Questioning
Patriarchy
by Meera Srikant
Kavitha Muralidharan
is Associate Editor of India Today and has previously worked as Head of the
Reporting Department at the Hindu and Special Correspondent at Deccan
Chronicle. She has also worked at several other leading publications including
The Week, India Today and News Today. She has covered important developments in
politics and other spheres in Tamil Nadu and has written features on various
issues including health, cinema, literature, environment and human rights
issues. Kavitha is the winner of the Press Institute of India - International
Red Cross award for humanitarian reporting in conflict situations for her
coverage of the Sri Lanka war. She has also authored several books in Tamil and
English.
Why is this issue important to
you?
This issue is important to me because it is an important issue. Gender
issues are often looked over, side-lined and swept under the carpet, with no
effort to find a solution. I am passionate about gender issue because a woman
is as much a human being as a man is and it is a crime to deny anything to her
in the name of gender.
What is it you feel most strongly
about?
What I really strongly feel about is violence against women and the ways
to stop it. It is in the system (especially Indian) to see woman as a lesser
human being and use violence to exercise one's authority and power over her. I
think this is nauseating and needs to be addressed.
Tell us about your activity and
what you hope to do with it
Because I have just taken a new assignment, I can hardly do anything for
Prajnya campaign this year. However, in the coffee and conversations
session, I hope to make up.
Three things you would suggest to
keep these individual actions going
.
Be responsible: I feel it is the responsibility of every human
being to make sure the world is a better place to live for both genders, not
just woman's. It is the responsibility of every human being to step into action
whenever an act of violence is committed against a woman. There are so many of
them on streets - from abuses to physical violence.
Begin from home. It pains when I see women with patriarchal bent of
mind and I think for those who are aware, change should begin from home. We
should basically question patriarchy at home.
Ask: Nothing like asking for an answer. At every interview I have
attended in the last couple of years, at every seminar I address, I ask them if
there is a sexual harassment committee in place. This really helps.
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