Hyderabad: Shaheen Women’s Resource and Welfare Association, Hyderabad in collaboration with the Department of Social Work, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) has organized a one day Youth Mela on Gender Sensitization in MANUU Campus. Stalls related to gender issues ranging from gender based games, activities based on socio-cultural practices and legal awareness on gender issues etc. were placed in the mela.
The Vice Chancellor, Dr. Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz who inaugurated the youth mela as the chief guest said that for an equal and just society gender discrimination needs to be eliminated. Dr. Aslam Parvaiz has stressed that the youth can bring more effective and positive change in our society by taking the inferences from progressive and liberal values.
Ms. Jameela Nishat, the Director of Shaheen organization briefed the purpose and nature of activities in the mela. She was of the view that since each one of us perform certain gender roles in our daily lives, it is important to note and reflect what should be the expected roles of boys and girls. If we do not engage ourselves in such crucial questions, we would phenomenally be unable to create a healthy environment wherein everyone gets the equal opportunity to develop a satisfactory and dignified life, she opined. That is the reason we strengthen the prejudice and biasness against each other, more often against women. As a result of it, we witness frequent incidents of gender based discrimination and violence against women, she added.
Prof. Md. Shahid Raza, Head, Dept. of Social Work reflected the role of professional social workers on such challenging social issues to ensure equality and social justice with all. It is important to storm out the gender biases penetrated in our thought process through participatory tools and techniques including games and use of various Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials, opined Prof. Mohd Shahid, Dept. of Social Work. It is our non-engaging attitude due to which the gender biasness not only thrives but gets institutionalized and thus hinders the possibilities of meaningful dialogue, say, between boys and girls or men and women regarding the role expectations and role performance, he remarked.
Students of social work actively volunteered their services in mobilizing students and faculty members across the university. Many students, teachers and staff members visited the youth mela.
