The Chief Minister's special monitoring unit, law and order, in collaboration with UN Women has launched a Street Theatre Campaign to create awareness about various challenges faced by women across Punjab and to take effective means to address these challenges. The campaign is scheduled to be held in Multan, Lahore and Faisalabad from 5th to 10th of December in various public spaces and institutions.
The street theatre initiative will include performance based on special monitoring unit's women-on-wheels campaign and Violence Against Women Centres (VAWCs) alongside UN Women's safe cities and public spaces initiative. The SMU launched its Women-on-Wheels campaign in collaboration with the city traffic police and city district government for the provision of free motorcycle trainings to the women of Punjab. Furthermore, SMU's Violence Against Women Centres (VAWCs), which are in the process of being implemented, presented a holistic justice delivery system to the female victims of violence with their prototype centre being built in Multan. The SMU's Violence Against Women Centres (VAWCs) will be the implementation arm of the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act spearheaded by SMU which was passed earlier this year.
The joint themes revolving around these performances range from Violence Against Women (VAW) in the private and public space to women's mobility and the solutions provided for the challenges faced by women through SMU-Law & Order and UN Women's various initiatives. The performances include stories inspired from SMU-Law & Order Women-on-Wheels campaign whereby 1500 women across Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Sargodha have taken motorcycle trainings. These stories include women who have now attained independence in fulfilling their daily tasks ranging from dropping their children to school to supporting their families and attaining their own education. UN Women has supported the Women-on-Wheels initiative since the first Women-on-Wheels rally held in Lahore in January 2016 and continues to do so.
The performances will be executed by Interactive Resource Centre (IRC) and will range from both female-centric and male-centric narratives questioning the embedded patriarchy resonant in society. They will be followed by an interactive session with the audience to hear their views and hopefully move them to consider how together each of them may contribute to making lives better for women in Punjab.