"Knowledge will bring you the opportunity to make a difference."

Claire Fagin

#Abhaya provides this opportunity to the younger generation  through college sensitization workshops, where 50000 college  students in the districts of Kadapa and Chittoor Districts of Andhra Pradesh are to be sensitized on Human Rights and with a focus on women's and girl's rights. So for Abhaya has provided awareness to 14000 students in Kadapa district alone visiting 140 colleges. It is also the aim of the project to create coalition groups in each college so as to provide an opportunity to the students to identify and solve problems (specifically related to women's rights) and also to make them feel the power of being united. 

Trained volunteers like Sowmika, Bhavana and Kusuma talk to these gatherings about Eve teasing, cyber crime, voyeurism, child sexual abuse and other issues the girls and young women face everyday. Many a time these workshops turn out as  interactive sessions where our volunteers answer a lot of queries and  get a lot of suggestions.  All of them agree that the laws should be more stringent in dealing with the offenders and the punishments severe. After the workshop the students  pledge to share the knowledge gained and to become Human Rights Defenders when they go back into the society as responsible citizens. Some students after attending these sessions meet our team and invite them to address such meetings in their villages also. Some students, who attended such awareness sessions in junior colleges  have been instrumental in stopping the child marriage of their friends.