Gender-based issues and crimes are a global problem and a global imperative. The short term solution is stronger laws to deter perpetrators. Long term solutions are Women's Empowerment and Value-Based Education. Sakshi provides both - empowering girls and women holistically through the trifecta of Health, Education and Community Development & providing Value-Based Education teaching boys and girls about right and wrong, compassion and courage to help the vulnerable. Click here to learn more about Sakshi's projects and education model.

Sakshi Vice-President, Ms. Jaya Tandon, was interviewed for the Amity University Social Awareness Project for two short films - "Women's Safety" by the Fine Arts Program and "Prevention of Crime against Women" by the Mechanical Engineering Program. The Nirbhaya incident has made the whole country sensitive to the urgency of gender-based social issues and these films are meant to spread awareness about the problems and their solutions.

Following is an extract:  

Q: Are Gender-based Crimes a problem in only some countries like India ?

A: If you look at international news media recently regarding such crimes, you will find the Steubenville case in the US, the "Canadian Steubenville" case in Canada, the well-publicised women's crime crisis in wartorn African nations and of course the Nirbhaya case in India. So I would deem this problem to be a global one and therefore you also see it becoming a global imperative.

Generally, most people are good. It is a few rotten apples in the barrel that cause havoc. It is up to the rest of us to find a solution. 

In fact, in India, I am very heartened to see the whole nation, cutting across borders of religion, caste, socio-economic strata, gender, leaving their farms and air-conditioned offices alike and taking to the streets in protest. The need of the hour is to not let this rage burn out but keep a steady momentum for as long as it takes to achieve sustainable change. I have full faith in the people of India to accomplish this - they value values above all and always stand with what is right.     

Q: Regarding Gender-Based Crimes and Social Issues ranging from physical crimes to harassment at the workplace to domestic violence, what is the solution ?

A: The problem needs to be addressed with both short-term deterrents in the form of stronger laws and long-term solutions like Women's Empowerment and Value-Based Education which address these various issues at their root and create lasting societal change. 

In the short-term, we need better laws which provide for strong punishments for criminals and more effective redressal mechanisms for victims so two things happen - would-be perpetrators are deterred and victims are encouraged to come forward to prosecute so justice is seen to be done which would further prevent these sort of things from happening.    

But to address the problem sustainably and to create lasting change and a tectonic shift, we need long-term development solutions like Women's Empowerment and Value-Based Education.

We need to empower women socio-economically so they are not so vulnerable and the people who are prone to taking advantage of them, whether on the street or in the workplace or at home, don't find it so easy to exploit them. 

Then, we need to provide Value-based Education to our boys and girls helping them develop the ability to judge right and wrong, teaching them how to have courage to stand up for what is right, to have compassion and be strong enough to help the vulnerable instead of exploiting them.

If you look at it like this, the question of addressing gender-based crimes and social issues becomes part of the larger question of how to create a better citizenry and a value-based populace so that crime, discrimination, exploitation and wrong-doing in general is addressed whether it is against a woman, child, animal, environment, minority group, the poor, elderly etc.  

Q: Regarding the first long-term solution you mentioned - Women's Empowerment, how do we empower women then and what work does Sakshi do in this field ?

A:   Any model of empowerment or development, to be effective, must address all the needs of the beneficiary populace. That is why Sakshi works across Health, Education and Community Development to sustainably empower the poorest of poor and with a special focus on the category of greatest need, that is, girls and women. Our projects for Girl Child Upliftment and Women's Empowerment are:

Q: Last question, what can we students do to change society ? Do you have any message for the public or viewers of this film ?

A: (smiles) I'll quote the Father of our Nation - "Be the change you want to see in the world". If we all take the responsibility to change ourselves and live according to the values we'd like to see in other people, then no one will have to worry about changing anyone else. So start with yourself. Impact your world. If you look around you at home, at college, you will find lots of situations where you can lend a helping hand to women, the poor, children, animals.

So if you want to help the cause of girls and women, you could, for example, tutor your maid's daughter so she gets better marks. It sounds like a simple thing to do but if better marks can get her a good job when she grows up, it could change her life, her family's life and her children's. You will have lifted generations out of poverty and empowered not only one girl but her daughters too. Then, my experience has been that if one family's daughter has achieved something - like an award at school or a good job - it inspires their relatives and neighbours to empower their own daughters, to send them to school, place importance on their studies, decide to help them stand on their own feet. So your one act of tutoring one child will have created unending waves of change like the ripples on water when a small pebble breaks its smooth surface. 

Most people are afraid of doing the good they feel the urge to do because they don't want to stand out or be conspicuous. Once they see you living your values, you'll be surprised how many people get inspired by your example, leave their inhibitions and follow suit. So - be the change, the rest will fall into place.