National consultation on violence against women in January

A national consultation will be held between civil society organisations and government officials in January on protection of women from violence, organisers said Saturday.

The consultation will be organised by the Centre for Social Research (CSR) which has over the last one month held nearly six consultations in universities like Jamia Millia Islamia, Calicut University, SBN College in Jaipur, Panjab University, Kurukshetra University and Utkal University to involve youth in the assessment of progress made in the field of women's empowerment.

Four more consultations will be organised in the coming weeks and students are being encouraged to participate in competitions through presentations, street plays and photography.

The 12 critical areas of concern that were discussed included women and poverty, education and training of women, women and health and violence against women.

"The youth participating in this process strongly raised the necessity of sensitising the media in breaking common stereotypes that hinder the process of women empowerment and highlighted that men should become an active part of any discussion on women's issues," said Rajni R. Menon, who conducted some of these workshops.

CSR director Ranjana Kumari said: "The coincidence of the review and the development of a new global framework is being termed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to position gender equality, women's rights and women's empowerment at the centre of the global agenda."

The consultations are being held in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing conference on gender issues to be held next year.