Don’t tell daughters that they are responsible for household chores, don’t tell them that family’s reputation is in their hands and don’t tell them that they should not raise their voice.
Chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW), Rekha Sharma interacted with over 400 students of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Khunti and their parents and spoke about a number of things that should not be told to a girl child to ensure women empowerment.
Sharma was in Jharkhand on Tuesday to participate in the International Women’s Day celebration organized by IPS Officers Wives’ Association (IPSOWA) and social organization Shakti Vahini at KGBV, Kalamati in Khunti district.
As Sharma asked the women present in the programme whether their husbands beat them up after being drunk, many acknowledged the problem. Focusing on how their silence is leading to their daughters’ being unsafe Sharma said, “If you do not react to your husband beating you up, your daughters would grow up believing that it is very normal and tomorrow when they face a similar situation they would not react.”
She added, “No Government, police, administration or commission can do anything if the women who are facing atrocities do not raise their voice.”
Sharma told the school girls to not quit education midway as education is their weapon to fight against atrocities. “Education helps you know your rights and if you are not educated you can’t know whether your rights are being infringed or not. Try to be self dependent because if a man knows that the woman is capable of taking care of herself, he would not abuse her or hit her,” she said.
President of IPSOWA, Poonam Pandey said that domestic violence and safety of women is a major issue and the day girls start feeling safe that would really be the Women’s Day. Talking about the menace of human trafficking in the State Pandey shared a disheartening experience with the students. “I was recently in Delhi for a meeting where some people said that they have heard that the girls of Jharkhand are really good at housekeeping and whether I could help them get in touch with some girls who are willing to the work. Hearing this was sad because we have many women who are excelling in different fields but people still talk about how the women form this state are good at household work,” she said.
Pandey told the girls that if they come across any agent trying to lure away a girl from their village they should immediately report it to the Mukhiya, SHG or police station to save the vulnerable girl.
Dittoing Pandey, chairperson of Jharkhand Commission for Protection of Child Rights (JCPCR) Arti Kujur said, “If you come across something like this call up 100 or 1098 or any other such toll free number and immediately give information. If we unite, no one can stop us.”
The IPSOWA president also requested NCW to provide them support in teaching self defense to the girls of KGBV Kalamati.
Meanwhile, the NCW chairperson asked IPSOWA to provide computer training to the girls of the school and assured that the commission would provide resource persons if needed.