In the past few days, the female stars in the country have been posting photos of them in the social media wearing 'tip' on their foreheads here and there, instead of on the middle between eyebrows, where females wear them typically. Mostly they are posting selfies which they are calling #OddDotSelfie.
Seeing them, other women from different walks of life are also following the same thing.
Why this hashtag selfie all of a sudden!
It is learned that this event started on the social media with the aim to building public awareness to prevent violence against women ahead of the International Women's Day (8 March).
On 3 March, theatre personality Sara Zaker posted a message on her wall on Facebook urging people to join the protest. She herself published an 'odddotselfie'. She also gave a tutorial how to take the picture. Actors like Jaya Ahsan, Zakia Bari Mom, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Masuma Rahman Nabila, Mithila, Sarah Alam immediately responded and posted their photos in social media.
The remarkable thing is that the tip on the forehead of all of them is slightly displaced from the designated place. They think this inconsistency is basically the language of protest that started on 27 February.
The message of the campaign is, "One in every three women in Bangladesh is a victim of torture and violence at home and outside. But the protests against it had never been enough because in our society, women are taught to suffer in silence. However, we want every woman to break this taboo and raise her voice as it is only possible to stop this violence by speaking up without remaining silent.”
And so, #OddDotSelfie is a protest against violence against women.
Expressing solidarity with this message, apart from the actresses, social media influencers and ordinary women of the country are also participating in the protest.
Apart from actress Sara Zaker, two organisations related to advertising agency Asiatic, Radio Shadhin and Mangaldeep Foundation are working behind the campaign.
Radio Swadhin's RJ Ahona said, "Many people are asking, how a tip can be the language of protest? I think it's a unity. Through this, we are standing up against violence. All women talk about the same thing. That's why we started this campaign.”
Jaya Ahsan, the award winning actresses, opined, "We women make ourselves beautiful by tipping on our foreheads. On social media, pictures of smiling faces wearing our tip keep getting likes. But is this the picture of all of us inside the house? One in three women in the country is a victim of violence. Their beauty is soaked in blood. Hence, their tip is getting slipped. Their dignity as human beings is eroding. Let's protest against violence against women.”
"Violence against women is increasing every year! Now it’s not the time to be silent. It's time to protest,” messaged actress Zakia Bari Momo.
In 1975, the United Nations recognised 8 March as International Women's Day. However, the history of the day is older and more extensive.
