Seminar deliberations on 'Adapillalu-Athmarakshana'--continued

Smt. Satyavathi ,Editor Bhoomika, asked every one to stop calling girl child as  'Adapilla',and call her as 'garalapatti' or 'ladlee'.She hoped that atleast 'Nirbhaya Act' may be properly implemented to protect the girl child and women.Many legal enactments are not totally implemented , she said. Hence, women should learn to file complaints, with proper evidences, to implicate the culprits.
Smt.Sobha I.F.S. Addl. Prl. C.C.F, stated that youth should learn the values of our great Indian culture, and change should come from the heart, to respect women in the society.
The chief Guest Smt. Ramalakshmi I.F.S., Commissioner, Sericulture, Govt of A.P. while giving the keynote address said that India has become a'Terrorist Country" with regard to women. Globally our country may be 'black listed'soon, as many countries are asking their women to not to visit India.We should take the slogan now to 'Break the Silence'as India has a great tradition of treating their women as 'Goddesses'. We must save our Joint Family system, for which we have to start a Second 'Freedom Struggle' for Women. Multipolar approach can help  to improve the situation and not the Legal enactments and punitive measures she said.She appealed to all the Women to help their own sisters in fighting against the injustice.
The Cartoon depicting the atrocities against women in different stages of their life cycle were drawn on the Banner by Mr. Sridhar the eminent Cartoonist., was appreciated by one and all.
Thus the Seminar the first of its kind, held immediately after the Enactment of the Act Against Atrocities on Women,(nicknamed as Nirbhaya Act) will certainly,motivates the People to draw more deliberations in near future.  The efforts of  Tharuni and A.P. Balalahakkula Sangham  are appreciable.After Nirbhaya's incident in New Delhi, women are afraid to come out of their houses.Media is very active to report such types of cases. Media need to change to report more against the Culprit, along with their photos, so that socially they will be boycotted. Every citizen certainly appreciates the Government of India for its timely action in initiating and promulgating the Act.
Let us all hope the Men and Women of India lead the world , in organizing themselves to live harmoniously and peacefully within the ambit of our great culture and traditions. 

The deliberations of the Seminar"Adapillalu-Athmarakshana',held on 4th April 2013

The Seminar on "Girl Child--Strategies to Protect Herself"(Adapillalu-Athmarakshana) was held on 4th, April, 2013.It was presided over by Sri Achuth Rao, President, A.P. Balala Hakkula Sangham,who  reiterated the importance of Conducting the Seminar, while the" Nirbhaya Act' sighned by the President of India, yesterday.
Dr. Mamatha Raghuveer Director, Tharuni Organisation, explained the objective of the Seminar, so as to identify the problems in changing the mindset and attitudinal changes of male counterparts and parents of the girl child..She also stressed to develop life skills of the girl child and bring out the supporting systems available to protect her.
The seminar started with a high note of excellent performance of Self protection with the techniques of Karate by Young Girls trained. Baby Nidhi also sang a song on girl child and danced, impressing the audience.
Later Ms. Janaki, Director PHIN, explained the problems of differently abled girl children, who  need more supporting systems from the Government.

Ms Vijaya Devi, Member, C.W.C;  R. R. District, stressed the need of Counselling Centers in schools and colleges to solve the problems of Youth and children.
Next,  Retired Mass communications Professor, Dr. P. Hemalatha Devi,advised the girls to develop confidence and bravely cope up if they face any atrocity , while ignoring the guilty feelings, to make the culprits get right punishment.Girls are to behave tactfully, while facing odd situations she said. She also appealed to the Media to highlight the Culprit to get socially boycotted, and also to give information about the punishment he receives for the crime against women.
Dr. Radhka, Psychologist, reiterated that respecting women should start at home. the childhood abuses may transform the individuals into criminals.So the parents should  set right the abnormal behavior of their children from the early stages. ( Continued in the next Blog).

UNICEF GIRL CHILD MEDIA – GENDER SENSITIVE AWARDS:

Suggestions for future media productions by our Executive Director, who was a Jury Member at the UNICEF Girl Child Media Awards:

It was an Honour for me to be a part of this Prestigious Project. Through out it was a Learning being the young member of the Jury and among so many 'Legends'. It was a really enriching experience to me as a novice to intricacies of TV Media Production. As a Child Rights Activist, I always looked at the Media Productions through the Rights perspective and use to argue with other members in most of the discussions. It was a Life time Memory for me to be part of this Noble Project in the cause of Girl Child. My submissions for the future Awards:

• There was lot of competition between the channels for telecasting Girl child related subjects. But except one or two no one has put an effort to show the ground realities. Most of the scenes were down loaded from You Tube or they have used forieng national photos for depicting the A.P. Scenarios. Hence, from next year onwards, we should give clear guidelines to all channels to not to show You Tube shots or downloaded pictures.
• Secondly, the Channels have taken up three or four major issues and showed only the negetivities. They had not shown any solutions to the problems. Media is an effective communication tool and can suggest solutions for the problems and save their lives. Next year we should tell them that proper research should be done on each topic chosen by them and suggest solutions / learnings for the viewers.
• There was no single nomination for well researched program this year as no entry was up to the mark. The channels should use external research agencies / individaul researchers for picturising such in depth topics. Next year CMS can plan a booklet with comprehensive details about Girl child issues to all channels well in advance. This booklet can also give the last year Award winning stories, so that it becomes a Guide for the new Producers & Directors.
• The Time period for this Awards can be extended to Six months so that it becomes a Habit for Media Cheannels to focus on girl child issues. The Time slot can be extended to six hours to capture all the programs which are gender sensitive.
• Most of the channels which are competing for the Awards do not reach people and only 3 or 4 channels can be viewed by the rural masses. Hence, recheability also should be a criteria for giving Awards as through this effort we want to reach masses with good messages on girl children.
• The Jury had observed negativism had become part and parcel of Media. They are not focusing the positive facts about the realities. Hence, awards were given to channels which are positive in attitude & Gave messages which are practical.

- Dr Mamatha Raghuveer,

Director, Tharuni.