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International Women’s Day: Honouring women, men who forged gender equity
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal handed over the awards to many, including the all-women crew of Air India, BSF women bikers, Indian Army’s first woman stunt rider and a doctor who busted the prenatal gender screening racket in Haryana.
Over the years, Neelam and Rita Devi have become popular in their neighbourhood for fighting for women’s rights. The two women from northwest Delhi’s Shahabad Dairy have helped register FIRs in around 17 rape cases and in about 60-odd cases of dowry and domestic abuse in the area over the past 12 years.
The duo helps victims of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault and guide them through the legal processes.
The two women along with 27 other men and women from across states were felicitated by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) for their extraordinary work on International Women’s Day on Friday. The event was the culmination of a 13-day Mahila Suraksha Padyatra conducted by the commission across the national capital.
Neelam,43, who works as a domestic help, said she could not believe that she would be rewarded for helping women in distress. It all started, said Neelam, from her own fight against her in-laws 12 years ago when she was threatened and beaten up for not bringing enough dowry.
“It was a dark phase of my life and even my husband didn’t support me. I fought them and got a case registered. A few other women joined me and, as a group, we started helping women facing similar troubles,” Neelam said.
Both of them later joined an NGO, which works in the field of getting justice for women and are now the core group leaders of the team.
“We go from door-to-door creating awareness among women about their rights. Earlier, the police also didn’t listen to us, but now, we have an identity and can get things done. Many women facing domestic abuse are still caught in social taboos and are afraid of going to a police station for help. They come to us and we help them through the process,” Rita Devi,45, said.
Many others, including 54-year-old Poonam, who started driving an e-rickshaw in the city to support her family were felicitated by the DCW. A number of men, too, were honoured.
M K Shibu, 54, a sub-inspector with the Delhi traffic police, won an award for teaching over 50 children engaged in begging at a traffic signal in Rohini.
Those felicitated include the all-women crew of Air India, BSF women bikers, Indian Army’s first woman stunt rider and a doctor who busted the prenatal gender screening racket in Haryana, among others.
The event was organised at Central Park in Connaught Place where chief minister Arvind Kejriwal handed over the awards.
“The commission, with its Mahila Suraksha Padyatra, has covered 330km to raise awareness about women safety.We have to pitch for full statehood so that the Delhi Police comes under the chief minister and is held accountable for safety of residents in the city,” Kejriwal said.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said more women must join the commission’s team as mahila suraksha volunteers.
