KOCHI: Pink colour will no longer represent women’s projects in Kerala, thanks to the ongoing campaign by the Department of Women and Child Development. The drive, started following a series of dowry-related deaths of young wives, will keep auditing the gender barriers that marginalise women. Officials who spearhead the campaign said there is a connection between women’s security and gender sensitivity. They also cited examples where the Pink police tend to moral-police and advise girls spending time at public spaces and send them home.
“Creating gender awareness among people is a huge task. However, we are hopeful that a continuous campaign can yield results. The best is to start with young children. A gender auditing has already started in the textbooks of anganwadis and it will gradually spread to schools and colleges,” said Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) state coordinator Sreesoorya Thiruvoth. Kanal, the state-level campaign, began in mid-July and all colleges in the state are participating in it.
“All colleges, including professional and management institutions, are part of the campaign. To spread awareness among students, two modules — ‘Gender and Relationship’ and ‘Gender and Legislature’ — were created with the help of around 100 resource persons.The modules will be covered during interactive sessions of two hours each. Two sessions will be held on Zoom in the first phase,” said the state coordinator.
To prepare the first module, MSK selected activists and experts who have experience in handling gender-related issues or are teaching the subject in educational institutions.For the second module, gender-sensitive lawyers and law experts were chosen. Training will be given to Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) supervisors and Child Development Project Officers (CDPO) using the same modules.
“ICDS supervisors and CDPOs deal with the public at the grassroots level. So, they will be able to gather information regarding any incidents of abuse and they can intervene better in the basic strata. They will distribute pamphlets and leaflets with basic information on domestic violence and how to deal with abuse of women in public, private and online space,” Sreesoorya said.
SECURITY & SENSITIVITY
Officials who spearhead the campaign said there is a connection between women’s security and gender sensitivity. They also cited examples where the Pink police tend to moral-police and advise girls spending time at public spaces and send them home.