IGNOU
IGNOU’s School of Gender and development studies celebrated the International Women’s Day with a thematic debate on the on-going “#metoo” campaign.
Setting the tone for the debate on the topic for the PhD students of SOGDS, Savita Singhexplained to the audience about the campaign which got started with a tweet that highlighted sexual harassment in Hollywood.
Singh said that not that there was no movement against the sexual harassment in workplace before but after Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault allegations episode, there has been spate of cases that have come into light where women themselves have come forward and narrated their stories of sexual harassment or misconduct through the “#metoo” campaign.
And this gathered steam worldwide and trended on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook with numerous high-profile women sharing their experiences.
Nilima Srivastava, Director, SOGDS welcomed the guests and reiterated that celebrating women’s day is a way or a mechanism to draw attention of masses about gender inequality inherent in our society .
She also outlined the various initiatives that SOGDS has had over the past years and the academic programs offered by School Of Gender and Development Studies, IGNOU.
Jitendra Srivastava , Registrar, IGNOU in his address elucidated that the patriarchal mindset needs to change from one’s home itself and from the individual himself referring to the prevailing mindset problem that men have.
He said that we need to change ourselves first, starting with being sensitised about the kind of language at times we (men) use that is derogatory to the other gender. It has to start from micro level first and then can we see change happening at the macro level, i.e., at the societal level, he concluded
Annu J Thomas moderated the debate on the relevance of #MeToo campaign.
Several participants took part in the debate and spoke for and against the motion.
One of the participant rightly highlighted that the cyber-led campaign only has taken along the educated women with access to the internet and has left many who have no such channel to vent their sexual harassment experiences at work, home or elsewhere.
The day’s celebration ended with a play on exploitation of women in the society titled “Trial Room”. It highlighted how women are exploited in society.
