the goan I network
Panaji
The State Research Center for Women (SRCW), on Friday launched its series on ‘Relationship Counseling’ at the Goa University, its operating center.
The SRCW, launched in September, hopes to run relationship counseling workshops every month, informed Dr Shaila De Souza, head of the Women’s Studies Department at GU, who was instrumental in setting up the SRCW.
The SRCW and the Department of Women’s Studies puts Goa ahead of other states as we offer students a program for gender sensitization, irrespective of religion, caste, and sexual orientation, said Dr De Souza speaking at the launch of the relationship counseling workshop series.
Dr De Souza explained that the seed for the idea to have a SRCW was sown by the Chancellor of the University Dr Mridula Sinha in the year 2014, when the latter called for a roundtable discussion to discuss the problems that affected the people of Goa, and how to resolve them.
The SRCW is funded by the Mahila Shakti Kendr of the Government of India and the Directorate of Women and Child Development
(DWCD) of the Government of Goa on a 60:40% funding basis. Further, Minister for WCD, Vishwajit Rane has extended his full support to the young team at the SRCW and
encouraged them to continue holding these kinds of workshops.
“It is important to involve the younger generation and get them to participate in these dialogues,” said Rane at the launch. “The younger generation has a lot to contribute, and these issues are not only for 10 bureaucrats sitting in the government who make policies to discuss,” he said.
Asawari Naik, the state co-ordinator at the SRCW, said that the center aimed to develop in people and hold workshops on Interpersonal skills, Advice on sexual and reproductive health, and legal advice.
The Center is also expected to extend systematic support to the state government, and provide it with information which will help improve state policies for women.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University Professor Varun Sahni, while encouraging the young team, congratulated them on starting a project that would have “massive societal ramifications.”
“Women hold up half the sky. We need to collectively embed the notion of gender equality,” Prof Sahni told the participants of the workshop. “Gender equality is not just a concept, but a fundamentally different approach to life, which needs to be a part of all fields of study,” said the VC.
