The ‘Freedom from Violence’ awareness campaign, supported by KHPT, is a joint initiative of the Department of Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Women and Child Department and Department of Education to raise awareness on gender-based violence among adolescents. One school in each of the 31 districts was selected to conduct this awareness activity on December 23 under the leadership of the Gram Panchayat. KHPT supported and facilitated this process with active involvement of the Gram Panchayats, organizing half-day awareness events in the schools identified by the Gram Panchayat. The local school teachers, School Development and Monitoring Committee, and frontline workers were also engaged in conducting awareness activities. Some districts even took the campaign to additional schools at taluka level.
Session topics included sex and gender, gender discrimination, laws and services for children affected by violence, and engaging with relevant stakeholders to prevent violence. The campaign reached a total of 11,525 students in 77 schools and will be gradually expanded to all schools and colleges in 31 districts of Karnataka, while building a resource pool of trained adolescent for peer support.