As part of Shaastra 2022, the annual tech festival of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, students of the institute has launched the ‘UnMute' campaign focused on menstrual hygiene management and self-defence against sexual harassment.
Through this initiative, IIT Madras students aim to help women speak up on these issues and also conduct awareness campaigns.
The students have partnered with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Chudar, Go-Hygiene, CRY, Sakhya and Swayam to conduct programs like pad distribution drive in Bengaluru, online session on gender inequality and impact on people's lives, menstrual hygiene management awareness sessions for school-going girls in Chennai. The campaign started on October 16.
Dr Ratna Kumar Annabattula, Faculty Advisor, Shaastra 2022, IIT Madras, said, “This year the team has put tremendous efforts to execute UnMute, that primarily associates with menstrual hygiene management and self-defense for women. Having collaborated with various NGOs, the students hope to create a long-lasting impact by helping women to pursue a confident life.”
Events planned under this campaign include:
MHM Awareness sessions - In these sessions, speakers trained on the subject will speak about the need for menstrual hygiene, how the lack of it can lead to diseases and teach how to maintain good menstrual hygiene, IIT Madras said.
Self-Defence - This event will address the topic of why women are even now sexually assaulted, empowering women and enabling them to defend themselves by identifying dangerous situations and employing simple techniques, it added.