SHILLONG: The chairperson of Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSW), Theilin Phanbuh, on Friday encouraged women to speak against harassment and discrimination.
She was speaking at the observation of 16 Days of Activism under the theme, ‘End gender-based violence in the world of work’, organised by North East Network (NEN) at Shillong Club.
Phanbuh expressed concern as most women do not come forward “which makes it difficult to take action against the culprits”.
However, awareness programmes are encouraging women to come out from their abusive and harassed relationship. Most women are not familiar of their rights and it is the duty of government, NGOs to sensitise them.
Phanbuh also pointed at the migration of rural women to urban areas and encouraged women to “utilise their energy and take up farming”.
“I feel proud to say I am a woman. I’m sure our women are very strong in spite of many problems and difficulties in life, they are still able to support and raise children,” she added.
NEN felicitated 8 women for their work against gender discrimination in society while some women were felicitated for their contribution to education.
As per Police, the number of cases of crime against women was 594 in 2017 as compared with 398 in 2016. Also, incidents of crime against children were 240 in 2016 and 360 in 2017.
