CHENNAI: The rising instances of violence against women, especially the rape and murder of the Hyderabad-based veterinary doctor, had prompted a group of like-minded people in Chennai to come together to address the issue. PENN, an initiative that aims at taking action to ensure women’s safety, was launched in February this year. However, soon after, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. With lockdown restrictions easing, the group is now looking out for volunteers who can help them with their work.
“We need more people on the ground to help protect women and girls,” says V S Sridhar, corporate executive and managing trustee of PENN, adding that they would be training the volunteers in legal matters as well as self-defence. “One of our core members is a lawyer, so volunteers will be taught where and how to file a complaint if a woman is sexually harassed.”
Volunteers can be from any background, he says. “You can be a student, a homemaker, or an IT professional. All you need is the passion to make an impact on the ground,” says Sridhar.
Volunteers will also be trained to sensitise people in corporates as well as homes. “Corporates and offices need to implement the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (PoSH) Act, and parents also need to be sensitised and trained how to prevent and spot child sexual abuse,” says Sridhar.
Self-defence classes will be conducted by S Sreeram, founder and chief instructor – KravMaga TN Chapter. “We were conducting sessions online due to the lockdown, but now we will be doing a combination of face-to-face and online interactions,” says Sreeram. “In Tiruvallur, we have been training girls who have passed Class XII and are looking for work in self-defence, who then train girl students in schools. They are also paid a monthly salary.”
PENN plans to train more volunteers and also network with NGOs working in the field so that they can impart self-defence classes to girls in areas such as Kannagi Nagar.
“We want to create an ecosystem of safety and want to make 'safe city' a part of the Smart City campaign. We want to have more helplines, intervention programmes and counselling for women,” says Sreeram.
For more information, write to pennindia2020@gmail.com