Director's Note
Dear Friends,
2013 has been a very important year for Indian women. The incident of December 16 has taken over all our priorities for the last 3 months and I am deeply upset by the violence that continues to be committed against women throughout India.
I would like to pay homage to the memory of 'Nirbhaya.' The brutality of the crimes committed against her have left an indelible mark on us and our country but her courage is a driving factor for CSR and strengthens our resolve to continue in our struggle for gender equality.
Many positive steps have already been taken in the last few months and I am extremely grateful to Justice J.S. Verma for taking on board CSR's recommendations for amendments to the Criminal Law related to sexual violence against women. We are pleased that many of these recommendations have been incorporated in the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.
CSR is also proud to have partnered with Mission Convergence, Delhi Government in implementing a Gender Resource Centre in Shahstri Park. Our community unit now functions as a state-sponsored unit for women empowerment.
Since the beginning of 2013 we have continued our work with the German Embassy and we would like to show our appreciation to the German Ambassador, Mr. Michael Steiner, for his ongoing support of our project "Meri Shakti Meri Beti" and his commitment to the fight against sex selective abortion.
I also had the opportunity to travel to New York in March this year to participate in UN Women's 'Status on the Commission of Women' event. CSR facilitated a panel event on domestic violence in South Asia and I was invited to present on seven panels with colleagues from Austria, Australia, Korea, and the USA amongst others and was able to contribute to the global fight against violence against women and girls.
At the national level, the release of the 'Union Budget 2013-14' in February was extremely disappointing and calls into question the commitment of the Union Government to address gender inequality. Women were once again sidelined within the budget and only 5.8% of the total Union Budget expenditure (BE) was allocated to the Gender Budget Statement (BE).
I thank you all for supporting CSR as it moves towards its goal of gender equality with relentless determination. As always, I invite you to join our struggle and support our initiatives in whatever way you can. Our dream of equality will not be complete without social unity and collective action.
Dr. Ranjana Kumari
A conference on: Gender Based Sex Selection and implementation challenges, was organised on 9th January 2013 at the India Habitat Centre. The conference was attended by Mr. Meier Klodt, Deputy Head of Mission of German Embassy, among other dignitaries, members of NGO's, medical fraternity, teachers and students of various colleges. Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Director of CSR shared with the participants the evolution of women issues over the years in India. She spoke about the current situation of medical facilities, role of officials and society as a whole in curbing sex selective abortions.
Centre for Social Research organized a debate and poster competition on 6 March 2013, in a leading college in New Delhi. The competition was arranged by the 'Research' team led by Dr. Manasi Mishra. The competition which was themed on sex selective abortions and declining sex ratio was held in Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. Students from the college had participated in the competition with great enthusiasm. Young minds presented their thoughts on the very critical issue of declining sex ratio and female foeticide. Participants of the debate competition argued that there is a need to change the mindset of the Indian society about the girl child. They acknowledged that more opportunities should be given to girls for them to be able to prove themselves. The students also emphasized that the government should implement stringent laws and also ensure that those found guilty of the acts of female foeticide should be punished. Students expressed their thoughts through art in the poster competition. Dr. Mishra also delivered a lecture on 'Social Research' in the college, to make the students aware of what social research is and how NGOs are working on the various social issues.
On the occasion of 'International Women's Day’ on 8th March 2013, the German Ambassador to India, Mr. Michael Steiner, had generously invited women from all walks of life to his residence for an evening of food, drinks, music and interaction. Around 100 women from Centre for Social Research had participated in this event. CSR was represented by women from its three Crisis Intervention Centres (CICs) and the entire team from the head office. Women from all strata of society had attended the event. Mr. Steiner, addressed all the women in his speech in which he said that in the present time women are actively participating in every sphere of life and are equal to men. He ended his address on an inspiring note when he said that his vote for his successor, as the next German ambassador to India, would definitely go to a woman. So far no woman has represented Germany as the ambassador to India.
March 24 witnessed the celebration of "Kanya Janam Mahotsav" under the fifth phase of GE-MSMB project at Karol Bagh. The aim of this event was to felicitate men and their daughters up to 2 years of age. The event addressed the issue of declining sex ratio and the future consequences of this social malaise. The event was an initiative to make the community members realize that the birth of a girl child is as much a celebratory reason as the birth of a boy child. It aimed to create awareness amongst the people about the ills of sex selection. The MSMB program seeks to address the challenge of sex-selection through several enterprises which includes sensitization of families and engaging with other stakeholders in order to correct the existing sex ratio imbalance in the capital.
CSR has set out to develop and implement a pilot training programme to educate rural communities about the impact of climate change and best practices pertaining to water conservation in Rajasthan. The primary focus is on emphasizing the impact of climate change and changes in socio-political environment on women and their role in improving water management at the community level.
The 'PWDV Advocacy and Action Group' held a press conference in Women Press Corps on January 22, 2013. The group expressed its disconcertment over the government's decision to ignore the demands of the group while allocating funds to the PWDV Act. A figure of rupees 100 crores was announced by the government in response to rupees 1158 crores appealed by the advocacy group. The amount was not even ten per cent of the funds called for. In order to continue lobbying for funds CSR undertook a multifaceted approach. 1500 postcards detailing the demand for allocation were sent to the Finance Minister and members of the NCW, NMEW, MWCD and High Level Committee members. A Petition praying for 'Increased allocation under PWDVA' was submitted to the 'Rajya Sabha Petitions Committee'. Fact sheets were dispatched to Parliamentarians in two sessions of Parliament after which 6 questions were raised by the MPs. In effect ‘Assistance to States for Effective Implementation of PWDV Act, 2005’, which has few elements of the CSS model, was formulated.
3 days "Gender Sensitization Program" for in-service personnel of Delhi Police held at Rajendra Nagar Police Training College
Dr Ranjana Kumari participated in UN Women's 'Status on the Commission of Women event in New York from 4-8 March. The event, which reviews the status of women throughout the world, was this year focused on violence against women and girls. Dr. Kumari participated in several advocacy events facilitated by the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations, Oxfam international, the Korean National Council of Women, and the National Council of Women of the United States. CSR also facilitated a parallel-event South Asian Reality: Growing Domestic Violence which brought together women's rights activists and domestic violence experts from across South Asia to discuss the growing issue of domestic violence. The outcome document also highlighted the need to end harmful traditional practices, including child marriage.
CSR was represented by the Head of the Media & Communication Division, Mr. Amitabh Kumar, at the Headquarters of the National Security Guards (NSG) for a session on gender sensitization. This one-hour session was requested by the NSG personnel from CSR. Interestingly, CSR took the session on 'Gender and Social Media', in an effort to break away from the weather-beaten path of talking about gender perceptions from a social viewpoint only. Mr. Kumar made an interesting session where he delivered a presentation on gender equations on the web and how the skewed ratio reflected the social reality of gender.
