Wikipedia, for many, is the most important source of information, but how many actually contribute to editing and writing articles for the webpage?
On Saturday, volunteers of Free Software Foundation and College of Engineering, Guindy, organised a workshop to train women in contributing to Wikipedia. The event was held to commemorate International Women’s Day.
The participants were taught to contribute and edit stories on Wikipedia. “We have very few women editors on Wikipedia. Only 9 per cent of the 20 million Wikipedia editors are women. Having more women editors would also give space to women issues on the internet which are highly under represented,” said R. Nappinnai, a software engineer and a Wikipedia trainer. For instance, she added, there were detailed pieces on Wikipedia on men who contributed to the Indian Independence movement but very little information on women who did the same.
Among the other programmes celebrating Women’s Day was an awareness programme on women’s health organised by Apollo Specialty Cancer Hospitals. The event saw participation from cancer survivors, nurses, doctors and male staff, who were educated on the importance of women’s health and the need for health checks to keep debilitating conditions like cancer away.
Also, Survival Instincts, a safety services provider, conducted a comprehensive participatory program to impart practical skills in dealing with crime, safety and health emergencies. The practical sessions included training in emergency response to cardiac emergencies, rescuing a drowning child, dealing with non-lethal gender crimes and evading a physically stronger assailant.
