by CHARLOTTE COOPER
In the vacuum of discussions connecting women to this month’s ferocious riots in England, a group called “Rotis not Riots” launched on Facebook this week “to make sense of this unprecedented violence from a feminist perspective.”
The group emerged from a casual conversation between three women dealing with the helplessness they felt in the aftermath of unrest across the country.
Roti is a type of unleavened bread that many Indian women, who have traditionally been the cooks in the family, are skilled at preparing. It also plays on the word riot, scrambling the letters into something with warm and nurturing connotations. Organizers say they chose it to touch on the “unique role that women play in providing both physical and emotional support for their families.”
With 272 members as of yesterday, the group is confronting the government’s championing harsh punishment. Prime Minister David Cameron and the Conservative Party have pushed for water canons and rubber bullets, curfews and blacking out social media. Local borough councils have responded by handing out eviction notices and local courts are being pressured to hand out extraordinarily harsh prison sentences for those accused of participating in the riots.
Rotis not Riots has given themselves the task of “thinking about more meaningful and effective ways to reprimand rioters than prison sentences and evictions of entire families,” seeking instead community service and meeting victims to create a productive route out of the riots.
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