Organized by Rotary Club of Bangalore

Kiran Bedi to inaugurate Seminar on Domestic Violence

The Women Empowerment Committee, a wing of Rotary Club of Bangalore is organizing a seminar on "Domestic Violence - issues and challenges" on Saturday, March 14, 2009. The seminar will begin at 10 AM and will be held at the Rotary House of Friendship, Lavelle Road. Dr. Kiran Bedi, IPS, will inaugurate and moderate the panel discussion. Honorable Justice N. Kumar, will be the Chief Guest and Mr. Sandeep Bakhshi, MD & CEO ICICI Lombard, the guests of honour. Other speakers on the panel will be Ms. Premila Nesargi, Senior Advocate High Court of Karnataka; Ms. Rama Iyer, Advocate practicing in the Family Court Bangalore; Sri. S.T Ramesh, Additional Director General of Police, (R.&T) Govt. of Karnataka; Ms. Nomita Chandy, Founder Member & Secretary, Ashreya; Ms. Sheela Ramanathan, Director, Human Rights Law Network; Ms. Parvathi Menon, Chief of Bureau & Sub-editor, The Hindu; Dr. Prabha Chandra, Prof of Psychiatry, NIMHANS and some victims of Domestic abuse.
According to the organizers, the citizens of Bangalore, can play a part in preventing abuse from happening to anyone in the society. Rotary Club of Bangalore has taken a lead to devise better awareness campaigns and ensure that appropriate measures are taken in cases of domestic violence.
Rotary President, Rtn Vijaykumar says "Domestic Violence is a criminal matter. The effects of abuse are devastating and far-reaching. This seminar will meet the distinct needs of women from a broad range of backgrounds because domestic violence lives in many different communities. We can all take responsibility for helping tb bring about a change. At the end of the seminar, we hope to arrive at a conclusion on concrete action which could be taken by our Women Empowerment Committee to assist victims of Domestic Violence."
Admission is free for the seminar and the meeting will focus on increasing public awareness, education and understanding of Domestic Violence. Lawyers, Doctors, Police personnel, NGOs, Media representatives, persons from the corporate world and victims will be present to discuss this burning issue.
Women Empowerment Committee was the first of its kind to be started by Rotary Club of Bangalore in 2005. The activities of this committee is exclusively devoted to the woman in need/ distress.
In 2009, WEC, Rotary Club of Bangalore decided to take on the issue of Domestic Violence to alleviate the suffering of women.
Its first programme on this issue  was a broadcast on AIR on Kannada Channel, in June '08. This led to a series of awareness workshops on Domestic Violence, in rural areas around Bangalore.
A help line for women suffering from Domestic Violence is being planned by WEC, Rotary Club of Bangalore.
In addition WEC has trained "Home Care Nurses" provided training in income generation; initiated Micro Credit in Slums; held free Cancer Detection Camps in association with Kidwai Memorial Hospital; provided medicines for cancer patients; Held fund raisers to provide care for Breast Cancer patients; and so on. WEC also gives award to the woman of substance each year to mark International Women's Day.