Hyderabad: City-based NGO Rubaroo on Saturday conducted edition six of ’16 days of Activism’ at Lamakaan. The event culminated with the celebration of International Human Rights Day.
The theme for this year’s event was “UNITE”, as part of the program various stalls were put up, highlighting the issues related to gender stereotypes and child sexual abuse. One of the stalls put up during the event challenged the visitors to prepare chapatis.
Asked about the reason for the challenge, Swapna, the in charge of the stall told Siasat.com “We have come up with this idea to challenge and break the notion that it is a woman’s job to prepare chapatis.”
Addressing the concerns regarding child sexual abuse, Pritish, who put up a chart explaining ‘positive’ touch and ‘negative’ touch for children said, “I want people to understand that children also have rights over their bodies and no one, not even their parents should violate them.”
A few other stalls displayed gender-related issues and the methods to tackle them. Explaining the significance of gender, Akash said, “There are misconceptions among people that only two types of genders exist, and we are trying to make them familiar with various types of gender.”
“There are over 216 types of gender currently known. however, a few people that I met today rejected this stating it’s just in the people’s heads,” he remarked.
Posters depicting stories based on violations of various rights guaranteed in the Indian constitution were also displayed during the event.
One of the stalls challenged people to step out of their comfort zone. Explaining the idea behind the stall, the in-charge Fahad said,” There are certain chits here, each containing a question which people must ask a complete stranger. I feel communication is key to overcoming misconceptions regarding human rights. So, we want people to challenge their comfort zone and strike up a conversation with each other.”
Expressing his views regarding the program, a visitor Sanjay said, ” This is the first time I am attending the program, I feel it is important to have conversations regarding human rights, hence more such programs shall be conducted so that the message can reach out to the masses.”
Another visitor who did not wish to be named said, “Human rights are certainly present on paper, however, there is a lack of their implementation.”
The event also comprised four skits, performed by the Rubaroo members. Each of the skits highlighted the discrimination against women, transgenders, members of the LGBTQ community and men.
At the end of the skits, the participants said that these were impromptu acts and we did not have much time to prepare for them. One of the participants Vamsi Krishna said, “I am interested in direction and acting and hence it was a good experience to depict the police apathy towards the transgenders.”
One of the participants named Srikanth depicted the challenges faced by a man very well. The skit was based on a story, of a man who fails to find a job, and is subjected to humiliation by family and friends. He is then falsely accused of sexually assaulting a woman. The final scene of the man dying by suicide after consuming poison took the cake.
At the end of the program, a participant named Jabez performed a Telugu rap depicting the challenges faced by children from birth till the time they are employed.
International Human Rights Day
Every year since 1948, December 10 is observed as International Human Rights Day. The day finds its origin in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly.
The UDHR is the ethos that calls for upholding human rights at all times. It states the inalienable rights that each and every human regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status is entitled to.
As such, International Human Rights Day stands for the inalienable rights enshrined in the aforementioned Universal Declaration. International Human Rights Day was formally mooted in the year 1950 after the UN General Assembly passed resolution 423 (V). All the states and organisations were invited to adopt December 10 as the official date to celebrate the occasion.
