Dimapur, August 8 (MExN): Peace Channel and North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research (NEISSR), Dimapur organized a webinar on the topic ‘women’s safety and security’ on August 8.
The resource persons included Asha Sanchu, director, Miqlat Ministry and Gracy Aye, state coordinator, State Resource Centre for Women, Government of Nagaland. It was moderated by Vitono Haralu, trainer cum consultant of Peace Channel.
Need for political will
Fr Dr CP Anto, Director Peace Channel and Principal, NEISSR in his introductory remarks said that both men and women are primarily responsible for the safety and security of women and girls in our society.
He mentioned how the political will can play a great role in the process of protection of women and girls.
“If we actively promote and involve women in politics, in the decision making and policy making process we will have better society where women concerns will be rightly addressed like Rwanda which has over 61.3% women are parliamentarians,” he stated.
Inclusivity- the way forward
Speaking on “women’s safety and security,” Grace Aye said that this issue is not confined to the plight of women alone but is a social issue and concern.
Talking from the perspective of Nagaland, Gracy Aye shared about the myriad representation of violence faced by the women, which in some cases is settled by customary law and order (mostly in villages) due to which many cases goes unreported and unrecorded. As per reports there are numbers cases of domestic violence, rape, murder and cybercrime in regard to abuse faced by women.
The way forward is not to stigmatize any situation but it should start at home to raise sensible children to respect every being, Gracy said while suggesting that men and women should inclusively work together to deliberate on issues.
‘Be people oriented’
Addressing the issue of “women’s safety and security from the perspective of economic empowerment,” Asha Sanchu pointed out the lack of grade skills. In the midst of the pandemic and lack of job opportunity, Asha expressed the need to promote sustainable, organic, durable and marketable skill development for the women as a means to empower them.
Discussing more on women empowerment, she stated that the empowered women are less subjected to violence since they have the confidence to overcome any given situation. “Having a holistic approach and engaging in social dialogue can bridge gaps between any loopholes,” she mentioned.
She concluded by saying that the society which is incapable of respecting women can never be developed and therefore, urged the need to shift our perception from things oriented to people oriented.
The session also extended with the discussion of the violence and abuse faced by men as followed by interactive session.
