Chandigarh, November 22, 2024: Dr Sumita Misra, IAS , Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana and Chairperson, Chandigarh Literary Society, today released ‘Silence Zone,’ a medical fiction by Dr Chetana Vaishnavi at Chandigarh Press Club, Sector 27 here. The book focuses on the issue of sexual exploitation at the workplace.
Lauding the efforts of Dr Vaishnavi, Dr Misra said that ‘Silence Zone’, though a fiction, is very close to reality and poignantly highlights the issue of sexual exploitation and gender discrimination at the workplace. “It is an issue which concerns each of us and we should make collective efforts in addressing this malaise,” added Dr Misra.
It is to be noted that Dr Vaishnavi is a postdoctoral in medical sciences and has worked in the prestigious medical institute, Chandigarh, for about forty years. It is befitting that a medical scientist has come out with a fiction novel with sexual exploitation as the story theme.
Dr. Vaishnavi said, “Apart from other work areas sexual abuse at hospitals is also a common practice, though by and large, the least reported. Rattled by such true events occurring silently everywhere, ‘Silence Zone’ has been written as a medical fiction with this theme in mind. It explores the various facets of the ethical conflicts faced by women in India, when they step out of their home – with their every move being controlled by men.”
In reply to a question, Dr Vaishnavi said: “Though ‘Silence Zone’ largely depicts a period of the twentieth century – much before the Sexual Harassment Act 2013 came into existence – sexual crimes against women at workplace are still rampant and only a few victims come out into the open because they are not sure if justice will ever be meted out to them.”
Dr Vaishnavi, who has visited several countries around the world for her academics and has published numerous scientific articles in prestigious journals, said that sexual abuse is a dark reality that routinely inflicts daily lives. “My book is a chilling tale of how widespread this abuse is. The sexually abusive individuals do not come from dark abysses of society but from day-to-day lives,” she said.
Reflecting further, Dr Vaishnavi, Emeritus Medical Scientist (ICMR) New Delhi, and Founder and Chairperson of Gastrointestinal Infection Society of India, said: “Despite the documentation of sexual harassment at workplace as a breach of human rights by the Supreme Court in 1997, the extent of occurrence of sexual exploitation at the workplace due to power imbalance is largely ignored or kept hidden from public gaze. But the fact is that sexual abuse occurs in every field of work, howsoever sophisticated the area of work may appear.”
“It is a myth to think that if women are highly educated and have good economic status the risk of sexual violence against them will be less. The perpetrators are the people who one knows and trusts. That is the primary reason why they are able to carry on with the abuse for a reasonably long time; my book touches upon such aspects of the issue by using fictional characters.”
Another book by Dr Chetana Vaishnavi, “Sham Dhal Gayi” (Hindi stories and lyrics) was also released by Mr. Rajbir Deswal, Ex, IPS officer, Haryana.
It is worth mentioning that Dr Vaishnavi ever since the age of ten has been writing and publishing poetry, jokes and short stories, both in Hindi and English for newspapers and magazines. Even after retirement from service, she has kept her hobbies intact and has published several books, which are widely read and accepted by the readers. She has received several awards both for her academic activities and her literary pursuits.
