‘Safe Women Safe Nation’ conducted by WeSchool concluded with actionable takeaways

Safeguard today’s women to build a better tomorrow

Dr Rajan Welukar, Vice –Chancellor of University of Mumbai, Flavia Agnes- Women's rights Activist-lawyer, Mona Cheriyan-HR Director- and member of the Advisory Board of ASK Investment Managers Pvt Ltd, Dolly Thakore- Theater director, actress and communication consultant and Praveen Salunkhe, Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region, Mumbai) had a dialogue with the WeSchool students at the session that highlighted the nuances of women’s safety in society “Sensitizing citizens through education is the remedy, especially in a youth dominated country like India. With ‘We link & We care ‘as our core value, WeSchool has a mandate of working for societal good by nurturing the Global citizen managers who are constantly involved in our various CSR activities” said Prof Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director-WeSchool in his welcome note. While Dolly Thakore traced the historical perspective of the patriarchal male dominated society linking it to women abuse, she also focused on how empathetic playwrights like Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad and others have portrayed sensitive pictures of the emancipation of women in Indian society. “Times are changing, patriarchy is being challenged and our voices are being heard “she added. While narrating real life stories about female genocide from her daily crusade against the society and system, the firebrand activist Flavia Agnes said,” Why don’t we want to have girls? The government policy and hatred towards women collude to kill our daughters. Health and survival of a girl child is a big issue in spite of the political support, as it is not translating into safety and justice for our women “ While Mona Cheriyan brought in the corporate angle by saying “Diversity and inclusion have become the buzzwords in progressive corporates, a lot of women have broken the glass ceiling and achieved success in corporate careers but compared to our male counterparts we are just a few, as women comprise only 23 %of the Indian workforce. We need to make the change by breaking stereotypes, by being aware of our rights and taking our own decisions”. ACP Praveen Salunkhe spoke from the heart,” Men think that daughters are a big liability, getting them married is a way of getting rid of them, this mindset has to change. How do we provide succor to all the women who are subjected to some violence or the other? Even if a victim of domestic violence dares to lodge a FIR, the doors of her home are closed for her, where is she supposed to go with her children? Out of the cases registered for rape last year,95 % accused were known to the girl and her family. The common man must change the mindset and come forward to support, police and law cannot be everywhere but together we can create a better society “ Dr Rajan Welukar, Vice chancellor –University of Mumbai had a word of advice to give,” Everyone in India is talking about violence against women but this is coming as a reaction. We have to go beyond reaction. We must learn to respond, by being responsive, our problems will resolve. We need to create the environment for women to feel safe by sharing the resources equally between men and women, by putting a stop to discrimination at home .I have immense faith in the youth as they have the ability to collaborate, co-create and come up with innovative solutions to change society”   The discussion enlightened the MBA students with suggestions and advices to fortify women’s safety through various measures, the urgent need to strengthen rules & regulations to curb the growing crimes against women. Women are an inevitable part of the society and it’s of utmost importance to encourage, empower and embolden them to build a better tomorrow. In a moving gesture to take this thought further , WeSchool pledged a donation in the name of each of the speaker at the session for the welfare of a tribal girl each through ‘Give India ‘foundation.