Miranda House in Association with CFAR to Promote Discussions on Gender & Equality

Miranda House has associated with the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR), an NGO, to promote discussions about social issues like gender and equality. The campaign has been spread to various colleges of DU which have enabled youngsters to come up with a community newspaper, graphic novel and even films.

Bijayalaxmi Nanda, Associate Professor, Miranda House explained that when a group of boys indulged in catcalling, the victim could be a girl from any section of society – economically affluent or backward. Therefore, the problems of gender and justice are same for different strata of society. The main objective of the institute is to create a space where the school becomes an experiential program. She has been involved in mentoring a group of youngsters in a movable tent as a part of the campaign, i.e., School of Life.

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She also mentioned that one could find this tent at some college or the other in Delhi University colleges. The major objective of setting up the tent is to draw the attention of people from different backgrounds who can come forward and mentor youngsters from diverse classes.

Jayam Singh Chauhan, a final year BA student explained that most students had read about basic issues related to fundamental rights and gender in books. However, when they spoke to the community children, they realised that the children possessed knowledge of practical life in abundance. Hence, it is important to share the bookish knowledge with the community children and make them understand how to deal with real-life situations better. School of Life campaign enabled them to carry out interactions with community children.

Akhila Sivadas, Executive Director of CFAR, said that a young woman who is a divorcee and faced discrimination at home participated in this campaign and now is working as a salaried employee to support her family.