Sachin Tendulkar to recite Marathi poem promoting women's rights

 

New Delhi: Celebrated Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is all set to lend his aura to the cause of women's rights by reciting a Marathi poem for director-actor Farhan Akhtar's Men against Rape and Discrimination (MARD) campaign.
"Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has taken a stand to bat for a noble cause — discrimination against women. He has collaborated with director-actor Farhan Akhtar to recite a special poem in Marathi for MARD to create awareness among men to respect women and promote gender equality," MARD said in a statement.
"Given Sachin's heroic stature in the nation, his involvement in the campaign will inspire many more to join the noble cause."
The poem has been penned by veteran lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar. Originally penned in Hindi, the lyrics have been translated in different languages like Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi and Marathi. The Telugu version has been recited by Tollywood star Mahesh Babu.
Tendulkar will be reciting the Marathi version of the poem which has been translated by Jitendra Joshi and will be out soon.

For Women, Saudi Arabia's New Metro May Mean Greater Mobility

Public transportation has been found to reduce traffic congestion, cut pollution, fight obesity, and boost economic productivity by millions, even billions of dollars. In Riyadh, where Saudi Arabia plans to build a $22 billion subway system, it may also unleash social change. In particular, it will allow women to travel without male escorts.

Without the right to drive, Saudi women are largely house-bound and highly dependent on male escorts. Violating the religious decree against driving is punishable by arrest; two years ago, a Saudi court sentenced a female activist to 10 lashes after she posted a YouTube (GOOG) video of herself behind the wheel.
Scheduled for completion in 2019, the Riyadh metro may provide far greater independence. Women and children will have their own compartments, separate from men, allowing them to travel the city safely and without escorts and controls, according to Spiegel International. The metro system will include six lines—both above and below ground—that extend 109 miles and fan out across the city.
In addition to the Riyadh metro, Saudi Arabia also has subway projects underway in Mecca and Jeddah. Meanwhile, Riyadh’s Princess Nora bin Abdulraham University, an all women’s school, will soon get its own rail line, which will reportedly be operated by an all-female staff.
All this is further evidence that the desert kingdom’s women’s rights movement is slowly gaining ground. The kingdom last year allowed a female athlete to participate in the Olympics for the first time and in 2011 said women will be granted the right to vote in 2015. Recently, 30 women were appointed to Saudi Arabia’s highest consultative body, the Shura Council, which drafts laws and advises the king.
Still, the country’s religious police may still find ways to curtail female mobility. Earlier this year, Saudi women were granted the right to ride bicycles—”but only in circles,” as the Guardian put it. When taking to two wheels, they must wear head-to-toe coverings and be accompanied by a male relative. They’re also required to stay in parks and recreational areas and to cycle only for the sake of entertainment. Not transportation.

Strong women were pillars behind civil rights movement

 

A lesser-known fact of the March on Washington is that there were two lines of civil rights leaders marching on separate streets on Aug. 28, 1963: one for male civil rights leaders and one for their female counterparts.
Civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks and Dorothy Height walked down Independence Avenue, while the men proceeded down Pennsylvania with the press.
"Two separate parades were held," said Clayola Brown, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, who attended the march as a teenager.
The March on Washington was a sign of unity and hope, but women were all but written out of the history surrounding that day. Many African-American women took charge of the movement at the grass-roots level, while some worked alongside Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph and other civil rights icons.
There was Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women and a key organizer of the march, and Ella Baker, who founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Evelyn Lowery was involved in campaigns with her husband, the Rev. Joseph Lowery. Daisy Bates, a mentor to the nine students who in 1957 integrated Little Rock High School in Arkansas, was active alongside her husband, L.C. Bates, throughout the civil rights movement.
In Tallahassee, the Stephens sisters gained a reputation as leading student activists. Patricia and Priscilla Stephens mobilized students at Florida A&M University to do sit-ins at Woolworth's. They were once jailed for 49 days.
Despite their contributions leading up to the march, none of them was invited to speak at length.
"We need to tell the story of the power of women in our movement," said Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.
Although male and female activists alike campaigned for civil rights, women typically didn't receive credit for their contributions. Women often took background roles, such as preparing food and training young activists, but they also strategized the campaigns.
Campbell and others are working to preserve their mentors' stories and imparting them to the next generation.
The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation holds a roundtable to discuss women's advancement and train black women in civic engagement. On Aug. 22, the roundtable will recognize the women behind the march and look at the role of women today in an event with the National Action Network, the National Council of Negro Women, Planned Parenthood and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
"It's about building inclusion and opportunity in this country for not just (those of) us who are here, but those coming up," Campbell said.
Before the March on Washington, the leading men of the movement invited celebrities and activists like Height to stand with them before the Lincoln Memorial. Marian Anderson and Mahalia Jackson were scheduled to sing, but there were no female speakers.
"That's when we really got ticked off," Brown said. "We could sing, but we couldn't speak."
Brown recalled that Randolph eventually allowed for Myrlie Evers, widow of assassinated NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers, to address the crowd, but she couldn't make it. Instead, Daisy Bates had the microphone handed to her so she could briefly recognize female activists.

women empowerment

   

Unsafe public transport

 

Yesterday I was coming back to home from my college by bus . There was no seat at all. I had to travel the whole standing throughout my whole journey that was for almost 2 hours. Instead of  letting me sit the men over there didn't even let me stand properly. I was standing in between the two sitting rows. They even didn't let me put my hand for the support. they put hands there where i had put my hands. They stretched their legs and extended their second leg to touch me. Even the conductor didn't spear me. he crossed the line again and again. All men were sitting there and Instead of helping me with this exploitation they were just watching the drama and making fun of me. In the last I got a seat  and that man too stretched his legs. I didn't saw even a single man of right character. I am just not able to forget the bitter experience. Don't why In india girls are punished only for being girl. Just don't know how to keep myself safe in the public transports.I guess i must dress like a boy and keep a big wooden stick with me all the time. Really fed up.

Women empowerment- still a concept

Women empowerment is still a flowery concept in many parts in our country.

Today is my mother's birthday and I want to share something very serious what she always wanted from core of her heart

She used to talk about 'Female's education' in 90's when it was thought to be a waste of time and money for many families.
She opened a school(high school) -which was never approved by state goverment and after her deathit got closed- and provided basic infrastructure for the girls to get good education and at least pass their board exams with good marks.
Initially She fulfilled her responsibility diligently but after sometime it got really difficult for her to continue with that- when number of students increased ,and requirement of more teachers and other stuffs arose-  but she never gave up and kept providing the minimum essential amenities till her last breath.
After her death(7 years ago) the school got closed and a national party convention center is present there now.

We talk about 'women empowerment' but how can it be possible without proper education
Female literacy rate in India is still around 60%(just around 50% in big states like Bihar,UP,Rajasthan ) .
If we solely depend upon Goverment policies and their implimentation I think the condition would never improve,It will not improve till each one of us starts focusing on our locality and ensuring that evey child there should get proper education .

No population stabilisation without women’s empowerment: FOGSI

New Delhi, July 12 (IANS) The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) has said the empowerment and emancipation of women was necessary for population stabilisation.

“We have tied up with government agencies and NGOs in states with poor human development indices to tackle the issue (of population stabilisation) both at the macro and micro levels,” Hema Divakar, president of FOGSI said at a seminar on population stabilisation here Thursday.

Divakar said: “We believe population stabilisation is possible… through empowerment and education. For instance, building and technology enhancement of stakeholders will help reduce the population growth over the next two decades”.

“At FOGSI, we have several result-oriented programmes aimed at arresting the growth of the population. Our programmes are a functional level,” she said.

“For several of our programmes aimed at the masses, we used multiple platforms and the results are overwhelming. We are happy that FOGSI is already aligned with the government’s views on this,” she said.

She also said that FOGSI, in association with the Public Health Foundation of India, has launched courses on contraception.

Empowering Rural Women Improves Livelihoods, Makes World a Better Place

The benefits are many — from greater social development to changes that improve the world — when nations empower ambitious women. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once said you will change a family if you empower a woman, but you will change the world if you empower a group of women. Women, especially rural women, make up a great source of power for development. As key contributors to global economies, rural women play a critical role in both developed and developing nations. How? They enhance agricultural and rural development, improve food security and help reduce poverty in their communities. Empowering rural women not only gives them greater dignity and welfare, it also helps improve others' livelihoods — and helps change the world.

About Empowerment

Women's empowerment has been an important achievement in the global women's movement. If women want to benefit from social development and obtain an equal footing with men in employment, education and other areas of development, they must be empowered. They should take control of their lives.

Since the 1990s, the United Nations (UN), and various other international institutions, have stressed that empowering women is an important way of achieving both women's development and gender equality. In 1994, participants at the UN conference on population and development, in Cairo, adopted a 20-year plan of action, known as the Cairo Consensus, which called on countries to recognize that women's needs, rather than demographers' plans, should be at the heart of population strategies.

The Cairo Consensus dedicated one chapter to gender equality and women's empowerment. That document stressed that empowering women, giving them self-autonomy and improving their political, social, economic and health status were important objectives that were also crucial to sustainable development.

In 2012, the UN celebrated International Women's Day by organizing the activity "Empower Rural Women: End Hunger and Poverty." At that time, Ban and Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly, appealed to the international community to eliminate gender equality and empower rural women.

Ban said more women had become national leaders and that the percentage of high-level female government officials had reached a high level. He added that women were playing a more significant role in their nations' economies and that more girls were receiving an education, growing up healthily and being educated about their own potential.

Despite such improvements, Ban said, women were still far from fully enjoying their lawful rights and interests. The gap, he added, was especially large in rural areas. Ban said discriminatory laws restrain rural women's impact on their communities and countries.

"Estimates reveal that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent, to lift 100-150 million out of hunger … To empower rural women is the smartest thing a developing country can do," Ban said.

Rural women's development lags in many countries, including China. Some international women's organizations want the solving of rural women's problems included in the global development framework.

In recent years, the Chinese Government and various non-governmental organizations in China have been dedicated to helping the country achieve gender equality and women's empowerment. 

Speech by Cui Yu, Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, During a Discussion on How Women Effect Rural Development 
Agriculture plays a fundamental role in protecting economic and social development, improving people's lives and maintaining social stability. In China, rural women are the main force in food safety and agricultural production and development. It is crucial, therefore, that society empower rural women, improve their status and encourage them to play their roles in social and political development. 

We are glad to see that the global community has attached great importance to the protection of rural women's rights and development, and that the global community has made an effort to promote rural women's development. 

China is an agriculture-based country, and a country that consumes a large amount of agricultural products. Chinese women have played an important role in promoting the development of agriculture and the countryside. The Chinese Government has attached great importance to rural women's development. The Chinese Government has taken legal, administrative and economic measures to protect rural women's equal rights and interests. 

First, rural women make up the main workforce in agricultural production. Coinciding with China's industrialization and urbanization, a great number of rural men have relocated to cities to find work. Thus, women now make up 65 percent of the rural workforce. Rural women produce half of the food on Chinese people's dinner tables. Women have contributed a great deal to the promotion of China's rural and agricultural development. 

Women's organizations, at all levels, have organized training to teach 20 million rural women new skills and techniques and how to read and write. 

In 2009, women's organizations implemented a small-loan program to encourage rural women to participate in rural development. The policy has proven to be effective; it has benefited rural women in 2,427 counties, from 300 cities, nationwide. 

Under the program, more than 67 billion yuan (US $10.63 billion) in small loans have been issued, and those loans have motivated 6 million rural women to start their own businesses. Thanks to the program, rural women have achieved greater autonomy and seized their right to make decisions in agricultural production. 

For many of the rural women, the small loan was the first time they had received a bank loan. The small-loan program helped rural women develop their economic potential. 

Second, rural women have become participants in rural democratic politics. China has 604,000 villages. The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) has taken measures to promote rural women's participation in village committees and rural branches of the CPC (Communist Party of China). In the past five years, 83.6 percent of the rural women have participated in village committee elections. Rural women are moving closer to equality with men and they have a greater say in the decision-making process. 

Third, rural women help promote the development of socialism. Women play an irreplaceable role in improving cultural development and family virtues. The ACWF has taken measures to care for left-behind women and left-behind children in the countryside. Women's federations, at all levels, have organized 221,200 aid groups for left-behind women, so they can help each other in both work and life. An increasing number of rural women are voluntarily participating in public-welfare work, such as poverty alleviation, ecological protection and voluntary services. They have made great contributions to the prosperity of the countryside. 

Fourth, rural women benefit from the development of rural healthcare. Health is the basis for people's overall development. In rural China, the incidence rates of cervical cancer and breast cancer are on the rise. 

Since 2009, the ACWF and China's Ministry of Health (MOH) have promoted, among rural women, free screening for breast cancer and cervical cancer. Some 13.15 million rural women have received free cancer screening. The ACWF and MOH also established a special fund to provide financial assistance to poor rural women who suffer from cervical cancer and/or breast cancer. Under the fund, a poor rural woman can receive up to 10,000 yuan (US $1,587.30) for treatment. Implementation of the free cancer-screening project has improved rural women's health awareness and encouraged women to pay more attention to their health. 

When it comes to the construction of a material civilization, reality has proven that rural women can hold up half of the sky. Women also play an irreplaceable role in promoting ethics, socialism family harmony and social stability. 

On the one hand, we can see that more countries are paying attention to rural women's development and making an effort to promote gender equality and rural women's empowerment. On the other hand, we are still far from realizing true gender equality for rural women. 

Various factors, such as poverty, prejudice, lack of resources and the low rate of representation in the decision-making process, still affect rural women's progress. 

In 2012, the UN celebrated International Women's Day by organizing the activity "Empower Rural Women: End Hunger and Poverty." (UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser) appealed to the international community to eliminate gender discrimination and empower rural women. 

Ban has said if you empower a woman, you will change a family; if you empower a group of women, you will change the world. We are willing to join hands with all nations to put our promise into action by playing an active role in promoting rural women's development in a changing world. 

Education and empowerment: you're nobody until somebody trains you

Improving girls' access to education has been on the mainstream development agenda for some time, largely because of the poverty reduction potential that education offers through increasing access to economic opportunity. The long-term positive effects of education for the individual, family and wider society have also been recognised. As astudy by the International Center for Research on Women confirms, "women are more likely to control their own destinies and effect change in their own communities when they have higher levels of education".

In addition, education is often seen as one of the main pathways to achieving another key development goal: girls' and women's empowerment. As the International Conference on Population and Development programme of action states: "Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process."

However, experience has shown that the relationship between education and empowerment is not as simple as it may first appear; while education is undoubtedly a key element contributing to empowerment, the two do not necessarily go hand in hand.

Many educational programmes will focus on students' acquisition of formal knowledge and training, and will often equip them with the technical skills necessary to take up paid employment in a specific sector. For adolescent girls, this can mean being formally trained in an activity traditionally seen as "women's work", such as sewing, the small-scale production and commercialisation of food products, artisanal production or secretarial skills for the more literate.

While it is often important that girls receive this vocational training as part of their education, a more holistic approach that places a strong emphasis on enabling girls to develop a wider awareness of themselves and the external context in which they live is also vital. Having the opportunity to develop an awareness of their own social situation, as well as to gain confidence and self-esteem, means not only that girls are in a better position to deal with the multiple challenges that entry into the labour market can pose, but also are increasingly empowered to define and act upon their ambitions.

The importance of developing girls' ability to reflect on their own reality, to develop self-awareness and to build self-esteem has been recognised by the Burkina Faso branch of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (Fawe), an organisation that works to promote genderequality and education across Africa. One of the projects run by Fawe Burkina in Ouagadougou, the resource and training centre, offers training to adolescent girls from underprivileged backgrounds, who generally have a low level of formal education.

At the centre the girls primarily receive training in income-generating activities such as sewing, weaving and soap-making, as well as in non-traditional activities such as plumbing and mechanics. To complement this, they also participate in life skills and awareness-raising workshops, which include children's and women's rights, as well as on reproductive health and – importantly for their chances of being engaged in remunerated activity – basic maths and French language courses.

Earlier this year the manager of the centre, Absétou Lamizana, decided to further expand the life-skills element of the training programme, in response to an increasing recognition of the importance of self-esteem for the personal and professional development of the trainees. She explained: "Lack of ambition, of self-confidence and self-esteem are challenges faced by the girls, and are linked to a deeply-rooted culture of gender inequality and traditional attitudes towards the role of girls and women. This creates an atmosphere in which they have very little confidence in themselves and underestimate their capacities."

A partnership was developed with another local NGO, Génération Butterfly, which designed a workshop series tailored to the situation of the girls enrolled at the centre. Ibrahim Kaboré, the director of Génération Butterfly, noted that the trainees are also deeply affected by their less privileged socio-economic background, viewing themselves as inferior to other adolescents of their age, which results in an inability to value themselves and the products of their work. "Our self-esteem workshops help them to free themselves from their past and think more about what they are going to do today so that tomorrow can be better. Somebody who does not have confidence in themselves cannot easily act to improve their future," he said.

During the workshops another important element was revealed, which can be seen as a misunderstanding about the role of NGOs vis-à-vis the lives of adolescents from less privileged backgrounds. "It became clear that those living in poverty had become accustomed to a culture of receiving free services, which meant that the girls sometimes engaged in training because they felt it was expected of them, rather than because they were personally motivated to change their lives by learning professional skills. They saw their enrolment at the centre as a consequence of being poor, and this was also damaging to their self-esteem."

It is not easy to overcome the effects of a lifetime of poverty and marginalisation. Despite this, Fawe Burkina are committed to working to further develop holistic "life skills" training, which aims to ensure that on completion of the programme trainees are in a stronger position to make informed choices about their lives and act on previously unthinkable ambitions.

While it is important not to lose sight of the huge challenges many will face while trying to become engaged in economic activity, leaving the centre with a reinforced self-belief means they have already overcome a huge hurdle. As a result, they will be better able to control their own destinies and participate more meaningfully in development – an aspiration for the adolescent girls leaving the centre and development practitioners alike, and which is firmly rooted in the notion of empowerment.

Lamizana summed up this approach: "In our view, education must be reinforced by the development of self-esteem to lift girls from the status of inferiority in which society confines them. Similarly, without education and without self-esteem there cannot be empowerment. All of these elements go together."

Nigeria: UN Women, NHA to Empower 1,000 Rural Women

The United Nations Women (UN W), an agency of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and Novo Health Africa (NHA), a health organisation based in Abuja, saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to empower about 1,000 women through improving their health and economic conditions for social and economic development of the country.

At the signing ceremony, the UN Women country representative to Nigeria and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr. Grace Ongile, said the country's office in Nigeria recognises the importance of synergy with stakeholders like Novo Health Africa in addressing the broad challenges faced by women and young girls across the continent.

While commending Novo Health Africa for the initiative in coming up with the idea, she expressed satisfaction at the event which, according to her, marks the commencement of yet another strategic partnership for sustainable development in the country.

"Novo Health Africa is today adding up to our list of partners," she said. The specific objectives of the partnership, according to her, include: "To build strong synergies between Novo Health Africa and UN Women for the empowerment and well-being of girls and women in Nigeria; to improve the health and economic conditions of poor and vulnerable groups, especially women in Nigeria."

In her remarks, the Managing Director, NHA, Dr. Dorothy Jeff-Nnamani, stated that it is the belief of the organisation that to attain measurable social and economic development, the Nigeria health system must be positioned to deliver on its basic goals as any other system, namely to keep families healthy, treat the sick and prevent families from catastrophic financial effects of ill health, adding that she hopes to build local and international partnerships for timely and wider reach response to health related issues.

She said: "Novo Health Africa hopes to contribute to strengthening the health system for social and economic development by developing and providing sustainable health programmes and services." Jeff-Nnamani added that NHA will distinguish itself through professionalism, quality and outstanding service experience.

Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls essential in getting to zero

The particular impact that HIV has on women and girls was discussed during a panel discussion organised in conjunction with the 55th Session of Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Broad ranging discussion took place during the event on how gender inequality, poverty, harmful cultural practices, and unequal power relations exacerbates their vulnerability to HIV infection.

Also underscored was the important, if not central, role of human rights and creating an enabling environment for women and girls. Participants agreed that countries must do more to ensure women and girls have access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and HIV services.

The keynote speech was given by Jan Beagle, Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, UNAIDS who said the Committee could help to ensure that governments make HIV services available and accessible to all women and girls including sex workers, women who inject drugs and transwomen. Looking to the post-2015 agenda, she stressed the importance of leveraging synergies across movements to advance sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

The panellists agreed that all barriers hampering women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services must be removed, and they called on State Parties to CEDAW to make the necessary investments to facilitate access to SRH services. They also encouraged State Parties to enhance their reporting on human rights issues as it relates to women and HIV and to better use CEDAW to advance the rights of women and women living with HIV in particular.

Self-employment loans for women raised to 10 lakh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Setting the ground for a major breakthrough in women empowerment, the state government would give guarantee on National Finance Corporation'sRs45-crore loan for the Kerala State Women Development Corporation (KSWDC).

With this, the self-employment loans for women will be raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. In addition to women from backward and minority communities, financially backward women in the general category will also be provided the loans, said KSWDC chairperson P Kulsu and managing director S M Arif.

The awareness drive for women empowerment will be strengthened. Women's cells will be constituted in 40 colleges, including co-ed colleges. A women's hostel will be set up in Kozhikode this year. Training girls and women in self-defence will form part of self-empowerment programme.

Revising the eligibility criteria for the self-employment loan, the annual earning limit of the applicant will be raised from Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000 in rural areas and Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.30 lakh in urban areas, so that maximum number of women would benefit, KSWDC officials said.

The KSWDC is the only agency in the state that offers women loans at very low interest rates. The scheme is expected to benefit about 5,000 women this year, the officials said. For girls in backward, minorities and scheduled caste communities, loans up to Rs 20 lakh will be offered for higher studies abroad, they said.

Empowerment of women will lead to peace: Kalam

Stressing the need for women’s empowerment, former president APJ Abdul Kalam has said empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a good society and nation.

Delivering the Durgabai Deshmukh memorial lecture as part of Andhra Mahila Sabha’s platinum jubilee celebrations here on Tuesday, Kalam said that when women were empowered, a society with stability was assured. “Empowerment of women leads to development of a good family, good society and, ultimately, a good nation. When the woman is happy, the home is happy. When the home is happy, the society is happy and when the society is happy the state is happy and when the state is happy there will be peace in the country and it will develop at greater pace.”

He said the three key societal members who can make a difference in one’s life are the father, the mother and the teacher. “Parents and teachers must, therefore, have an integrated mission for the overall development of the child.

Schools must provide mission-oriented learning with value system to the child. The right kind of education based on moral values will upgrade the society and the country. Good traits in a person come when righteousness is in the heart. Righteousness should be in the family, education, society, business, civil administration, politics, government and law & order. Only then will unity, prosperity and peace prevail in the society.”

He said corruption was an assault on the conscience and hence everyone should fight against it and children should question their parents on the source of income.

The former president appreciated the work being done by Andhra Mahila Sabha for the uplift of women, especially in the field of education. He donated a few books to the college library and released the platinum jubilee souvenir.

Andhra Mahila Sabha president K Lakshmi said the organisation, in order to carry on the legacy of its founder and freedom fighter Durgabai Deshmukh, launched Durga Seva Sravanti project. Besides, a mobile diagnostic lab, a knowledge centre and a research centre would be started, she announced.

Work shop for self defence and women empowerment organised

Sampurna celebrated the Valedictory Function of the Self-defense and Women Empowerment camp. President Taruna Kataria, Sr. Vice President Asha Jain, Sub-inspector of Parivartan Cell Usha ji, Area Pradhan Geeta, Brij Nath, Devraj and Bhagat Ji were the chief guest of the programme were present on the occasion. The programme was started with lamp lighting by the chief guests. After that the participants sung the Mission Shakti song.

On the occasion , Usha motivated the female participants and encourage them to join Delhi Police. She further added that now after attaining the 15 days long self-defense training you have become well equipped to handle the crises situation.

Taruna Kataria said now you have to become the torch bearers of Sampurna and help not even yourself but others also who are in crises situation.

The participants presented the demo of self-defense training and a participation certificate is also given to all participants. The winners of various competitions that were held during the camp were also awarded by the chief guests.

At the end Taruna Kataria and Anand Dahiya thanked to all participants and the guests for making the programme successful.

Women self defense techniques

To all Women - watch this video as many times as you want... because this is something that money can't buy.. To all men help your near and dear women to aware about these techniques.. Like , comment, share and promote more and more...
Stay safe , Stay alive 
GoodLuck

Women Say Biggest War Zone is the Womb

In the US, there's no denying that maternal health and reproductive rights are under siege. In the first three months of 2012 alone, 944 provisions were introduced that target everything from women's health services to access to contraception and abortion. Even comprehensive sex education is on the chopping block.

But we are not alone. Every day, we hear from women across the world who are facing the deadly consequences of governments who fail to prioritize maternal and reproductive rights. Their stories are hair-raising, heart-wrenching, and brutally honest. They give us a glimpse into the world we may face if efforts to curtail our rights succeed. But these women, our global sisters, also foretell solutions and innovations.

We would do well to listen to their messages and mobilize alongside them.

 

Empowering Women, One Carbon Ton At A Time

A new standard aims to carve out a space in the voluntary carbon market for projects that empower women by getting them involved in carbon offset and renewable energy project development. The standard puts women in control of the income generated from the credits giving them the opportunity to invest in several poverty alleviating initiatives such as education and health care.




18 April 2013 | In an effort to empower women in developing countries, one organization is adding another standard to the carbon mix that aims to use the revenue from carbon credits to improve their livelihoods.

Jeannette Gurung, a forester and gender equality expert, founded Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN) in 2004 after coming to the conclusion that she and other women in the field who wanted to develop useful programs for poor, rural women were being constrained by their own institutions. WOCAN targets and works with institutions to change the attitudes and behavior emanating from gender bias in the agriculture and natural resource management sectors.

“In a nutshell, the story of my career has been being a woman trying to integrate gender equality issues and women’s empowerment activities within a sector that doesn’t really care a lot about that,” she said. “It’s been about 30 years of struggle.”

WOCAN’s latest effort, publicized this week at the Navigating the American Carbon World conference in San Francisco, is to create a women’s empowerment carbon standard. The new social standard would certify the benefits of increasing women’s participation in carbon offset and renewable energy project development and endorse projects that create increased direct or indirect economic benefits for women.

“Carbon is a great foundation to start from,” said Margaret Bruce, a consultant for WOCAN. “It’s a well-established market with well-established methodologies. But it’s certainly not limited to carbon.”

The idea driving the new standard is to use the voluntary carbon market to provide social and economic benefits to empower rural women through climate change and adaptation activities.

“I came to understand that climate change mitigation is an area that’s considered a no-go for women,” Gurung said. “Whatever little discussion there is around gender and climate change is limited to adaptation aspects. I think that’s because of the perception of women as vulnerable, as victims, as charity cases that need help. In my world, nothing could be farther from the truth. Mitigation is associated with technology and business and entrepreneurship and none of those terms are what people associate with poor, rural women. There’s the disconnect.”

The certification will examine six core elements: assets and income – allowing women to be empowered by controlling their own assets — health, food security, time and leadership. The project does not have to meet the standard’s requirements on all of the elements, but must receive a score of 51 points or higher to receive WOCAN’s stamp of approval.

The women will be empowered because they are the rightful owners of these carbon credits and can use the revenues as they see fit, perhaps for literacy or health care programs, Gurung said.

The effort has received the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has financed pilot projects in Cambodia (biogas digesters), Laos (improved cookstoves) and Vietnam (waste management). “They were reluctant,” she said. “They think this is a risky thing. But they decided to take it on and put a few million dollars behind it.”

The ADB-financed effort, called Harnessing Climate Change Mitigation Initiatives to Benefit Women, aims to facilitate a more secure livelihood for women by using modern technology to reduce the amount of time women are spending on obtaining fuel wood and giving them access to cleaner energy sources and safer environmental conditions.

“Why we find this so exciting is we really find it transformational for women,” Gurung said. “No longer do they have to go to the forest to cut, which is a difficult, physically demanding job. They don’t have to stand in a dirty-smoke filled kitchen.”

WOCAN’s leaders are not concerned about the possibility for “standard fatigue,” despite the numerous standards that already exist for emissions reduction projects through existing organizations such as the Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard.

“The market will bear what the market will bear,” Bruce said. “The market will show how well this will be received.”

In contrast, Gurung has been told that the organization will never have enough projects to satisfy demand from potential investors for a popular product that will combine green investments with benefits for women. “That’s something encouraging,” she said.

Women's Empowerment: What's Stress Got to Do With It?

 

Type the word “stress” into Google, and you’ll get 162 million hits.  That’s a lot of websites focused on something that women face daily.  After all, how many times have you said to yourself, “Stress—I can handle it”?
It’s true that stress isn’t always a negative emotion.  Stress is sometimes the motivation we need to get things done.  And, without stress, we wouldn’t have the “fight or flight” to jump out of the way of an approaching car.  It’s when stress becomes prolonged and constant that it wreaks havoc on our health and well-being. 

What makes “stress” such a challenging issue first lies in our beliefs.  Most believe that stress triggers reside outside of us: the controlling co-worker, the rude driver, our financial problems, for example.  Placing the focus on these outside situations and circumstances is stressful because we don’t have any control over them.  We feel powerless.

However, it’s possible to take back your power by understanding a simple truth.  The truth is that much of our stress is actually related to our reaction or perception of these circumstances, and the good news is that managing stress around these situations is as easy as changing our thoughts, thus changing our reactions.

Still, what triggers a stressful response for one woman may not for another.  That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to the signals and cues of our own bodies, and watch for stress related symptoms.  We need only take the time to focus in and ask ourselves what is causing our feelings and symptoms of stress and our body and spirit will usually offer a clue.

What messages has your “self” been trying to give you lately?  Don’t answer too quickly as the message coming your way in next week's post may have be meant for you…

Ever heard someone say, "You play sports like a girl?"

Sexual violence isn't just about rape or physical harassment. It begins when we hurt people through the words we use and attitudes we carry. Stereotypes of what it means to be a man or woman—for instance, boys should do physical activities and girls need to be "ladylike"—can limit our worth and potential, and create an unequal balance of power that perpetuates sexual violence.

Empower women to improve growth, says World Bank president

NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - If India and other nations across the world want economic growth, gender equality must be central to all development policies, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said on Wednesday.
Kim, on a two-day visit to India, said the empowerment of girls and women across the world had become a "top issue" and the Bank was committed to supporting programmes which helped to promote gender equality.
"Unless you put women at the centre of the development process, unless you move aggressively towards gender equality, it's not just that you are doing the wrong thing in terms of human rights, you are doing the wrong thing economically," Kim told a news conference at the end of his visit.
"If you want to grow economically, you've got to focus on gender equality. We couldn't be more committed to this issue and we know this is an issue that is very important to India."
India is the World Bank's largest client, receiving $3 billion to $5 billion annually in loans and grants to fund development projects in a country where one-third of the population -- around 400 million people -- lives on less than $1.25 a day.
Experts say gender equality makes economic sense and improving the status of women and girls can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes and make key institutions more representative.
Women represent about 40 percent of the global labour force, 43 percent of the world's agricultural workers and more than half the world's university students, yet gender disparities persist in many areas, according to a World Development Report last year.
Worldwide, females are more likely to die than males, their enrolment in primary and secondary schools is much lower, they have less access to jobs and less say and control in their own homes. Women are also under-represented in the political arena.
Indian females face many challenges, from cultural practices such as foeticide, child marriage, dowry and honour killings to discrimination in health, education and the workplace.
Crimes such as rape, domestic violence and trafficking are widespread and while there are around one million female politicians in village councils, women hold only 11 percent of the seats in India's lower and upper houses of parliament.
In his budget speech last month, Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that addressing the plight of women was a key priority for the government, and announced plans to create a women-only bank and a $186 million fund to boost their security and empowerment.
(TrustLaw is a global news service covering human rights and governance issues and run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters)

why we want you to invest your time, energy and capital in an adolescent girl

1. Girls are agents of change

They play a crucial role in solving the most persistent development problems facing the world today. By investing in their economic potential through education and by delaying child marriage and teen pregnancy, issues such as HIV and AIDS can be resolved and the cycle of poverty can be broken. To learn how a girl's success is the world's success, watch the girl effect films above.

2. People assume girls are being reached

They're not. The reality is that children's programmes focus on 0-5 year-olds, youth programmes tend to focus on males and older groups, and women's programmes don't typically capture adolescent girls. Programmes that do reach girls rarely address the ones most at risk. To break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, programmes must be designed for, and measure the impact on, girls.

3. The cost of excluding girls is high

In India, adolescent pregnancy results in nearly $10billion in lost potential income. In Uganda, 85 per cent of girls leave school early, resulting in $10billion in lost potential earnings. By delaying child marriage and early birth for one million girls, Bangladesh could potentially add $69billion to the national income over these girls' lifetimes.

How to Prevent a Potential Rape

Rapists are predators. Period. Predators never let victims know when they will attack ... or that they literally "hunt" for a victim ... By following these tips, you can make your world a little safer. Take a self-defense class. You will get information you need and skills to protect yourself psychologically and physically.

1. Do not be distracted, especially by technology. Do not jog with your iPod because attackers are looking for easy, distracted individuals who look-like they are not paying attention to surroundings. The same can be said for talking on your cell phone. But, on the other hand, if you feel someone is following you, pull out your cell phone and pretend to be talking to someone because your "conversation partner" would be aware of an attack. If your potential attacker is going for "no witnesses," they might back off and change their mind. You can even pretend you are meeting-up with someone and they are already here/heading this way VERY soon. Don't say "5 minutes" or the attacker may only decide to take action quicker. If they think you are in safe hands or will be in less than a minute, they might back off.
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2. 2
   Learn to trust your gut instincts. It could save you from being raped or worse. If you feel uneasy or unsure in anyway, it is in your best interest to get away and get help. Use your instincts and be aware of your FREEZE instinct. Move quickly ... fight, flight or freeze are our natural instincts, so be aware that all 3 exist.
3. 3
   Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Parking lots and parking garages are two of the sites that are most often targeted by attempted rapists. These men are predators, so view your surroundings carefully. If you are in a parking lot and feel someone is following you, start making noise - talk to yourself loudly, talk to an imaginary person, or pretend to talk on your cell phone. The louder the potential victim, the more the predator is apt to freeze.
4. 4
   Understand that your hairstyle could benefit an attacker. Ponytails and long hair are the number one styles rapists seek because long hair and ponytails are easy to grab.
5. 5
   Use your loudest voice if you have any doubts. Remember, its better to be considered crazy, than to keep quiet to avoid weird looks.
6. 6
   Carry defensive items only if you know how to use them. Remember, any "weapon" that could hurt a potential attacker can be used against you if you are not well trained and comfortable with it. If you are going to carry a handgun, make sure to take classes in its use, practice often at a firing range, and apply for a concealed weapons permit; if you carry a knife, take a course in the most effective way to use it. Remember that even an umbrella or purse can be used as a weapon against an attacker, and has less chance of being turned against you.
7. 7
   Yell, shout and draw attention to yourself. Attackers usually have an idea of how the attack will happen. Disrupt that idea. Fight like a psychotic cat, and yell loudly and strongly;
8. 8
   Yell "CALL 911 NOW." There is a common belief it is better to call "fire" than help - however many believe this is misguided, if not plain wrong. The 'fire idea" is based on the belief that people don't want to get involved in assisting therefore you should trick them into believing there is a fire. This could be unwise. Numerous bystander studies (e.g. Latane and Darley) show the reason bystanders do not help is a simple one; confusion. Bystanders are unsure of what is going on; do the attacker and victim know each other? etc. This would suggest it is better to "tell it like it is" and yell "POLICE!" "CALL 911 NOW," "GUN," or "HELP!" Words such as "POLICE" are more likely to scare the attacker and alert bystanders to the truth of the situation - Yelling "Fire" will get people's attention, but when there clearly isn't one, the word "POLICE" might work faster. Studies have also suggested this effective strategy: pointing at an individual bystander and saying "you sir, in the white shirt, I need your help now! - This man is attacking me..." Tell it like it is, and point to an individual.
9. 9
   Take a basic self defense course, such as Rape Aggression Defense (RAD). Contact your local police office for programs such as RAD.
10. 10
    Stay careful at parties and bars. Treat your drink like a $100.00 bill. Don't let anyone hold your drink. Do not leave your drink anywhere. Avoid anything that somebody gives you. It could be "counterfeited." Always hold, keep and get your own drinks. Never leave a drink unattended for even a moment. Keep your hand over the top of your drink because it's easy to drop something into it. Do not accept a drink from a date unless the bartender or waitstaff delivers it straight to you. Don't want to be rude? Who cares, just state your preferences, AND if he doesn't adhere to the waiter drink delivery, then take the drink to the restroom with you and dump it. GHB dissolves immediately, especially if its powdered. DO NOT leave your friends alone and drunk. DO NOT be left behind by your friends. Tell other people where you are going. Be aware of public bathrooms in clubs and bars. Women have been attacked in the ladies room if it is deserted.
11. 11
    Think and practice being careful at dance clubs or other places with loud music. Sometimes it is so loud that nobody will be able to hear you cry for help.
12. 12
    Work on being assertive. If somebody is giving you unwanted attention, tell them to back off. There is no need to be polite when somebody is making unwanted sexual advances.
13. 13
    Plan. If a rapist is in your car and is sitting in the passenger seat with a weapon to you, they will tell you to go somewhere where they are less likely to be witnessed. Whatever you do, don't follow their directions. Put on your seat belt, then drive into something stationary, like a dumpster or lamp post. The airbag and seat belt will keep you alive, and the crash will draw attention. It is better to be in a car accident than get raped and possibly killed. Stay calm and try to surprise the rapist.
14. 14
    Understand that Vans are the #1 vehicles used in rapes. Rapists will park next to the driver's side and, as you are trying to get in, they will pull you into the van. If there is a van on the driver's side of your car, go in through the passenger's door. If there are vans on both sides, go back to where you were and get someone like a security guard to walk you to your car. Don't park any place that feels unsafe.
15. 15
    Practice being careful when going into your house or car because someone could easily push you in and lock the door behind you. Be aware of your surroundings; carry your keys ready in your hand and look around you before opening the door.
16. 16
    Keep personal information private. Don't advertise your info verbally or on the Internet. Also, be very wary of meeting up with anyone whom you meet on the Internet. There is never a good reason to meet up with a person whom you have never met in person, or who talks you into meeting-up when you are hesitant. If you think you must do so, bring someone else, preferably a friend who is older and meet the person in a public place.
17. 17
    Understand vulnerability factors: According to the CDC, vulnerabilities include prior sexual abuse as a minor, being female (gender), being under the age of 18, alcohol or drug use, and predators who groom their victims into believing ...
18. 18
    Walk with confidence. Look up as you walk and stand up straight; pretending as though you have two big panthers on either side of you as you walk may sound silly, but it can help boost confidence. Attackers are more likely to go for those who they think cannot defend themselves.
19. 19
    Notice and leave identifying marks. A large bite mark on their face, punctured eyeball, deeply scratched leg, ripped out piercing etc. is easily identifiable, as are memorable tattoos, etc. Think kill. Go for weak spots like eyes (poke hard), nose (hard upward motion with the lower part of your open hand) genitals (grab really tightly and squeeze or punch hard) etc. to make sure the person's hands aren't free to punch or hold on to you and you can run for it. If you are in a place where you can't run, notice your surroundings and leave a mark on them if you can. Rapists have been caught because their victims left identifiable teeth marks, nail marks, or DNA in the cars or rooms where they were assaulted.
20. 20
    Bring a dog, if going to the park, beach, etc. alone. If you have a dog with you, it's like having another person with you. Large dogs are intimidating to predators, even if your pet isn't exactly brave. If you don't have a large dog, bring the small one anyway. Chances are when your little pup sees you in trouble, he'll be more than happy to protest. Predators won't usually attack a person with a dog, large or small, because dogs usually make such a racket you're bound to draw attention, which is undesirable for predators. Who knows - your poodle may just surprise your attacker when he grabs you.
21. 21
    Mentally prepare if you are taken by a rapist. You must do everything in your power to escape even if it means hurting yourself. Sometimes, the rapist will kill his victims to prevent him from being caught or identified. If the rapist comes in your home, throw heavy items through windows and at the rapist. Make as much noise as you can. Do not get in the car or van with them if you can help it. Jump out of a moving car or crash the car if you are driving. Look for every opportunity to hurt them and escape. Take your extreme fear and turn it into fighting anger at your attacker. Do not be passive unless you feel you have to because a weapon is on you. Never give up without fighting a battle.
22. 22
    Make eye contact if you are being followed by someone who you think is a potential threat. An attacker may be less likely to strike if they think you will be able to clearly identify them.
23. 23
    Never get into a potential rapist's car or allow them into yours if you can avoid it. Run, scream, fight or do whatever you can to keep from being forced into that car, because once you are mobile, this increases the likelihood that you will be taken to a remote location where the rapist can take their time. It is preferable to be injured and escape than to be taken to the middle of nowhere and killed.
24. 24
    Learn to sing. This means Solar Plexus-Instep-Nose-Groin, the four attack points you should focus on if grabbed from behind. Elbow them in the solar plexus, stomp on the foot as hard as you can, and when they let go, turn around and jam the palm of your hand into their nose in an upward motion, then finish with a knee to the groin. This may disable your assailant long enough for you to get away. Don't worry about hurting them, because they intend to do something much worse to you Do anything that can prevent them Raping you If none of this works Just scream and shout but if your in the middle of nowhere Try fighting and running to cover or higher ground.
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Edit Tips

• Keep legal and advised types of sprays, pepper and chilly powder in your bag.
• Remember to improvise. Whatever you have on you can be used as a weapon in some way or form. For example, if you have a pair of high heels on, get those shoes off and stab them in the eye or something with the heel. Even your keys can be used as a weapon, if they're spiky enough. Slit their wrist or throat or poke their eye out. Once they're down, run away immediately and dial for help and run into the nearest crowded place and tell as many people as you can what happened to you. Do not wait for them to get back up. If they can, this will only make them even angrier and do worse things.
• Rapists do not necessarily look like criminals. The person could look very normal, well groomed, athletic pleasant, young, etc. They might not look evil or like a bad guy. They could be your boss, a teacher, a neighbor, boyfriend or girlfriend, or relative.
• Only fight back if they make the first move. Otherwise, you could be charged with assault. Don't beat them up before anything happens.
• Your natural instinct can save your life. Pay attention to it. It is like radar and can prevent serious problems. A common reporting of women that are about to see their rapist is a quiet voice inside telling them something is very wrong. Listen and respect that voice. If there is a hint of danger about the person or surroundings, do not ignore it.
• It is also helpful to, if they are down for good, to leave a little note such as a piece of jewelry or a bandana or anything that is yours with them so they can be identified later on. Better yet, leave as many scratch marks, bites, bruises, or (as gross as it is) spit.
• If you notice, the easy targets are a straight line. Eyes, nose, mouth, throat, solar plexus, breasts (if a woman), stomach, groin, knees, and instep.
• Remember, you have the right to mutilate your attacker. They had even worse intentions and you have full right to defend yourself. Don't be afraid or nervous to do anything to them; they deserve it. Be as aggressive as possible.
• Remember that attackers usually want easy prey, so don't cooperate! If you are sexually assaulted, yell things which make it clear everyone that the attacker's actions are unwelcome.
• Being the victim of child sexual abuse actually doubles the likelihood of adult sexual victimization because of increased levels of PTSD and traumatized psychological boundaries (Parillo et. al., 2003), (Sarkar, N.; Sarkar, R., 2005).

Ways to seek help to avoid this are listed below.

• Don't underestimate your abilities. The human body has amazing strength and wit in situations like this. Once the adrenaline gets going, as long as you are not too paralyzed by fear, you'd be surprised what you can do.
• Other factors influencing recovery are emotional support from friends, relations, social and community supports (Sarkar, N.; Sarkar, R., 2005).
• Scream. Scream your little lungs out like there's no tomorrow. Scream in their ear if possible, this will deafen them momentarily. Unless they have a weapon to you, ignore them if they say not to scream. Shout "Rape!" or something to that effect, "Call the police, I am being raped!"
• If you are in a moving vehicle, do not be afraid to jump out. A broken arm is better than your life. In the event that you are in the back of a van or trunk, look around. By law, all cars must have trunks that open from the inside, so if it is a newer car, you're in luck. If it is a van with no doors, or they cannot be opened, punch through a window with a nearby object or even your fist, if you think you can. Like I said, you're going to bleed and be injured, but wouldn't you rather that than be raped and possibly killed?
• Whenever possible, use your knee to deliver a sharp upwards blow, as hard as you can, to a male attacker's crotch/groin area to temporarily disable him, allowing you some valuable time to make a quick escape.
• One study found that of the 433 sexually assaulted respondents, two-thirds reported more than one incident (Sorenson et. al., 1991)
• Raise your personal boundaries. Keep your inner-self protected psychologically and physically. Realize predators can spot easy targets through a quick psychological or visual glance.
• Studies find that victims of multiple assaults have higher levels of PTSD than victims of only one assault. So if someone was assaulted twice in childhood and adolescence they would be at an increased risk of adult assault.
• Rape can and does strike anyone at anytime. Age, social class, ethnic group and has no bearing on the person a rapist chooses to attack. Research data clearly proves that a way a person dresses and/or acts does not influence the rapist's choice of victims. His/her decision to rape is based on how easily he/she perceives his/her target can be intimidated. Rapists are looking for available and vulnerable targets. Statistics were obtained from various sources including the study Rape in America, 1992, National Victim Center, The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the National Crime Survey.
• Get a dog
• As cliche as it is, avoid going out at night. If you happen to be out at night, make sure it is a well-lit, crowded, main street and you are with at least one other person. Carry your cell phone in your hand ready to make a call, and, if you have one, a key in the other one to be used as a weapon.
• When at home, play it safe by never letting people into your home that you do not know. If it is a handyman, cable repair, etc, tell them you need to see a PHOTO ID and their truck. If you don't trust them instantly, than do not let them in. If they do not look you in the eyes, have a PHOTO ID, drive a truck with the company name on it, or wear a uniform, that is suspicious behavior. Do not let them into your home! Ask them to call the company while they wait outside then have the company call you or call the company yourself.
• Intervention such as counseling for mental health issues (like PTSD) and for possible addictions related to the abuse can help people with child sexual abuse histories overcome some of the abuse-related sequel that make them vulnerable to adult re-victimization (Parillo et. al., 2003).
• DO NOT think you need to be nice. Be rude and hateful, because these predators will try everything possible to evoke a sympathetic response from you.
• Tell your attacker that you are pregnant. There is a possibility the attacker may feel some sympathy or remorse and may stop the rape.

• Anti-sexual violence education is the key to prevention. Some educational programs for preventing sexual assault by educating youth to not offend are listed here. The programs coaching boys into men from endabuse and Can I Kiss You are two good examples. Self-Defense skills are also listed here.

          Warnings

• Beware of victim blame and rape myths. The only person responsible for an assault is the perpetrator. If you have been assaulted, no matter what you do, or do not do, in any case, it is not your fault.
• Keep gas in your car. Be practical and do not take any chances. If you know you are going for a long trip, keep track of your gas and make many stops to fill up.
• Follow the firearms laws of your area.
• If you should choose to own and use a firearm, understand that they are extremely dangerous, especially if not used and stored properly. Use a trigger lock mechanism to ensure that your weapon will not be used against you, even if by accident (this is especially important if you might ever have children in your home). Educate yourself about the proper cleaning and maintenance of your firearm to ensure that it will always be in working condition if you should need it.