By Girish Kulkarni | Founder, Snehalaya
Thank you for being with us in raising awareness and support to end gender-based violence (GBV) in India. As International Women’s Day approaches we are reminded yet again why there is a need for dedicated support to protect women as Indian social media is awash with #justiceforpreethi. The hashtag is calling for action in response to the suicide of a first year postgraduate medical student who gave herself a fatal injection while on duty after facing persistent sexual harassment from a second year student at her college.
While we offer shelter, legal aid, counselling, vocational training and support to women in distress, our Snehadhar Project also works to prevent all gender-based violence, including sexual harassment. The team regularly works with lawyers and police to seek justice for all facing GBV. As part of their outreach they also run Nirbhaya Kanya Abhiyan workshops across our district in communities, colleges and schools raising awareness of all forms of GBV and the penalties involved.
The workshops address the need for girls to be fearless and speak out against injustice and oppression. They usually include self-defence classes for women and girls and we also invite local changemakers including lawyers, medical professionals, politicians and community leaders to support our messages and advocacy for gender equality.
We also work at national level to represent survivors of GBV and our team was among NGO staff, government and semi-government bodies invited to attend a discussion on the Protection of Human Rights of Women, jointly hosted by the Maharashtra State Women's Commission and State Human Rights Commission in Mumbai.
Discussions covered measures and implementation for women's human rights and their protection. economical, educational and social development. The Registrar Officer of the State Human Rights Commission shared some shocking statistics from the Corona period, showing the impact of the shadow pandemic, as shown on our graphics.
The Chair of State Women's Commission shared how the Commission had solved 9,524 of the 10,907 complaints received last year. However, the number of women's rights violations is increasing day by day, including increased child marriages and health issues. She also shared her own experience as a widow who is deprived of many rights.
One aim of the discussion was to understand those working at ground level’s opinions regarding the protection of women's rights, the difficulties we face in our work and the help we expect from the Commission. We were able to share our work for women through our one-stop center and Snehadhar projects, including our success in working for women empowerment.
Your support allows us to work locally but think globally as we advocate for women’s rights at state, national and international level, thank you!
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