A Communications Initiative for a Balanced, Planned and Stable Population

Sensitizing Students on Gender Related ViolencePopulation First in collaboration with the Change Maker Club students of Kirti College organised a session on Gender related violence for the 8th grade students of Gitanjali Vidyalaya in Virar.

The students were explained the meaning of violence through different scenes that were enacted to show how gender-based crimes take place.

Fifty students were divided into different groups to discuss the various kinds of discrimination girls and women in the school, streets, family and society face. They had to then present a play on how gender biases take place in these settings.

One of the groups came up with the brilliant idea of how boys at school have football matches but girls do not have any match or team to play. Another idea that came across was that of a family where the boy is given the liberty to move out and play while the girl is forced to sit at home.

Theatre techniques were used to pass on useful information about child abuse, good and bad touch and safety tips to the kids. Volunteers also enacted a play on Violence against Women for the students.

Nov 2014

Students listening with rapt attention during the workshop

Engaging Men For Creating a Better Society The 2nd MenEngage Global Symposium 2014 - Men and Boys for Gender Justice was held in New Delhi, India, from 10-13 November. The purpose of the symposium was to find ways for men to interact and come together for gender equality so that society becomes more caring and non-violent making gender relations more harmonious. The event bought together various academics and practitioners from a broad rang e of disciplines. Civil society organizations working with men and boys along with grassroots organizations on a broad range of issues pertaining to gender equality. There were various panel discussions and other activities that took place during the symposium.

Dr A.L. Sharda, Director, Population First, was part of a panel discussion, ‘Masculinities and Media’. She was joined in the discussion by Guadalupe Cortes, Xeep-AM (branded as Radio Educación), Mexico and Mallika Dutt, Founder, President, and CEO of US-based global human rights organization, Breakthrough. The session explored ideas on how to construct media to engage men, the ways media construct audiences, narratives and themes. Each panelist showcased two to three clips to illustrate particular themes of the conversation.

A second session, ‘Advertising and engaging men in redefining Gender Roles’, was organised by Population First at MenEngage. The session discussed how consumerism and electronic gadgets particularly mobiles, computers, designer wear and branded products whose market spans both young men and women is changing the way these are advertised. Ads for those products show both the men and women being given equal ad space and projected in a gender neutral way. The question is how much its influence going to be on the way men and women define their gender relationships. The session also reflected upon whether communication is driven by the bottom lines or is it also informed by the emerging need to define new equations between men and women. The session had an interesting mix of speakers. K.V. Sridhar (Pops) , who has to his credit many gender sensitive ad campaigns some being HDFC and Kaun Banega Crorepati, Santosh Desai, who besides being MD & CEO of Futurebrands India Ltd, is a writer, columnist and an ad professional and Anisha Motwani ,who is Director and Chief Marketing Officer at Max Life Insurance, participated in the panel discussion.

Lives performances at the 2nd MenEngage Global Symposium held @New Delhi

Anti-Dowry Campaign Initiated by Students

“Dudh Mangoge to Kheer Dege, Dahej Mango Ge Toh Cheer Dege” were the vociferous slogans being called out by students as part of an Anti-Dowry campaign. Sixty students from the Change Maker Club of Sathaye College and 30 students from National Social wing from different colleges took to the streets on a Wednesday morning to spread the message against the dowry system. The students walked from Sun City, Ville Parle to Sathaye College. Population’s First’s Laadli campaign was adopted as the cause partner for the rally.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a Boon for Pachghar

The Government announcing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on 2nd Oct 2014, has had many domino effects. One such positive effect happened for residents of Pachghar village, in Shahapur block of Thane district in Maharashtra

The Upsarpanch (deputy to village headman-Sarpanch) of the Gunde-Dehne GramPanchayat is Meera Shinde. However, like many other women elected representatives, Meera acts merely as a rubber stamp for her husband in the village politics. In reality the benefits of the position of an Upsarpanch are being availed by Meera’s husband. As a result, cleanliness and other development issues are not accorded the priority that they deserve.

Filth and unhygienic conditions have prevailed in the village for years. Despite having elected a woman as Upsarpanch, the women in the village could not raise their voices to address the issue of waste management.

The women had the will to transform the village into a clean habitable place, but they were unable to find a way to bring all the villagers together to clean the village.

The announcement of the Swach Bharat Abhiyan came as a blessing in disguise for these women. Encashing on this opportunity, the village co-ordinator of Population First encouraged the women to clean the village. They put pressure on the Upsarpanch to take the lead. As a result, Meera’s husband, the ‘acting Upsarpanch’ led the cleanliness drive.

The women then organised a cleanliness rally in the village with the help of college students and teachers. The teachers helped the students to create posters for the rally. Meera's husband who had never held a broomstick in his hand, volunteered to clean the entire area in front of the Grampanchayat community hall. During the rally, a sense of self realization dawned upon the villagers, when they saw how much filth was there in the village. This lead to a radical shift in mindsets.

Meera announced to make provision for dustbins in the village. The villagers have now vowed to clean the village every Thursday, to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene in the village.

Laadli was the cause partner for the anti-dowry campaign

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