Dowry, female feticide two sides of same coin: Activist

Kolhapur: Dowry and female

feticide

are two sides of the same coin, therefore, the youth should stand against it for

gender equality

and a healthy society, said social activist Milind Chavan during Yuva Samvad — a workshop organised at Rajaram College by the Kolhapur unit of Maharashtra Andhshradha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS) on Thursday.

The workshop on gender equality was organised to celebrate International Women’s Day and create awareness among college students. More than 100 students from Rajaram College, The New College and Shivaji University participated in the workshop.

Addressing the participants, Chavan said, “Gender inequality starts due to property rights. As per the Indian tradition, a girl is an additional burden on the family. They need to secure money for her marriage. Therefore families prefer son over daughter which ultimately gives birth to the doctors like Khidrapure. He is not the only villain in this game. The society is equally responsible for such incidents. Therefore, college youths should stand against dowry and feticide.”

Sandhya Jadhav, a participant at the workshop, said, “I got to know the inter relations between property and sex determination. Gender equality is not contrasting, but complementary to male and female. I also realised the natural and manmade difference between male and female.”

Soham Mande, another participant, said, “Patriarchal mentality is created by the society and it needs to change. The college period is an ideal time to mould ourselves. We have to accept the freedom of women and behave with them accordingly. No one can take away the independence of women from her.”