(Pabitra Guragain)
KATHMANDU — The media reports on sexual harassments and abuse of women from public vehicles to work atmosphere makes Shulab Raj Baral, 20, very sad.
A social work student who is pursuing his bachelor degree at the Saint Xavier’s College strongly believes that ‘women and men are the two wheels of a bicycle’, and their contributions are equally significant to ensure a just society with due respect to women.”
Baral was one of the participants of the ‘Men’s March’ jointly organised by over 20 organisations including Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists and Freedom Forum on the occasion of the International Women’s Day-2018 in the capital city Thursday.
Inaugurating the march, former Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha observed, “We achieved a democratic republic system, have been used to latest information technologies, but situation of violence against women is as it was.” Although the violence against women is the reflection of our social and individual construct and attitude, man is not the synonym of woman violence, he argued.
In the march where sanitary pads were distributed to the participating men in a bid to make them supportive to women issues, one of the participants, Bishal Dahal, said, “Distribution of sanitary pads to males could be taken as a symbolic message that men must internalize women’s problems/issues and contribute to realize the idea of gender equality. Similarly, another message of the march I realized was- women’s problems should not be limited within women. Such programmes help women to open up for healthy debate.”
Similarly, Kabita Dhungel, 21, who is pursuing her bachelor degree at Nesfield International College, Patan, viewed that such types of event would obviously help men become sensitive towards women’s issues.
Tribhuvan University Professor Dr Bindu Pokhrel who teaches Gender Studies stressed that men’s engagement is imperative for ensuring rights to women who are still considered and treated as second class people. Until and unless men are encouraged to fight for the women cause, women issues remain merely as feminist agenda.
It may be noted that realizing the necessity of men’s participation in a mission to build gender equal society, the United Nations in 2014 launched the “He for She Campaign.”
The march that originated from the local Maitighar Mandala converged into a corner meeting upon reaching the Shantibatika via Bhandrakali Temple and Shahid Gate.
