IIM Sirmaur took this initiative to sensitize the stakeholders belonging to various sections of society on the aspects relating to gender issues. Furthermore, it was an effort made by the institute to reflect and examine the issues relating to gender issues and finally to come up with solutions to these issues. This seminar was an attempt to address and study issues such as gender rights, gender specific crimes, violence against women, gender bias and efforts towards gender mainstreaming. The international community has spoken quite clearly on issues of gender equality and empowerment through various instruments. However, the blunt reality of gender issues is very far from the standards laid down jointly by the international community and there is a need to bridge this gap. Hence, this seminar was an initiative to fill this gap and make people aware about the gender issues in India. 
The subthemes of the seminar were: Young Girls - Exposure to Violence & Law Enforcement Agencies, Violence Against Women in India: Inclusive Care for Survivors, Gender Issue Challenges Integration & Inclusion, Violence Against Women & Mental Health, Gender Advancement in Higher Education & Women Empowerment to Reduce Workplace Violence. The guest speakers of the seminar were: Prof. Usha Lenka, Professor & HOD, Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee, Prof. Pranita Sarangi, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences & Bioengineering, IIT Roorkee; Dr. Neelanjana Pandey, Senior Program Officer, Population Council, New Delhi, Dr. Priyanka Kacker, Senior Assistant Professor, School of Forensic Psychology, National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat, Dr. K.G. Santhya, Senior Associate, Population Council, New Delhi & Dr. Om Prakash Singh, Department of Psychiatry, WBMES, Kolkata, West Bengal. Dr. Devika Vashisht, Presiding Officer, ICC, IIM Sirmaur gave the welcome remarks and addressed the online gathering. It was followed by the guest speakers’ sessions on six subthemes of the seminar. The programme concluded with a formal vote of thanks. The seminar came out to be very interactive and informative. The session was attended by Dr. Arpita Ghosh (Faculty) & research associates, Astha Pandey, Arijit Roy & Puneet Sharma. There were around 330 participants who were professionals from different sectors, faculty, teachers, scholars and students from different institutes. The participants were appreciative of the initiative undertaken by IIM Sirmaur to sensitize people belonging to various sections of society on the facets relating to gender issues.

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