The team at SAMAAJ has announced that they will be conducting fortnightly webinars as a part of their Girls’ Sexual Abuse Prevention Program. Each webinar will introduce new panelists with different areas of expertise. The purpose of these sessions is to encourage an open discussion and probe all possible aspects of the issue of Child Sexual Abuse to raise awareness about the subject.
The first webinar, which was conducted on 8th January, featured the film and media expert, Mira Hashmi and feminist researcher and human rights activist, Feroza Batool. The discussion was focused on the basic understanding of CSA and the role played by media in endorsing gender stereotypes and therefore contributing to the increased cases of sexual abuse in the country.
Panelists for the second webinar included Psychologist and Trainer, Dr. Asha Bedar and School Psychologist, Natasha Barlas. The panelists spoke in great detail about the stigma associated with talking about child abuse, the proper way to talk to children about this issue and the importance of counselling in healing from the trauma.