York University Canada Dr Sharada Srinivasan Shares Thoughts on India National Girl Child Day

Jan. 24, 2012 - PRLog -- India today faces a very serious problem due to decline in the CSR both in urban and rural areas of many states and union territories which speaks about the pathetic status and low desirability of girl child in Indian society. Dr.Sharada Srinivasan, Assistant Professor, International Development Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada is a top ranking researcher in the area of female infanticide and had authored the book “Daughter Deficit: Sex Selection in Tamilnadu” which had received wide media coverage recently.

Dr Sharada holds a B.A. (Psychology) from Madras Christian College Chennai, M.A. (Social Work) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences - TISS Mumbai, M.A. and PhD from Institute of Social Studies – ISS Netherlands. Her research interests include Gender discrimination, gender-based violence, sex selection, young people and development . For more details about Dr Sharada see http://people.laps.yorku.ca/people.nsf/researcherprofile?readform&shortname=sharada

On this occasion, she conveyed the following exclusive message to the faculty and students of Shridhar University Pilani Rajasthan. “Stemming from a deep unwantedness of daughters, sex selection is today a national problem. Sex selection is not distant, reported in the media; it is in the first instance an extreme form of gender discrimination and an act of violence. Governments need to do a lot more, demonstrate seriousness, urgently. While it is easy to point a finger at someone else, there is a lot that each one of us must do individually and collectively to create a welcoming environment for daughters. As parents, sisters and brothers, we need to respect, nurture and value a girl child for what she offers her family-- love, affection and care ….. not all of which can be measured in monetary terms. Treat her as you would like to be treated, with dignity and love. On campus and in other public spaces, men, do not intimidate her, there is no courage in such cowardly acts. Treat women as your colleagues, not as competition or as objects that can be dispensed with. Sex selection is not a woman's problem. It is yours too and you can act decisively to put an end to it. To universities such as yours and to esteemed faculty members, we need curricula and pedagogy that are gender-sensitive; that do not reproduce male bias; and instead appreciate and bring visibility to what women contribute as daughters, mothers, wives and countless other roles. What do all these have to do with preventing sex selection? EVERYTHING. The day a woman feels valued and proud of her life, and safe in her home and in public spaces, she will want to be reborn a daughter.... sex selection will come to a halt. That day is still a distant prospect. It doesn't have to be this way; YOU CAN CHANGE IT.”

On behalf of Shridhar University, Prof BR Natarajan Pro Vice Chancellor thanked Dr Sharada for sparing her valuable time for sharing her thoughts to the Shridhar University students and faculty.

For more details about Shridhar University Pilani, see http://www.shridharuniversity.ac.in

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About Shridhar University: An initiative of the Sarvhit Trust, Shridhar University Pilani has been established under Section 2(f) of UGC Act 1956 incorporated by Government of Rajasthan vide Ordinance No. 3 of 2009 and the same ratified by the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly vide Act No. 4 of 2010 as The SHRIDHAR UNIVERSITY ACT BIGODNA, JHUNJHUNU. Further, Vide letter F.No 8-3/2010(CPP-I/PU) dated 31 May 2010, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has also notified Shridhar University under Section 2(f) of UGC Act 1956. ISO 9001:2008 certified Shridhar University has 11 Schools of Learning offering various Certificate, Diploma, Under Graduate, Post Graduate as well as Doctoral programmes. In order to prepare students for a global future, Shridhar University has actively taken up collaborations with various national & international institutions and already has signed MoU with top ranking Athens University of Economics and Business - AUEB, Greece. http://www.shridharuniversity.ac.in