lauding the efforts made by Jharkhand Government to check human trafficking and promoting human rights, US Consul General in Kolkata Craig Hall said that the State Government has set an example in combating human trafficking. Hall was talking to the media persons in Ranchi during the concluding session of the workshop organized by US Consulate in Kolkata, in partnership with NGO ‘Shakti Vahini’ and Kolkata based enterprise ‘Banglanatakdotcom’ titled Women: Understanding my Responsibility in Addressing Gender Based Violence and Inequality.
“Over the years Jharkhand has been a great partner in promoting human rights particularly women’s rights whether it is human trafficking or it is the issue like gender based violence. In general, they have made a great move in these directions,” said Hall. The three day workshop was also organized to address the issues related to gender based violence and inequality, he added.
The workshop, organized at Radisson Blu in Ranchi, was attended by 60 students belonging to various universities and colleges of Jharkhand, Bihar and north India where they were told how to combat such violence in colleges and universities.
“The workshop organized here in Ranchi was the last of the series of the three workshops focusing on efforts on strengthening gender equality on university campuses and also the global fight to end gender based violence,” said Hall. Other two workshops were organized in Guwahati and Kolkata.
Various activists and resource persons across the Country participated during the workshop sharing information and perspective to address the issues of gender based violence.
The students also got an opportunity to virtually connect with student leaders from the University of Texas at Austin during which they shared their best practices from the University’s on campus voices against violence programme with their Indian counterparts, said Hall.
During the concluding session of the workshop on Thursday, students presented theatre performances and showcased short digital videos created by them to demonstrate the powerful role of social media in amplifying the efforts to address gender based violence.
The workshop that started here will be replicated in college and university campuses and all technical support will be provided to the students.
“Gender based violence is not a women’s issue…..it effects each of us…men and women alike. We need to empower women but at the same time encourage men to become agents for change in the fight to stop the violence,” said President of Shakti Vahini.
In order to mobilise the people and convergence of the civil society and Government agencies in combating people at the grass root level a caravan funded by US Consulate Kolkata will start from Kolkata and reach here on April 6 and will travel through the villages of Khunti, Gumla, lohardaga and Chaibasa.