Cultural academy being a NGO provides social service and legal aid to the needy people in the society for last 40 years. During this year, because of pandemic conducting regular physical awareness programs were not possible, even then by conducting online services we could settle a good number of cases.

November 25 th to December 10 th is declared by the UN to observe all over the world as “International day to eliminate all forms of violence against women”. India is also observing the same and this message is a reflection of more than half of the total population of women in India.

Cultural Academy for peace and department of women and child development Ernakulam commemorates 16 days Activism Against Gender-based Violence in befitting manner in the present-day pandemic by conducting a webinar on different topic from 28 th November to 10 th December.

The launching programme started by 3pm with an inaugural session. The Inauguration of the webinar and launching of the 16 days programme was done by Respected District collectorS.Suhas IAS (Ernakulam)in the presence of Mrs Jebeen Lolitha sain District women and Child Development Officer and Mrs Beena Sebastian chairperson, cultural academy for peace and other dignitaries Honorable District Collector reminded all the participants (members of the Jagratha samithi and ICDS supervisors about the importance of their roles to the communities especially women). The topic for the webinar conducted on 28 th of November 2020 was “Role of Jagratha
Samithi and Panchayati raj institutions implementing the policy related to women” and the resource person was DR.Abey George Associate Professor ,KILA.

He explained about core issues on women and women participation in right to vote and major decision making. He stated that the current society works on the values based on the patriarchal domination and there is inbuilt inequality towards women in the society.

In addition, he explained the motto of Jagratha Samithi and how the system works. The entire program was a great success and it ended by 5pm.

The next webinar was scheduled on 5/12/2020 at 3pm on the topic: “Rights to Women Under Marital Institutions”. The session was inaugurated by Mr. Nisar Ahammed K.T, District Judge and Member Secretary, KELSA. He elaborated his experiences while being a judge in family court and the services he has done for women protection. Also, when he shared his touching experience while serving as a Juvenile Judge. He wished all the success for the entire programme and has assured his full support from KELSA.

The Guest Speaker was Adv. Neema Noor Mohammed, Assistant Public Prosecutor under Government of Delhi (NCT). It was a very informative session which covered about the services provided by the government prosecution for women victims. It was an interactive session so many were able to discuss further.

Mrs. Beena Sebastian, Director, CAP, have shared her forty years of experience working for Gender Justice and women during this session. The meeting ended by 5pm.

The next webinar was on 07/12/2020 at 3pm on the topic: “Cyber Trafficking and the role of Stakeholders”. This topic was very essential in the current scenario and got eminent personalities to discuss on this topic. Introduction and presidential address were carried out by Mrs Beena Sebastian. She also shared the relevance of this topic. The inaugural address was given by Mr. Anil Kumar, Sub Judge, Secretary, DLSA. He explained about how DLSA works for women. And has assured his help in this area.

Mr. Biji George, Assistant Commissioner of police, Ernakulam gave a detailed information about how the police department investigates the cyber offence and in finding the accused. The participants interacted with him and it turned out to be a great opportunity.

The next speaker was Adv. Sandhya Raju, Director, CCRRA. She gave detailed explanation on laws related to Cyber Trafficking and Cyber Victim Rights. She highlighted the increasing number of female victims of Cyber Trafficking. The session was useful and informative for all participants. The participants included NGO members, social workers, students and other human rights clubs. The programme ended by 5pm.

The last webinar was on 09/12/2020 and the 16 days Activism Against Gender Based Violence 2020 was also concluded on that day. The webinar topic was “Parlance of Domestic Violence and Gender Based Violence’s “. The programme started by 3pm – Smt. Lida Jacob, IAS, Former Secretary, Govt of Kerala, Social Welfare and Education and Gender Advisory to Govt of Kerala gave her concluding input session of the 16 days programme by narrating her experience and congratulated Cultural Academy for Peace for organising such a wonderful week long programmes on various topics.

Her speech was so influential and literally made all participants enthusiastic. We also had Jyothi Narayan, Social Activist who has years of experience in women and child initiatives. Adv. Pinku Thaliath High Court of Kerala gave an elaborated session on domestic violence act which was followed by interactive session and further
discussion.

The participants were ICDS Project Members and CDPO team members. The 16days programme was moderated by Adv. Ferha Azeez, Legal Counsellor, and Cultural Academy. The entire session was hosted by Anjali Menon and Dona Francis, team members of Cultural Academy. The entire programme was under the guidance and support of Mrs. Beena Sebastian and the team effort of each and every Cultural Academy member. We are expressing our heartfelt gratitude to Protection Officer, Smt. Deepa Benz Ernakulam and Department of women and child who had extended their full support and participation for the entire session.