Gender Equality: ‘Let what we do define us’

March 13, 2023 35 Views No Comment

Dimapur, March 13 (MExN): North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research (NEISSR) celebrated International Women’s Day under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” on March 8, at Peace Centre, Chümoukedima.

According to a press release received on Sunday, Elizabeth Pojar (Assistant Professor, NEISSR) stated that the society is conditioned to think that certain genders fit into certain roles and that certain people can or cannot do certain things.

She maintained that ‘woman is the only gender whose gender is defining their profession,’ and emphasised the need to move away from allowing gender to define the individual. Let what we do define us in order to achieve gender equality, she added.

She also touched upon the theme and stated that technology has a huge role in women’s life as technology is the hotspot for creating awareness, digital skills and networking. The world has seen women using digital space as a platform for creating and spreading awareness by speaking about sexual violence and abuse which is encouraging and helping women and girls to protect their rights and also address gender based violence.

According to Pojar, women are excelling in all aspects of life; however, they lack digital skills as women hold just 22% of positions in artificial intelligence. Therefore, she urged that women should equip themselves with digital skills and also pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as by 2050, 75% of jobs will be related to STEM areas. This, she said, would help in bridging the disparity or gap between the genders. She concluded by stating that women do not want flowers, chocolates, gifts or women’s day discounts but seek and need to be heard, seen and understood, the release stated.

On the occasion, James Quinker (MSW 2nd Semester) spoke on the significance of International Women’s Day and why it is celebrated every year. He shared that there has been prevalence in the breakthrough of stigmas and barriers in various fields-globally, nationally, in states and in society by citing the examples of some great women leaders around the world. Likewise, he urged the women not to be bound by social stigmas but to be strong and capable. He also stated that NEISSR has many success stories of women progressing in academic fields and also each year the institute has been producing professional social workers who are mostly women.

The programme was attended by the students, faculty and the management of NEISSR.