Face2News/Chandigarh 

A Workshop on Advocating for Gender Equality: Role of Men and Boys which was conducted by the Dept-cum-Centre for Women’s Studies and Development in collaboration with the Consulate General of Canada in Chandigarh as part of the IMAGE programme concluded here on Saturday

 

  The basic aim of the three day workshop was to involve men and boys as advocates for gender equality. With this vision, the workshop was one of a kind in that the participants were male students and research scholars from different departments of the University and colleges of Chandigarh and Mohali.

Inaugurating the Workshop Mr.Francois Dutil, Counsellor and Consul at the Consulate General of Canada in Chandigarh said that we are all responsible for peace, security and sustainable development. Men, he emphasized, need to be part of the solution. Prof. Manvinder Kaur, Chairperson of the Department-cum-Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, emphasised upon the need to transform behaviours which are regarded as normal for males, and to make them into allies for promoting gender justice, reproductive health as well as in addressing issues of violence against women.

The participants then made an action plan for carrying forward the agenda of gender equality, in which they resolved not to forward negative memes representing any gender in a bad light, to keep a watch on themselves and others, talk to others and especially their own family members about gender issues with the aim of advocating for gender equality with them. They resolved to advocate for gender equality through social media, in schools through teachers, at home with their parents, friends and relatives, and relook at how they use language so that it is used to empower not subordinate.

The concepts of gender, gender stereotypes, gender mainstreaming and how gender is an essential component for sustainable development were highlighted by Dr.Ameer Sultana who also informed the participants about various strategies to bring in gender equality and discussed the Constitutional and legal provisions for the same. Prof. Pam Rajput, Professor Emeritus at the Department brought the focus on to G-20 and W-20, particularly the latter as there is a lot of talk about the Youth part of the G-20 meetings but no awareness about the participation of the W-20. Dr.Shruti Shourie of DAV College talked about the strategies for advocacy and lobbying.

The participants in the Groups discussed various issues relating to gender inequality and highlighted significant aspects such as menstrual hygiene, reproductive health, need for moral support. In the field of education three factors were identified, accessibility, availability, affordability. Interestingly one of the participants stated, tijori ka malikana haq toh female ke paas hota hai, par tijori ki chaabi uske pati ke paas hoti hai ( A woman has the ownership of the safe, but its keys are with her husband) Lack of sex education , as well as gender inequality in employment and wage gap were also identified as major gender issues. 

The participants then made an action plan for carrying forward the agenda of gender equality, in which they resolved not to forward negative memes representing any gender in a bad light, to keep a watch on themselves and others, talk to others and especially their own family members about gender issues with the aim of advocating for gender equality with them. They resolved to advocate for gender equality through social media, in schools through teachers, at home with their parents, friends and relatives, and relook at how they use language so that it is used to empower not subordinate.

The Workshop concluded with a Valedictory Session in which Mr.Patrick Hebert Consul General at the Consulate General of Canada in Chandigarh told the male participants that some of you grew up in an environment where persistent and systemic behaviours led to gender inequality. We need to challenge and change these biases and encourage more men to become champions for gender equality. We are stronger if we work together. Prof Pam Rajput said that our Constitution begins with ‘We, the People’ but we forgot the People and so gender inequalities increased. We need to bridge that gap and pull along all those left behind.