At a time when International Women's Day celebrations has been reduced to giving offers and discounts for cosmetics and other consumer related products and gifts by Transnational Corporations, hundreds of women who could have been victims of female infanticide gathered here on Monday at Usilampatti to celebrate the day.
Women from the villages in and around Usilampatti which had once gained notoriety for the cruel practice has seen a sea change after serious interventions made by many organizations and in particular Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), Tamil Nadu, came together and shared their experiences how they become part of that change.
They had also organised a debate, in which famous debater and Tamil scholar, K. Gnanasambandam participated.
Valli Annamalai, Honorary Secretary, ICCW, said that the two decade old journey was a tough one and we worked with a lot of vigour and strategy that was aimed towards creating a sense of comfort among them and then change their mindset and the results are really creditable.
Retracing the journey
Recalling those days of spine chilling incidences of female infanticide many women narrated how they were able to counter those practices and deep rooted prejudices against having a girl child related to the economic factors.
A few young women who could have easily become victims to the practice, thanks to the intervention of State and other organisations came forward and narrated how being a girl child in a social set up that treated her differently, they were able to come up in life with the help of ICCW.
In fact ICCW has changed the mindset of many people and has made them send their children to school and guided them to abandon the practice of child marriages.
They sponsored many girl students who have become teachers and a lot of them are ‘Waiting in the Wings' to make a prospective career in nursing, said Seela Pramil, Nursing Tutor, ICCW Vasantham Community College.
