May 18th and 19th Visthar conducted a gender sensitization workshop with young people from Kristu Jayanthi College. With heavy rains and some roads flooded, we were not sure if the students would be able to make it to Visthar. But all of them arrived on time, excited to share and learn.
Mercy Kappen and Raaj kicked off the day with signature session on Sex and Gender. Once we all agreed that gender is socially constituted, participants began digging deeper into how different social institutions have influenced us. They presented their findings through role plays. We could see everyone was having fun through thought provoking discussions.
On day two, we looked more closely at gender identities and the struggles of sexual and gender minorities. Slowly the discussion progressed to gender-based violence (GBV) more broadly – its various forms, its causes and consequences. The simple cat and mouse game became an opportunity to analyse the various responses to GBV. We ended the day with the web game to see how different social inequalities intersect in our lives.
We were happy to see how engaged all the participants were. They did not hesitate to share their views and to disagree with their friends. We learn best when we can trust each other and share openly.
In their feedback to us, participants said the two days were really thought provoking, that they could share things they have never discussed in a group setting before. They appreciated how the sessions and facilitators flowed smoothly throughout the two days. Thank you to the Kristu Jayanthi team. We look forward to sharing more time together.
