Human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi on Saturday called upon the women to protest against dowry and female foeticide.
Addressing the gathering at a programme at Silver Jubilee Park on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, organised on the occasion of International Women’s Day, she emphasised the need for women raising their voices to prevent atrocities against them.
They should do so even if they are at home. Changes cannot be seen if women kept quiet, she said.
Ms. Hashmi said men who demand dowry should realise that they do not have self-respect.
Lakhs of cases of dowry harassment have been registered in the country. Brides should reject such people [who do not have self-respect] and intensify the fight against such obnoxious practices, Ms. Hashmi said.
Farmers leader Sunanda Jayaram, Vani Periyodi, Merlin Martice, Meera Shivalingaiah and others were present.
Vijayapura’s Akkamahadevi Women’s University (AWU) organised the programme, in association with the “Mahila Dourjanya Virodhi Okkuta”.