Allahabad High Court Organises First Gender Awareness And Sensitization Workshop

The Internal Committee of the Allahabad High Court last week organized a one-day Gender Awareness and Sensitization Workshop in compliance with Section 19 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) 2013.

The workshop was inaugurated by the Chairperson of the Internal Committee (IC), Justice Sunita Agarwal, and the participants included 25 Senior Officers (Judicial Officers) of the Registry of the High Court at Allahabad.

The issue of gender roles in the context of home and the workplace was the theme of the workshop. 

In her address, Justice Agarwal talked about the need for awareness of gender roles for better interpersonal relations between men and women. She stressed that a positive Working environment would be conducive to better productivity and efficiency in the workplace.

She referred to the importance of the workshop and said that it had to be postponed for 2 years because of Covid. She also said that the Committee plans to have similar workshops in the future also for the Judicial Officers of the subordinate Judiciary and Officers and employees of the High Court.

Introducing the workshop, Prof. Sumita Parmar, former Director of the Centre for Women's Studies, Allahabad University, and a member of the Committee said that the primary purpose of the Workshop was to clarify the concept of gender and help increase gender awareness and sensitivity. She said that covert gender discrimination happens often but remains invisible.

She further said that it was important to recognize it in order to address it and thereby create a better workplace environment and the judiciary plays a critical role in either perpetuating or dismantling existing gender stereotypes.

Aware and sensitive judicial officers, she stressed, could play a significant role in ridding the justice system of negative stereotypes.

Prof. Roop Rekha Verma, the former Vice-Chancellor of the Lucknow University gave the opening lecture on "Understanding Gender". She explained the difference between sex and gender and explained how gender was the social construction of man and woman.

Prof Verma said that it was important to analyze the social structure that caused men to behave in certain ways and break the existing stereotypes.

The valedictory address was given by Justice D. K. Upadhyaya who talked about the deeply embedded cultural and gender hierarchies that each one carried and how these set ideas interfered with progressive thinking.

He emphasized the importance of replacing old and negative ideas with new and better ones. He hoped that participants had benefited from the workshop in terms of increased awareness and sensitivity.

Participants were awarded certificates by Prof. Badri Narayan, Director of the G.B.Pant Institute, the workshop had interactions, discussions, and the screening of relevant video clippings.

Prof Pradeep Bhargava, former Directo, G.B. Pant Institute, and Dr. Archana Parihar, Assistant Professor, Pant Institute along with Prof. Parmar constituted the team conducting the workshop.

The team members and Dr. Roop Rekha Verma were felicitated by the Committee members. Justice Om Prakash-VII adorned the Dias along with the Committee members and Dr. Roop Rekha Verma during the Inaugural session.

Another member Justice Sangeeta Chandra joined through virtual mode. The convener of the workshop was Prof. Sumita Parmar. The inaugural session of the workshop was attended by Hon'ble Judges of the High Court, Allahabad.