Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Day 16: Human, Woman, Citizen, But - A Panel Discussion

On the last day of the 2018 Prajnya 16 days campaign against Gender Violence, we organised a panel discussion on caste and gender violence at Ethiraj College for Women.

On the 10th of December which also happens to be the Human Rights Day, our panel discussion was aimed to create awareness among young women about caste-based gender violence and human rights violations in the name of caste in India. Through this discussion, we wanted to initiate conversations over a topic hardly ever discussed - the caste politics of Indian society.

On the day of the event, two of our panellists couldn't make it to the event due to unforeseen personal reasons. But our panellist, Semmalar Selvi, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Loyola College turned up on time and presented an interactive talk on the prevalent caste system in India and it's influence on gender-based violence, mainly violence against women.


She walked to and fro the aisle of the auditorium, peppering her talk with questions to the students, and keeping the event lively. Post her talk, she took questions from the students and answered them with utmost patience despite not keeping a good health.


Around 200 students from various departments such as postgraduate studies in human rights, Visual Communications, English, and Arts attended the event. Most of the students were interactive and weren't hesitant to answer Semmalar's questions or raise questions of their own. Semmalar covered a wide range of topics related to caste, culture, and gender; she ended her talk by stressing on the need for questioning - questioning our culture, our elders, and the practices we blindly believe and follow in our Indian society.


With this event, the 2018 Prajnya 16 days Campaign against Gender Violence ended on a great note!






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