Our Correspondent
Kohima | August 18
The one-day seminar on Women Empowerment under Capacity Building today pledged to work to protect the human rights of women and to empower them through sincere and constant efforts at every level including at the individual, family and society.
Organised by the Eastern Naga Women Organization, Kohima unit, at the State Academy Hall here today, the seminar focused on issues facing the women in society and dwelt at length on issues such as legal awareness of women, legal rights of women, women and consumer protection rights, right to information, penalties for crimes against women, besides strategies to make laws effective and government schemes for uplift of women.
Speaking as resource person at the seminar, Buno Yhoshü, Advocate at the Guwahati High Court, Kohima Bench, said the uphill task and long-drawn battle of protecting human rights of women and empowering them can be won only when sincere efforts are constantly made at every level by the individual, family and society. She called upon the participants to pledge to work and achieve the noble goal of protecting the human rights of women and empowering them. “Let us begin our mission”, she urged.
Speaking on the topic ‘Empowerment of Women and Law’, she highlighted the concept of women empowerment, its process, the Nagaland Women Empowerment Act and its goals and objectives and strategies. Dwelling on consumer rights, she urged the women to form consumer groups in villages, towns and communities so as to ensure that the consumers get what they pay for. She reminded the gathering that today consumers have the freedom to choose from goods and services, to seek redressal against unfair trade practices, to get safe products, and freedom to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, standard and price of goods.
On the legal rights of women, Yhoshü said whereas legal rights have been granted to all citizens, women have been given some special rights in order to ensure that they are not subjected to injustice, discrimination and atrocities such as bigamy, denial of inheritance, rape, prostitution, etc. She apprised the gathering of the classification of crimes against women and the legal penalties against each crime. She however lamented that most crimes against women go unreported due to various reasons.
Earlier, the keynote address was delivered by ENWO vice president Menlei Konyak. Dr. Banuo of Civil Hospital Dimapur was the resource person at the afternoon session.
