- CATEGORY: MY CHOICES FOUNDATION
My Choices Foundation hosts multiple activities for #16DaysOfActivism
Every year, the annual campaign #16DaysOfActivism kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the campaign as it was originated in 1991 by activists at the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute. The theme […]
Every year, the annual campaign #16DaysOfActivism kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the campaign as it was originated in 1991 by activists at the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute.
The theme for 2021 is Orange the world: End violence against women now! As a part of the campaign, Operation PeaceMaker of My Choices Foundation organised and participated in multiple activities across the 16 days to engage the youth to create awareness about gender-based violence. We began the campaign by joining One Future Collective in an Instagram live session on Civil society response to domestic violence survivors during COVID-19. Here, Dr. Farzana Khan, Head of Programs, discussed how we supported survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic through our counselling and safe home and built a support system for survivors.
To initiate a discussion about gender stereotypes and gender-based violence we hosted a movie screening to sensitise the students at Government City College, Hyderabad about gender-based violence and its impact on women and girls. Various short movies like Black White, Impossible Dream and Babul were screened which was followed by a discussion on building perspectives about gender norms and their impact on the lives of women and girls.
“Inculcate gender equality in your life. If you want gender equality, remember to give a fair chance to women in your life, act on it. This world would be a better place”
– Student, Government City College, Hyderabad.
Focusing on creating awareness among the youth who we believe are the leaders of tomorrow, we collaborated with Youth Red Cross – VIT to conduct a YouTube Live session on Break the Silence on Violence. In this session, Dr. Farzana Khan shed light on the issues of violence against women and youth and how to address them.
To create awareness among the marginalised sections of the community, Save the Children, organised a session for women on dealing with gender-based violence in their communities. This interactive and informative session was conducted by Pearl Choragudi, Head of Interventions and Mumtaz Fatima, Counsellor from Operation PeaceMaker of My Choices Foundation. More than 30 women attended this session to discuss the various issues they face in their communities related to gender-based violence and our expert counsellors supported them to discuss the next steps to break the cycle of violence.
Our team of PeaceMakers and counsellors also conducted awareness programmes for women in the community in Hyderabad where they discussed the issues of domestic violence, child sexual abuse, child marriage and legal support available for survivors of domestic violence.
We focus on delivering awareness messages in creative ways that would inspire girls and boys to think about the issue we are discussing and also act on it. We organised a signature campaign where we encouraged the participants to discuss the myths that they would like to bust to achieve gender equality. A Street play was organised by our team in Howrah on “Hinsa Mukt Samaj ho, sabka Samaan Adhikaar ho” to bring awareness about gender-based violence and challenge conventional attitudes of men towards women. Our team in Warrangal organised another street play that focused on the impact of domestic violence on children and how the presence of our SuperSmart Shakti Girls Network in the community is helping young girls. The SuperSmart Shakti Girls’ Safety Network prioritises the safety of girls through creating awareness about gender-based violence and connecting them to a strong peer network. We adopt a multi-fold approach: connect girls to a peer network, equip them to recognise risks and resist pressures of early marriage, hazardous work and dropping out of school.
Beyond the campaign for #16daysofactivism, we conduct awareness programmes all year round. We have tailormade curriculums for each demographic of the society that ensures that the members of the community are sensitised and educated about issues of gender, masculinity, violence, gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment and laws related to them.
Movie screening at Government City College, Hyderabad
Community awareness session organised by Save the Children
Girls participating in the Signature Campaign
My Choices Foundation
This post was authored by the My Choices Foundation communications team. Our mission is to keep you informed on the cause, and hopeful that transformation is possible one story at a time.
Share this story
Support Our Work
Your donations make it possible for us to give women and girls the choice to live a life free from violence and exploitation.
or sign up to our newsletter
