The iconic monument, India Gate, lit up in orange lending its support to UN's campaign, Orange the world, to end violence against women. Riya Sharma spoke to lakshmi Puri who shared that it is important to mobilise both political will at the governance level as well at the grassroots to bring change in the society
As the cool winter evening approached, the historic monument - India Gate stood illuminated in orange colour. It is not everyday when the iconic monument and pride of the country stands in solidarity to raise awareness against any kind of violence against women. Amid the rush hour between six to seven, the lights near the India Gate area got dim to enhance the illuminating effect of orange lights on the war memorial to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Women in orange sarees, volunteers in orange tee-shirts and men wearing anything in the colour of optimism marked as the symbol of lending their support for this initiative.
The initiative is part of the United National Secretary Generals’ UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women. “It was launched many years ago as a secretary general campaign to end violence against women. Since last five years, the UN women have become the custodians of this campaign. It is a global campaign in 90 countries where we work with local actors, national actors, to raise awareness about ending violence and to mobilise both political will at the governance level as well as the grassroots,” shared lakshmi Puri UN Women deputy executive director.
She added, “We believe in building people’s movement around this issue. Withing that, we have ‘oranging your neighbourhood’ to give it the symbolism of future where there would be no violence against women. The colour stands for optimism and everything about it is evocative. As an Indian, I love it because it has evocation in terms of our culture and heritage, especially during our freedom struggle. That Rang de Basanti was about freedom struggle, here it is about womens’ freedom from any kind of violence and discrimination.”
Talking about the condition of women in our country, she said that though we have made some progress but there are still so many challenges in front of us. “We now have a consciousness about many of the things that were tolerated and done behind closed doors which is a very positive thing. People are reporting more, they are coming out and talking about it. They have also been criminalised in terms of legalistaion and that is really important. The issue of domestic violence is no longer a family matter. It is thus very important to raise awareness so that people start reporting and then we start working on the ecosystem that is necessary for prevention,” she shared.
The victims not only belong to those who are poor or uneducated but we all know about the cases where even celebrities have been the sufferer of the violence. Puri rightly pointed out, “We need to change the culture of inequality, discrimination and prejudice. And there is a need to change it irrespective of class, colour, creed and sex, rich or poor. That is why, it involves us all, men and boys in particular.
Sumitra Mahajan, the speaker of lok Sabha who was also present on the occasion said, “Empowerment of women is more important. Nobody will appreciate violence against women. I pray to God that he lends us the power to fight the discrimination and the will to fight it. We all should respect women and I am with all of you working in this regard.
While, chairperson of National Commission of Women (NCW) lalita Kumaramangalam said that it is important to stand together as a group. “If we stand divided, we fall especially in this case. Whether as individuals, countries, families, if we stand together, we have a much better chance to actually seeing that violence getting decreased. We have to stand firm in condemning violence. Violence in any form should not be accepted, she said.
Filmmaker and classical dancer Aishwarya Dhanush pointed out that learning starts at home. “We should start inculcating the feeling of equality in our children right from beginning. We are equal, and if even a hand is raised, that should be raised to question and not to harm. Unfortunately, we are brought up in a very chauvinistic society and it is necessary to bring and involve men in the initiative to make it a success,” she said.