Director's Note
Dear Friends,
2013 has been a very important year for Indian women. The incident of December 16 has taken over all our priorities for the last 3 months and I am deeply upset by the violence that continues to be committed against women throughout India.
I would like to pay homage to the memory of 'Nirbhaya.' The brutality of the crimes committed against her have left an indelible mark on us and our country but her courage is a driving factor for CSR and strengthens our resolve to continue in our struggle for gender equality.
Many positive steps have already been taken in the last few months and I am extremely grateful to Justice J.S. Verma for taking on board CSR's recommendations for amendments to the Criminal Law related to sexual violence against women. We are pleased that many of these recommendations have been incorporated in the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.
CSR is also proud to have partnered with Mission Convergence, Delhi Government in implementing a Gender Resource Centre in Shahstri Park. Our community unit now functions as a state-sponsored unit for women empowerment.
Since the beginning of 2013 we have continued our work with the German Embassy and we would like to show our appreciation to the German Ambassador, Mr. Michael Steiner, for his ongoing support of our project "Meri Shakti Meri Beti" and his commitment to the fight against sex selective abortion.
I also had the opportunity to travel to New York in March this year to participate in UN Women's 'Status on the Commission of Women' event. CSR facilitated a panel event on domestic violence in South Asia and I was invited to present on seven panels with colleagues from Austria, Australia, Korea, and the USA amongst others and was able to contribute to the global fight against violence against women and girls.
At the national level, the release of the 'Union Budget 2013-14' in February was extremely disappointing and calls into question the commitment of the Union Government to address gender inequality. Women were once again sidelined within the budget and only 5.8% of the total Union Budget expenditure (BE) was allocated to the Gender Budget Statement (BE).
I thank you all for supporting CSR as it moves towards its goal of gender equality with relentless determination. As always, I invite you to join our struggle and support our initiatives in whatever way you can. Our dream of equality will not be complete without social unity and collective action.
Dr. Ranjana Kumari