Dharamshala: The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) marked the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women today to raise awareness of gender-based violence and abuses in the Tibetan community. The event was organised by the Women’s Empowerment Desk (WED) of the Finance Department as part of its 16-day activism against gender-based violence and was attended by the entire staff and officials of CTA.
The event’s chief guest Geshe Lhakdor, the Director of Library of Tibetan Works & Archives (LTWA), stressed the importance of cultivating compassion as a remedy for completely removing any forms of gender-based violence in the Tibetan community when addressing the gathering. He added that certain depictions of discrimination against women and girls in Buddhist scriptures mainly exist, evidently due to the influence of ancient societal customs and norms. However, he pointed out through several citations from Buddhist texts that the concept of feminism was established in Buddhism way earlier than what the world today believes it to have originated.
Tenzin Dolkar, the section head of WED, and Samkar Dolma from the Tibetan Women’s Helpline also apprised the gathering of their respective undertakings. The two highlighted the existence of gender-based violence in every society, including the Tibetan community following the series of surveys conducted across various sections of the community.
The campaign was jointly funded by USAID and NDI.