9 April2022IN FOCUSTeamByIN FOCUSTeamBySELECT CITYWALK SUPPORTS THE GLOBAL INITIATIVE SHEDECIDES INDIA SheDecides is a global political movement founded to protect women's fundamental rights and bodily autonomy in the face of a policy implemented by former US President Donald Trump, which prohibited financing for non-gov-ernmental organisations (NGOs) in other countries that supported abortion advocacy. In the presence of Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Dr. Jaideep Malhotra, President, FOGSCI, Kam-la Bhasin, Human Rights Activist, Robin Gorna, Global Co-Lead, She-Decides, and many other social ac-tivists, SheDecides India, the first national movement of SheDecides, was officially launched at Select CITYWALK in 2018. The global movement, which seeks to em-power women at all levels of soci-ety and policymaking, has already extended to 27 countries, includ-ing an active chapter in Bangla-desh, which began in 2019. It aims to empower women and girls in Bangladesh by creating awareness about bodily autonomy and human rights, sexual and reproductive health, and gender-based violence, as well as involving feminist and youth leadership."Young girls face even more blockades to care than older ad-olescents, in terms of access to proper services and information", explained Samara Mortada, Move-ment Supporter at SheDecides. Sa-mara began her career as the Asia Regional Movement Supporter. Her current work comprises assisting 15 grassroots collectives around the world, including Portugal, Northern Ireland, Namibia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. "All our initiatives, which include a radio show 'In her shoes', art therapy sessions, debate competitions and collaboration with influencers and activists to create awareness about bodily au-tonomy-- were able to get the atten-tion of the young people, especially young women who are looking for a platform to express their feelings and thoughts around bodily au-tonomy. SheDecides Bangladesh is planning to hold many more activi-ties to engage young people", added their Core Project Lead Najia Jarin.SheDecides has built relation-ships with women's rights activ-ists all across the world. It has also created a platform for young people in Bangladesh to come to-gether and work on reproductive health and rights. SheDecides Ban-gladesh recently had an exhibition named `Art-vism', in which art and activism were combined to advo-cate body autonomy and rights. Live painting and community art therapy sessions, as well as var-ious performances, were part of the two-day event. "We are in the process of designing our new strat-egy. We will be able to talk more about it when things are finalised. But SheDecides will continue to be a safe space for activists, champi-ons and young people to be able to work towards a world where wom-en decide their futures", concluded Samara. YOUNG GIRLS FACE EVEN MORE BLOCKADES TO CARE THAN OLDER ADOLESCENTS, IN TERMS OF ACCESS TO PROPER SERVICES AND INFORMATION
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