No To Violence Against Women – to stop VAW is a responsibility of each one of us. When I had become a member of FIGO working group on No to Violence Against Womenin 2016 ,I initiated DHEERA ,acampaign to stop violence against women. My theme as President FOGSI is “FOGSI FOR ALL ALWAYS” , and “DHEERA – STOP VIOLENCE IN WOMEN “ aiming to reach SDG-5.Violence against women is perhaps the most disgraceful human rights violation and probablythe mostprevalent one , and it is sad that the incidence has increased in this covid pandemic . Nearly 38% of Indian women face violence in the hands of their partners.What we identify is only the tip of the iceberg with many more going undetected. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth .Itisthe root cause of maternal morbidity, reproductive coercion, poor physical, emotional and psychological health of women.

Role of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists- we are the specialist stakeholders of women’s health and occupy a unique position. We all have the responsibility towards providing quality care to our women, we are the first point of contactfor their health and emotional needs ,and access to assess and by the nature of the patient–physician relationship, provide support for women who experience violence . FOGSI-The Federation of Obstetrics& Gynaecological Societies of India is committed to rise , speak up, focus and partner with all the stakeholders - law, police, women, students, youngsters and men for taking it forward.

The main objective is to create awareness , advocacy and sensitisation of self, fraternity, victims, male partners and people at large. Advocacy is by giving a call, making a noise, sounding a warning that VAW must STOP. The FOCUS is on ACTION.

We organized a PUBLIC FORUM CYCLATHONin 2016 at HICC with President FIGO, President FOGSI, ICOG Chairperson,Ms. Swati Lakra, IPS ,SHE teams and BHAROSA, Smt. Lalitha Kumaramangalam, Hon'ble Chairperson, National Commission for Women, Dr.(Mrs.) TripuranaVenkataratnam, Chairperson, State Commission for Women, OGSH members, Gynecologists, Students, 300 men , women and boys with a spontaneous participationraising slogans and holding placards. Colleges, IT sector, media and NGOs working for welfare of women took part in this initiative too. A page on social media was created to an enthusiastic and heart-warming response to take part in the initiative.As UN has identified orange colour to say NO to VAW a call was given to “Wear orange and say NO to VAW”. Ms Lavanya Tripathi a young actor from Telugu film field flagged off the cyclathon. Hundreds of orange and white balloons were released to mark the occasion. Participants cycled with slogans to say NO to VAW.There was aOrange wave in the atmosphere spreading to the skies. The mood was upbeat, and the passion was strong. The hard reality was driven into everyone by the statistics on domestic violence or general violence against women . There was a good coverage andwell focused in print and electronic media.

DHEERA rolled on at the FOGSI-FIGO 2017 International Congress on Clinical Challenges in Obstetrics & Gynaecology 2017 ,Hyderabad, India .We organized a public Forum and bikethon in 2017 at HICC, Hyderabad.HonorableShri. Anurag Sharma, IPS Director General of Police, Hyderabadflagged off the bikethon. A young cine actress and other eminent personalities took part in the public forum. Many doctors, youngsters, men and women from all walks of life participated in the bike rally , and gave a call to Stop Violence Against Women (VAW). The special feature of this endeavor was making young men as partners in the campaign to say NO against VAW.

FLASH MOB: At the same forum, a flash mob depicting the effects of violence againstwomen was enacted by the students of Osmania Medical College and repeated multiple times during the conference.Prof. C.N. Purandare – FIGO President, Dr. Carlos Fuchtner (Bolivia) – FIGOPresidentElect, Professor Gian Carlo di Renzo (Italy) - Honorary Secretary FIGO, Prof. Paul Fogarty (UK) – RCOG,Dr. Diana Galimberti (Argentina) - Chair, FIGO Working Group had taken part with great enthusiasm in thisevent.

This was continued at various forums in the country including the North Zone YUVA FOGSI Conference in 2017. In Indore, September 2017, at the FOGSI conference a radio show and a walk were organised to focus on VAW.

WALKATHON-In 2018, at FOGSI ICOG National Conferenceon Principles Practices and Protocols at Hyderabad,DHEERA saw 600 gynecologists whowalked the streets to stop VAW.The2km walkathon saw participation from all walks of life and was joined by actressMalavika Nair who urged people to stop and speak against VAW.

FIGO declaration on NO TO VAW withWHO was signed at FIGO CONGRESS,Rio Brazil in 2018 and all member societies pledged support to NO TO VAW at the plenary session.Dr.Denis Mukwege the Nobel Laureate gave his video message during the declaration which was indeed a proud moment for DHEERA campaign and India.

The Dheera campaign and march at FIGO Congress on Stop VAW got wide publicity in Brazil media and FIGO tweeted, at #FIGO2018 -health professionals from all over the world marched together to demonstrate our shared commitment to #End Vaw and the march video was uploaded on Youtube Youtu.be/Jh2Ec4-Cgzm

As President FOGSI I have launched the Dheera Project this year.

In this COVID Pandemic we have seen an exponential growth in the incidence of Violence Against Women, this needs to be addressed by all of us to reduce the burden of VAW .

Dear friends we are 38000 gynaecologists taking care of Women’s health in India we can definetly make a difference if we address this social evil of VAW and make our country a safer place for Women. TOGETHER WE CAN