CNLU inaugurates UNFPA's Gender Resource Centre at Patna campus

PATNA: United National Population Fund's new Gender Resource Centre (GRC) was inaugurated at the Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) here on Thursday. Andrea M Wojnar, UNFPA representative, India, and country director, Bhutan, inaugurated the centre, which will undertake evidence-based research in the area of gender, law and policy.

A statement issued by CNLU said, "A memorandum of understanding was signed on Thursday by Andrea M Wojnar and Professor Faizan Mustafa, vice chancellor of CNLU. The two institutions have been in conversation for some time on the modalities of the new centre which will undertake evidence-based research in the area of gender, law and policy."

The centre will bring together advocates, academicians, researchers and civil society activists, it said. Wojnar highlighted the problem of deep-rooted gender inequalities and huge gaps in the implementation of various government schemes and policies aimed at achieving the constitutional goal of gender justice.

She said that several religious myths are also contributing to violation of women's rights. She said that Bihar has not yet fully used the untapped potential of evidence-based public advocacy. She expressed the hope that the newly established centre will bridge this gap and not only conduct meaningful research but also make efforts to change the ground situation through advocacy.

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Deepa Prasad, chief of programmes and technical support, UNFPA, said that the GRC at CNLU will work towards strengthening capacity building programmes that would address the prevention of gender-based violence. Prasad expressed hope that the centre will launch special courses and train resource persons.

Professor Mustafa, in his address, traced deep-rooted patriarchy to the religious traditions and expressed his pain and anguish at the rising rates of rapes in the country. He claimed that people's response to rapes depends on the state where rape is committed and the identity of the victim and the accused.

He claimed that the subject of gender and law are no longer emphasised in law schools and both faculty members as well as students are more interested in artificial law, cyber law, IPR law and taxation law, among others.

Professor Mustafa said that mere normative changes in law like the Uniform Civil Code will not improve the situation on the ground until the patriarchal mindset that treats women as unequal and subordinate changes.

He expressed the hope that the GRC centre at CNLU would conduct not only research on child marriages but also play an active role in ensuring that child marriages drastically reduced in Bihar.