Srishti Bakshi has embarked on a walking mission spread over 260 days and covering 3800 kms to highlight the issue of women empowerment and safety
Thirty-year-old Srishti Bakshi was on the evening bus back home in Central Hong Kong sometime last August when she read a news item about a mother-daughter duo gang-raped in India's Bulandshahar district. “It made me think that women are not spared even when they move as a family unit. I spoke to my family and friends and they all said the incident was painful but nothing can be done as rape is common in India. I realised this is an issue staring at us and denying it is insane. I wanted to direct my power and knowledge into doing something about it. And that's how I decided to walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir highlighting the issue of women safety and empowerment,” shares Srishti Bakshi with Metroplus after reaching Madurai, having clocked 260 kms in 15 days on foot from Kanyakumari.
Bakshi has named it the CrossBow movement and aims to meet men and women of different strata across 12 states in India while covering the distance of her mission. “This is not just an awareness builder. Everyone knows about growing violence against women. But there's only too much noise and no action. CrossBow is an action-oriented initiative, where we interact with diverse audiences on multiple problems concerning women,” she says, adding she is focussing on financial and digital literacy. “I believe technology can be a sustainable and long-term solution for a lot of issues that women face,” she says.
