‘Men have to play important role to empower women’

 New Delhi: Mick Minard, a US photographer who traversed India to photograph women who fought inequality, gender violence and social injustice, says men have to play an equally important role to bring about a change in society.
“I would say that men are our greatest allies, that when they can be our champions, the whole world would be better off,” Minard said.
The photographer unveiled a selection of photographs of women she clicked in “transit camps in Mumbai to the slums in Lucknow to farm fields of Alwar and the ball fields of Rohtak” at an exhibition titled : The Poetry of Purpose: A Portrait of Women Leaders of India here.
A member of the UN and the International federation of University Women, Minard shed light on the fact that the role of men in empowering women had come up in recent conference of the UN.
“I was on the commission on the status of women conference last week which is 20 years since the women’s conference in Beijing and one of the questions that came up over and over again is the role of men and boys in empowering women and girls,” says Minard.
“A man’s role is just as important as our role. I would say that if we all can say that men are our greatest allies, we can probably accomplish a lot,” the photographer told.
The exhibition has been curated by art historian Alka Pande and is scheduled to be open till March 31.
A book was also released with the same title which Minard has co-authored with Shashi Gogate who has been practicing medicine in the US since mid 1960s was also released.
“The primary collection of photographs in the show are of women leaders across India who often in the face of their own social, political, familial and economic challenges are scaling the heights of human spirit, and improving the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary ways,” Minard said.
Terming the recently banned documentary in India “sensational,” Jawhar Sircar, the CEO of Prasar Bharati who was present at the event pointed out that “battles have to be fought on a daily basis to establish the status of women.”
He also said that Doordarshan was interested in making television shows on such women leaders.
“A certain film has been talked about quite a lot. You cannot sensationalize an event which is landmark in India but the fact remains that the limit is only known when the line is crossed,” Sircar said.
Meanwhile, organisers said the exhibition is scheduled to be taken Mumbai, Lucknow. (PTI)