Our right to move

Restrictive policies have only served to delegitimise women’s free movement.

A couple of years ago, one of us was intercepted at the Sunauli border whilst crossing over on a rickshaw in the company of a male friend. Before we could say anything, we found ourselves in a room, being counselled for over an hour about the risks of being lured by the male friend and the risk of trafficking. It was only after we presented some papers identifying us as a law student en route to Pune for an academic conference in the company of eleven others were we let go.