No Means No

The goal of the workshop 'No Means No' is to activate discussion around consent among various stakeholders including youth and adolescent through an action oriented right based campaign on gender based violence with a focus on “Consent” of women/girls. The fact that women have the right to give consent is still largely not recognized and it is assumed that men can make decisions on behalf and for women often under the garb of protecting, family honour and safe keeping. It is in this context that we propose to undertake sensitization campaigns of adolescents and youth in schools and colleges that why consent is a basic right and a no means NO. Use of violence against women as a form of control is not only pervasive, but varied in its expression. Such variations reflect social and cultural differences which have resulted in battering, rape, incest, footbinding, infibulations, dowry death, selective malnourishment, bride burning, female infanticide, gang rape, forced prostitution, homicide, sexual harassment, international sexual trafficking and slavery, sexual degradation, child prostitution, violent pornography, child sexual abuse, abuse of widows and elderly women etc. Among the above mentioned crimes, rape and sexual offences are the most reprehensible crimes that women are subjected to and also these remain the least reported due to fear of stigma and further violence. Violence against women remains a serious, prevalent and largely invisible threat to human development. Sexual violence against women is not only an outcome of lack of gender sensitivity but also rooted in power and control and interpretations among citizens living in a society deeply steeped in patriarchal prejudice