“The status of women in a country is the criterion for assessing its cultural development. A country where women are as unsafe as ours needs to go a long way to be called culturally developed or even a culturally developing nation,” Kerala State Women’s Commission chairperson K.C. Rosakutty has said.
Delivering the inaugural address of ‘Aparajitha,’ a three-day women’s empowerment workshop organised by the Kerala State Youth Welfare Board here on Friday, she urged the women to empower themselves and thereby empower the nation.
Shocking trend
Recalling the role of women in various walks of life, Ms. Rosakutty pointed out the disturbing fact that the number of girls admitted to standard one these days was much lower than that of boys. “We had a very healthy gender balance in the State, which is being thwarted now as many people opt not to have girl children. “Why do mothers here fear to raise girl children?” she wondered.
Mahatma Gandhi University Pro Vice Chancellor Sheena Shukoor delivered the keynote address. She expressed shock at the mindset of the young boys in the State and explained the limitation of our higher education system in handling them. She urged the girls to be more confident about themselves as there were enough laws for their protection and they only needed to respond and raise their voice if men misbehaved with them.
Youth Welfare Board vice chairman P.S. Prashath presided. Desny who emerged victorious in Fencing at the National Games was honoured on the occasion.
Various sessions
Earlier in the day, the workshop began with a session on ‘Women, individual and empowerment’ led by writer N.P. Hafiz Mohammed, who is also the camp director. A session on ‘Women, society and empowerment’ followed.
A discussion on ‘Women, politics and empowerment’ followed the inaugural session. Former MP P. Sathidevi, women’s commission member Noorbina Rashid, and Kozhikode Corporation councillor Vidya Balakrishnan took part. Around 100 women from different parts of the State are taking part in the workshop.
