On line webinar, CWS

 We at the Centre for Women’s Studies today organised an International Webinar  and this was our first experience. It is so easy when one is invited to speak in a webinar. I have been going and speaking on webinars and have had no tension, but today since we were the hosts we were very nervous. From the morning it was raining very heavily and the current was in and out and this kept me on tenterhooks. However, by God grace, the internet connection  and the electricity department  everything went well.  The theme was on ‘Transnational Widening Gender Inequalities amid Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown. In the introduction  I spoke on how  Women’s Studies started in India and gave a short history of the C.W.S.in the University of Hyderabad. Sheela  Sarvanan , then introduced the theme and gave an introduction to the Speakers. This webinar explored few  case studies from different parts of the world (India, Austria and Australia) that intersects several sectors. Monika Banerjee, Research Fellow, Institute of Social Studies Trust, spoke about the Situation of Women Waste Workers in Delhi . Melinda T Reist, Author and Advocate for young people, Collective Shout, Australia discussed about COVID-19 and the Sex Industry Virus. Kristina Hametner, Head, Vienna Program for Women’s Health & Public Health, Austriadiscussed about, Corona as Crisis for Women’s Health in Austria . The aim of this webinar was to explore how women and girls’ lives have changed in times of COVID-19 lockdown and I think it served this purpose. Covid-19 lockdown has deepened pre-existing gender inequalities as evident in several sectors; economic, health, gender-based violence and home front. Thanks a lot Sheela for all the hard work and Pratisha Kumari an old student from 2007 batch in history, who  now runs a professional IT company in Guwahati  and provided all her inputs and technical support as a labour of love.  Thanks a lot Pratisha. My what’s app is filled with a large number of messages from different participants and they have appreciated this. The icing on the cake was when my student Atoosa Bahduri  from Iran sent me a message as to how much she enjoyed being part of the Centre once again and attending the webinar.  Great to see so many connections across different geographical regions across the world. Indeed the world is one and the issues we face are almost similar.