Making of Non-Violent Societies for Women: Reflections on Post 2015 Agenda

In a panel sponsored by Centre for Social Research India, Dr. Ranjana Kumari and a few women's rights activists and gender experts from across Asia and Pacific discussed the progress towards building a safe space for women and its inclusion as one the most important agenda post 2015.

This session is called "Making of Non-Violent Societies for Women: Reflections on Post 2015 Agenda". This event underlined the critiques raised o the Political Declaration on the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. The Panel commented on the inclusion of women's rights in the declaration along with the usage of appropriate language in the draft.

Dr. Ranjana Kumari addressed that violence against women is still a huge issue considering it affects the lives of millions of women worldwide even today. Violence against women takes various forms, from domestic abuse and rape to child marriages and female circumcision. Dr. Ranjana and her team have tried to work on those issues through making practical and tangible change on a grassroots level in Indian context through political empowerment, economic empowerment, and social-legal empowerment of women in India.

To address issues of violence, "bring men in" is the key factor here. A male representative from ManUp shared an incredible insight about engaging men and boys to stop violence against women and girls. Through the universal platforms of sport, music, technology and the arts, ManUp Campaign is trying to build and develop new role models for young boys, which activates youth to stop violence against women and girls.