By Kate Unsworth – Intern, Development Division

World Health Day is an annual commemoration of the founding of the World Health Organisation (WHO). This year, Centre for Social Research and Fortis La Femme hospital celebrated World Health Day by organising a comprehensive health camp for 1000 women and girls at the CSR Crisis Intervention Centre in the Sangam Vihar community of New Delhi. In addition to providing healthcare to an underserved population, this event incorporated the theme of Ageing and Health. Health experts educated the community about how individuals’ healthcare needs change as they age, and explained how older people can continue to be active and productive if they are healthy and have the support of their family and community.

This health camp positively impacted women’s lives by directly addressing their unique health concerns. Several gynaecologists, endocrinologists, dieticians, orthopaedists, and other medical specialists:

• Provided confidential, free, and easily accessible medical consultations for women and girls;
• Recommended treatments for gynaecological issues and concerns;
• Provided quality medications and dietary supplements to those in need;
• Indentified the most pressing medical concerns faced by women and girls in the community, in order to target these needs in future initiatives.

The health camp was a great success, and we look forward to organising similar events in the future.

For the first time in India this Father’s Day weekend, Centre for Social Research proudly hosted Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® India, part of the first Global “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” Day. Originally founded ten years ago, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is now a global movement of men and boys taking the renowned saying, “You can’t understand what someone’s going through unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,” to a literal level through organized, peaceful demonstrations of men in high heels expressing empathy towards female victims of crimes such as sexual harassment, assault, rape, domestic abuse and other forms of violence.

Weeks before the event itself, we kicked off a fundraising drive aimed at raising money toward continuing our Crisis Intervention Centres (CICs) in four of Delhi’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Proceeds from these donations will go directly toward supporting survivors of abuse and expanding the CICs’ Women’s Change Collectives and Men’s Support Collectives.

While most Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® events ask men to walk their city’s streets in women’s shoes, our uniquely Indian edition went one step further by asking guys to compete for prizes by performing different feats and tasks while wearing women’s shoes…and we even managed to get some of our own team members and spouses to step up and compete.

Initially, we were a bit nervous about the event, what with the whole “men walking in high heels…in India” thing, but we got off to a great start on June 19, thanks to our emcee, who bravely challenged men to portray the true characteristics of gentlemen: brave, tolerant, respectful, confident and secure enough to place themselves in women’s shoes.

Slowly but surely, the crowds started gathering around the registration table to sign up, donate and find out what in the world was going on! We managed to continue fundraising throughout the day, as shoppers and audience members stopped by to collect pamphlets and purchase awareness raising materials like bookmarks and postcards.

As for the main event, registered “walkers” selected a pair of (pretty fashionable, we think) heels, and off they went: First, racing to be the first to score a football goal (which out of personal experience, can be extremely painful for the feet), then attempting a traditional “housewife” activity such as peeling vegetables or changing diapers on a stuffed toy. Finally, our emcee turned up the heat by interviewing contestants, testing how well they knew their wives and their routines.

As the competition started to calm down, we gathered CSR team members and friends from the community, who performed a street play in several acts about women’s perceived inferiority in workplaces and sports and the hurdles women must overcome in their careers.

After a long run-up of fundraising, organizing and designing the event (and once we’d confirmed that none of our “walkers” had broken an ankle or foot), we were relieved to help make India’s first Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® event a success! With more than 20 competing men and hundreds of supporters and curious audience members, we reached out to more people and a more diverse group of people than we’d expected, including children, teenagers and adults of all ages.

When the walkers decided to dedicate their competitions and performances to their mothers, girlfriends, wives and daughters, we saw it as a symbol of solidarity with the women in their life and hope that the event left some members of the audience pledging solidarity with women, too.

I Stand for Safe Delhi, CSR’s latest public campaign, brings awareness and knowledge to the streets in hope of transforming the streets. The campaign focuses on socially sensitive topics of women’s safety in public spaces, sexual harassment and gender-based violence in an effort to change mindsets and urge action taking on the part of bystanders who often turn a blind eye.

We’d been preparing all week: Painting signs and designing pamphlets; calling volunteers and the media; designing makeup and props; securing police permission and scouting locations; and writing and rehearsing CSR’s first major street play appearance.

Finally, on June 2^nd, our office team joined up with volunteers and community friends to kick off the campaign in the densely populated central Sarojini Nagar (market). More than 60 volunteers gathered in “I Stand for Safe Delhi” shirts while chanting encouragement to the crowd and carrying signs with different statements, including “Safety, My Right!”, “Speak Up” and “Choose Courage”, among others. Just down the street, even more volunteers were preparing makeup, costumes and props for their secret street play.

Bearing the bold sign “Stand, Speak, Act”, CSR Director Dr. Ranjana Kumari led the procession with volunteers and CSR team members following and chanting their way down the market road. The volunteers then came to a halt and formed a large circle in the centre of the market: Covering their eyes and mouths with black blindfolds, the volunteers represented the general population in Delhi, who so often turn their eyes and keep silent when they witness someone being hurt or harassed in public.

In costumes and elaborate makeup and armed with a range of props, the I Stand for Safe Delhi acting troupe—composed of CSR staff members, interns, volunteers and friends from the community—ran, danced and stomped their way to the centre of our makeshift stage. For the next five minutes, the crowd was engrossed and quieter than we’ve ever seen 500 congregating Delhiites before! The troupe performed three lively and powerful short plays about sexual harassment of women under three common settings; a marketplace, a public transit bus and a dark street during night time.

Contrasted to a conventional theatre or auditorium, the roundabout theatre we created that day was simple and low budget, yet still able to attract a surprisingly vast and focused crowd from all ends of the street. Believe it or not, our biggest shock was just how polite and attentive our makeshift audience remained throughout: Even after the plays had ended, hundreds of observers continued standing in place while transfixed and silent, waiting for more! Equally mesmerized, to our delight (and let’s be honest, surprise), were the local police. They actively engaged in discussions with volunteers between scenes and warmly applauded at the “curtain close” marked by the fall of a bleeding victim.

To capitalize on the audience’s interest, we ended by distributing flyers and pamphlets detailing how victims and bystanders of sexual harassment can safely and effectively take action in such a situation.

Stay tuned for news about more I Stand for Safe Delhi street play performances: We’re in talks to partner up with a few of our favorite educational institutions and community-based organisations to take I Stand for Safe Delhi across the city.

Centre for Social Research (CSR) is proud to announce India’s first Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event, to be held at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj on June 19, Father’s Day and Global “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” Day. Help us make history while raising money and awareness to eliminate Violence against Women in New Delhi!

Founded 10 years ago in the United States, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a global movement of men raising awareness and funds toward eliminating Violence Against Women in countries around the world. It is commonly said that to understand another person’s situation, one must “walk a mile in someone’s shoes”. Therefore, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes India asks men to walk in women’s shoes and show solidarity with female survivors of violence, and to raise money for those survivors.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes India, produced in cooperation with The Pixel Project and Venture Humanity, is a charity event which will publically demonstrate that men in New Delhi strongly support ending Violence Against Women. While most Walk a Mile in Her Shoes events ask men to walk their city’s streets in women’s shoes, this unique Indian edition will go one step further by asking participants to compete for prizes by performing athletic tasks while wearing women’s shoes. Proceeds from donations will go directly toward supporting survivors of sexual assault, rape, domestic violence and other forms of abuse in New Delhi as part of Centre for Social Research’s Crisis Intervention Centres initiative.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes India will take place at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi on Sunday, 19 June 2011 from 5:00 to 8:00pm. Participation requires a donation of Rs. 520, and individuals unable to attend in person are encouraged to instead donate in advance at http://walkdelhi.eventbrite.com. 

We look forward to seeing you on June 19!

As Delhi commuters eager to start their weekends rushed home on May 6, the local organization “Please Mend the Gap” staged their second “flash mob” with volunteers and activists—including many of our very own staff members and interns—calling to end sexual harassment on the Delhi Metro and promote gender equality in public spaces. For this flash mob event, more than 40 supporters donned yellow t-shirts with colourful slogans like “Real Men Respect Women” and “Share Don’t Stare” before lining up for thousands of passengers to watch at Rajiv Chowk, Yamuna Bank and other Blue Line metro stations across Delhi.

The Please Mend the Gap movement was started just earlier this year by a small group of determined individuals who decided that it was time for people to learn to respect their fellow public transportation passengers, sharing spaces and not just “minding” the gap but “mending” the (gender) gap, too.

With more and more women living independent lives and working away from home, many face uncomfortable journeys around the city as they commute. Simply getting home after work should not be an added trial at the end of a long day; men should be able to share public spaces with women without subjecting them to stares, groping, harassment and assault.

To find out more about upcoming flash mobs and gatherings, visit Please Mend the Gap’s Facebook page. Hopefully we’ll see some of you at the next event!

Around 5,000 women from across India rallied near Jantar Mantar in India with the slogan, “We’re not begging: We are demanding our rights” as a part of a rally to pass the 33 percent Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha. The Bill, which will ensure that one-third of the entire Parliament is reserved for women, was recently passed in the Rajya Sabha, the lower Parliamentary house.

A delegation representing 350 women’s and civil society groups from all over India met President Pratibha Patil and appealed to use her power to get the Bill passed in this session of Parliament. The delegation presented a memorandum signed by thousands of women and men to President Patil which noted that the “passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha has been a significant step, but the Bill does not become law unless it is passed in the Lok Sabha and endorsed by at least 15 state assemblies.”

The delegates told President Patil that this is a now-or-never moment for the country. Passing the Bill would be a historic step, not just for India, but also for the world. President Patil expressed her full and unequivocal support for the Women’s Reservation Bill. Speaking to a delegation representing the Alliance for 33%, she said, “I am with you, as my speech to Parliament indicated. Women’s reservation is good for the country.”

Even as the delegates were meeting the president, a mammoth rally of thousands of men, women and children was taking place outside Parliament. The delegates presented the President with a special cap and umbrella, which had the campaign message emblazoned on them. They told the president that it was symbolic of the demand of all the rally’s participants, including notable personalities like Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, and prominent parliamentarians like Jayanthi Natarajan, Brinda Karat, D. Raja, and Christine Lazarus.