365 DAYS ZERO TOLERANCE TO GENDER BASED VIOLENCE: MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW is a campaign launched by All India Council of Christian Women (AICCW) which is the women’s wing of National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) in response to the increasing Gender based violence in India.
The campaign was inaugurated by Rt. Rev. Dr. Taranath S. Sagar, President of NCCI during its Executive Committee meeting in Bangalore on 27th February 2015. "Prophetic church cannot remain silent when our daughters and mothers are being raped, when our roads are becoming unsafe for our daughters to go to school, when our indigenous sisters are trafficked and displaced from their home as forests are bought by multi-national Companies, when our children are sold for a sack of rice, when women are battered by their loved ones at home, or burnt for dowry, or our daughters are deprived of food and education" asserts Dr. Saramma Varghese, President of AICCW. "We have chosen International Women’s Day to promote this campaign" states Dr. Varghese.
"Gender based violence is a disease and has become a pandemic in India. To combat this pandemic we need to build the conscience of the nation & puncture the culture of violence" opines Moumita Biswas, Executive Secretary of AICCW. "This is indeed a vigorous task. We need commitment, time, strategies, passion for justice, knowledge about human rights of women, children and vulnerable people, strengthened networking and willingness to risk ourselves in order to combat this pandemic of gender based violence in India" states Ms. Biswas. Therefore AICCW invites Church leaders, lay leaders, youth, men, women in congregations, institutions, communities to participate in this campaign so that everyone can have ‘Life in its fullness’ (John 10:10).
The Campaign aims to :-
- Create awareness, conscientize & educate communities, individuals, Church & lay leaders to work towards eradicating gender-based violence.
- Nurture spirituality of justice, peace, healing & reconciliation, and reflect faith into action to eradicate gender-based violence through various training programs, advocacy work, etc.
- Engage in vigorous advocacy for Zero Tolerance to any form of gender-based violence at home, work place, communities, and even churches & faith-based organizations.
- Educate people about Child Protection Policies, Sexual Harassment & Gender Justice Policies, and implement such policies in churches and organizations/institutions.
- Mainstream gender justice.
- Strive to eradicate poverty which fuels feminization of violence especially violence against women, children and people from vulnerable communities.
- Act as pressure agency on government for implementation of laws and just legal system that prevents violation of human rights of women and children.
- Work towards rehabilitating and healing survivors and victims of gender-based violence.
- Promote gender studies and gender justice education in curriculums and social ethics in schools and colleges.
Executive Secretary
All India Council of Christian Women (AICCW)
Note: All India Council of Christian Women (AICCW) is the Women’s wing of National Council of Churches in India (NCCI). NCCI comprises of 14 million Christians in India from 30 different member Churches from Protestant & Orthodox tradition out of which 7 million are women and children.
