The NGO is being led by Sharnas Muthu, who began her campaign in October.
It was the winter of 2012 and Sharnas Muthu, a PhD scholar in Jamia Millia Islamia, had begun data collection for her thesis – ‘Role of legislation and justice system in safeguarding dignity of women’. The thesis dealt with the issues victims of violence had to face with the justice system at different stages – court, police and so on.
“That was same time the Nirbhaya gang-rape happened and there were a lot of talks and papers based on the incident,” says Sharnas, who then went on to create a counselling centre for female students who travel to Delhi from other states for higher education. It was called Pathfinder.
“There was a lot of apprehension among parents at that time, because of the fear the gang-rape had created. We tried to provide these students safe accommodation and guidance throughout their course duration,” she adds. In 2014, Pathfinder grew and changed form. It was registered as a national NGO by the name Women’s Manifesto which Sharnas describes is a “group of women working for women’s empowerment and social welfare”. She is the general secretary of the three-year-old NGO now, apart from working as a social worker in the social service unit of the Delhi Police.
“There are a lot of capacities in women that they don’t realise. We help them realise those,” the 32-year-old says. Initially the members included students from different states who had moved to Delhi.
Through community work, it grew to include housewives and other working women who identified with the concept.
Women’s Manifesto deals with a wide range of issues from career guidance to helping the homeless. They provide marital counseling, legal aid to victims of domestic violence and sexual harassment, livelihood promotion, education related to health and hygiene, relief and rehabilitation and also conducts regular research related to women literacy, job, health and so on.
The NGO also strives to enhance the skills and competencies of its target group through soft skill training and personality development and prepare them to be active partners in national reconstruction.
The latest initiative by Sharnas and her brigade is a campaign titled ‘Voice Against Violence’. “This campaign began in October 2017 and will continue till March 2018. The objective is to advocate for ending violence against women,” she says. “This will be aimed at college students and will include panel discussions, paper presentations and small competitions on social media. At the end of the campaign in March, we plan to hold a Women’s Leadership Summit where we will award changemakers.”
Recently the members held a silent protest at the Central Park in CP, holding placards with anti-violence messages on them. The campaign will travel to different colleges in Delhi, UP, Uttarakhand and other states in the following months. When asked about future plans, Sharnas says, “The only thing on my mind right now is to get this campaign and through it, the message across to as many people as possible.”
Article Source: India Today