We received great comments at the reading this month and rehearsals are beginning now. Will you be in New York on February 15, 16, or 17? Come to Stage Left Studio! Tickets for the February shows can be purchased through Stage Left Studio, here: Tickets: SPOILED Still interested in supporting the play - and the cause - but can't make it to the show? We need donations NOW to bring SPOILED to conferences later this spring. We…
SPOILED: Backer’s Reading January 14
SPOILED, the theatrical performance I've been working on for over a year, is on the way to the stage. Read on and please, help us produce this work! Performance and Tax-deductible Donations: See Stage Left Studio (Contributions to Cheryl King, our Producer. Note "Spoiled" in the Artist line.) The issue: We know that rigid gender roles contribute greatly to violence against women. But we’ve found that rigid and distorted gender roles really damage both sexes – so we need to understand and involve men in conversations about the roots of this violence. By looking at events in the world’s two…
Spoiled: September
First reading of SPOILED Friday September 26 - 7 PM Theaterlab 357 West 36th Street NYC, 3rd Floor Performed by Elizabeth Hess, Talkback after the performance moderated by Karen Hilbe A Performance in Pre-Production What Are We Doing to Our Men? An Exploration of Men’s Attitudes and Gender-Based Violence Summary: SPOILED: A theatrical exploration of masculine self-image and its connection to violence against women (VAW) in India and the USA. Project in Development: What’s up with men these days? In India and the US, the world’s largest democracies, recent acts of violence against women have catapulted onto the…
The Last Taboo? Take the Health Quiz
What's this condition? 10 questions to test your health knowledge Every day approximately 300 million people worldwide are affected by this physical condition. It is estimated that approximately half the global population will be struck at some point in their lives. In much of the world, sufferers experience significant stigma and are often humiliated and shunned. It is not communicable. It is genetic, though there is no routine testing. Unlike leprosy (Hansen’s Disease), another disease leading to cruel social stigma, there is no cure for this condition. With guidance, symptoms can be managed to significantly lessen the pain. Many of those…