Manjula Manasa, chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Women, said on Thursday that the commission had written to the presidents of political parties to direct their leaders and workers to be careful while issuing statements about women.
Speaking to presspersons after holding a review meeting here, she said that some leaders and workers in political parties make derogatory statements about women. Those who were speaking lowly of women were showing uncivilised behaviour. “We have written to all political parties that their leaders should be careful while talking about women. They should not make cheap statements about women in public places as well as their homes,” Ms. Manasa said.
She said that the commission had also written to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman of the Legislative Council to issue guidelines to legislators while speaking about women. This follows the recent incident concerning Bharatiya Janata Party leader K.S. Eshwarappa’s derogatory comments on women.
Ms. Manasa said that there were not many complaints of atrocities on women in the district. This was because the officials had pro-actively tackled such cases at the local level and solved them. There had six deaths of high school and college girl students in the district. The Superintendent of Police had reacted immediately to these cases.
Four cases of workplace harassment had been reported in the district. Of the four cases, one was found to be false, while inquiry was on in three cases. “Since Udupi is a small district with just three taluks, the cases are less. Besides, the people here are educated. There is more importance to women in the district as most communities followed the matrilineal system,” Ms. Manasa said.
Shyamala Bhandary, member of the commission; Veronica Cornelio, chairperson of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd; and Sarala B. Kanchan, president of Federation of Mahila Mandals, were present.
