Over the last three days leading international academics, policy
makers, development
experts, NGOs and grassroots gender workers got together in Goa for the
Difficult Dialogues2018 summit where they discussed and debated several key
issues around Gender Equality – For Everyone’s Benefit?
Attendees at the summit witnessed leading
minds from academia, development experts and a host of celebrities discuss new
policy directions in the area of gender equality.
Filmmaker Nandita Das who was on a panel
discussing the ‘MeToo’ hashtag message to raise awareness about sexual assault
and harassment which had received an overwhelming response on social media. She
said, “The #metoo movement has created more than catharsis for women. (It is) a
space for truth to come out. While the initial reaction was ‘finally the time
has come,’ it has gone on to become more nuanced, adding many other perspectives
to the conversation. We need to deeper into the issues of violence and silence.
There are many unanswered questions… why it took so long, from here to where
and why this deafening silence in India?”
Actor Gabriella Wright weighed in about her insight into gender
roles in Hollywood, “The whole crisis reflects on what any woman in Hollywood
has to deal with on a daily basis. The levels of gender related consequences
differ. Sadly enough all of the women I have met in the industry have had to deal
with all levels of harassment, whether its emotional, mental, and physical
pressure and harassment.”
UK politician and teacher Baroness Shreela Flather provided
insightful international perspectives to gender inequality issues in the
western world. Professor Sarah Hawkes, the academic lead of University College
London (UCL) added, “Disruptive thinking about difficult issues is in the DNA
of UCL and we are immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to participate
in and observe dialogues both difficult and demanding on what gender means to
us all. Throughout the conversations it became clear that gender equality is
for the benefit of all of us, everywhere”
As a finale to the proceedings Arif Mohammad Khan, former
Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament delivered a talk on ‘Why has Gender
Equality Not Been Achieved Despite Our Constitutional Framework?’ which was
well appreciated by the audience.
Another interesting highlight was the initiative of the Goa
University to promote gender equality through the Gender Champions programme.
As part of this pioneering step, colleges under Goa University have created a
team of ‘Gender Champions’ comprising the pairing of a student and a faculty
member towards spreading the message of gender equality. These gender champions
were awarded certificates by Professor VarunSahni, the Vice Chancellor of Goa
University to encourage them to carry on this important work of sharing
knowledge on gender equality.
To
capture the voice of students, the grand finale of Daring Debates, was held on
the second day of the summit. The topic this year was ‘Masculinity Affects
Gender Equality’ and the regional winners from Delhi, Manipur, Goa, Pune,
Ranchi and Puducherry battled it out for top honours. After the end of a
pulsating and keenly contested session, Shubhangani Jain of Savitribai Phule
Pune University was declared the winner with Fenil Sadaiya of Xavier Institute
of Social Sciences, Ranchi as the runner-up.
