Report by Vini Vijayan

Mangalore, Sep 8: ‘Anubhav,’ the Women’s Forum of St Aloysius College, organised a one-day seminar on Gender Equity, Sep 7 in the college.

The topic is a mandatory study subject for the students under credit based semester system (2006-07 onwards).

The seminar comprised of two sessions – ‘Gender, Sex and Gender Stereotypes’ and ‘Discrimination Against Women’. 
Dr Rita Noronha of the School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, interacted with the students, in making the session informative and interesting.

Dr Noronha opined that 18-20 years of learning in schools and colleges cannot be unlearned easily. She explained the basic concepts of gender and sex. While making the students express their opinion about the topic at hand, she made it clear that individual has to be respected for what he/she is irrespective of one’s gender.

Women need not be treated as ‘goddess’, instead, they be treated as normal human beings, said Dr Noronha.

Women do not want to be superior. It is when one wants to claim superiority that there are all efforts made to put down the other person. This is where problems arise. Hence, equality is the right attitude, she said.

Dr Jacinta D’Souza, Principal of Roshni Nilaya spoke on ‘Discrimination Against Women’.

Women in our society have been victims of ill-treatment, humiliation, torture, and exploitation. Now, violence is moving to public spheres from just a private issue, said Dr Jacinta citing many examples of gory violence.

Changing the parental attitude towards female children, and strengthening women’s organisations will help in decreasing violence and discrimination against women, she added.