Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA), which works to prevent gender-based violence, will travel to nine cities and four districts this year with its two-day travelling film festival called ‘Sambhav’.
At the end of the Panaji version of the festival on Wednesday, MAVA co-founder Harish Sadani told The Hindu that the organisation, over the last 25 years, has been “engaging and mentoring hundreds of young men using out-of-the box methods like street theatre and youth helplines”.
He said that the festival is unique in many ways. While there have been women-centric and LGBT-centric film festivals in various parts of the country, this one tries to cover the lives and issues of all genders. So, there are films on gender discrimination and sexual harassment but also on toxic masculinity and its impact on men and boys. There are also films portraying the stigma and inhumane treatment faced by homosexual and transgender people.
“When the youth pause and look [again] at all genders, they [will be] able to see how patriarchy is the common enemy of all and that we should be working collectively to address the challenges,” said Mr. Sadani.
