Expo legacy: Uniting champions of gender equality

Six months. That is how long it took for men in the northern Indian state of Haryana to open up to film director and producer Vibha Bakshi when she tried to interview them for Son Rise. "They wouldn’t speak to me because I’m a woman. As a woman, to question the patriarchs I think it’s one of the hardest things. I just couldn’t get access," she says. That was in 2017..Today, four years later, Vibha is in Dubai at the Expo 2020’s Jubilee Stage to screen her film..The 45-minute film by the Indian National award-winning filmmaker follows one man’s struggle to win justice for his wife – a survivor of sexual violence. True to its name, Son Rise also showcases various men in Haryana who have been rising above stereotypes and attempting to raise awareness on violence against women even as they are empowering women through self-defense, education on constitutional rights, or by just providing them with an equal opportunity to thrive..The film kickstarted the ‘Orange the World’ campaign – an initiative by the UN Women celebrating 16 days of activism to end violence against women. The screening at the Expo 2020 venue was carried out in partnership with the New Zealand, Indian, the Women’s, and the UN Pavilions.."It was Vibha with her movie, the New Zealand team, the Women’s Pavilion, the UN Pavilion, and India, all coming together and saying, ‘We believe in this and this is something that is worthy of our backing- of us standing behind it’," says Hind Al Owais, the Vice President of the Expo International Participants Department..Vibha is delighted by the responses she is getting for her work. Chosen by the UN Women’s HeForShe campaign – an initiative where males are encouraged to become champions of Gender Equality – Son Rise saw a sensational full house première at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai. "At the end when the heroes walked in, we had a 20-minute standing ovation. People said that they were filled with pride and they cried," recalls the filmmaker, in an interview with Friday on the side-lines of the event last month.. Son Rise screens to a full house at Expo 2020 Dubai’s largest venue - Jubilee Stage Image Credit: Supplied .Vibha and Hind were spearheading an initiative for a pledge that aimed to promote global solidarity for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Diplomats from over 50 countries were present as signatories..Hind, who is also a representative of the Women’s Pavilion, strongly believes in the value that a film like Son Rise adds to the conversation of gender equality. "When we think about gender equality, it’s not just only a women’s issue; it’s everybody’s issue and this [film] is in line with the message of the Women’s Pavilion [and] its motto which is ‘When Women Thrive, Humanity Thrives.".The women’s pavilion at the Expo is not just to honour influential women, but also for the men who have chosen to stand alongside them. "We are celebrating men that have stood next to women, who have advanced the agenda, and we are saying that women’s issues are everybody’s issues," she adds..Vibha agrees. "When you isolate and have men on one side and women on the other, it’s going to be very hard to build an equitable world," says the filmmaker..Allyship, not Saving.Vibha’s Son Rise moment occurred in 2017 while she was still screening her earlier national award-winning film Daughters of Mother India. The film, based on gender violence, was being used to sensitize police forces across India, and Haryana, an agricultural state bordering India’s capital New Delhi, was her last stop. It was here that an activist approached her with the tale of a farmer who had an arranged marriage with a survivor of sexual violence – something unheard of in India.."I promptly went in search of him. There was no name, no village. But with the help of the police I found him," she recalls. "When he said to me, ‘The shame is not hers, it’s ours’, I said I found my Son Rise.".The filmmaker spent the next two years on the ground, documenting the many gender rights heroes whom she describes as, ‘incredible.’.The filmmaker fondly recollects the ‘biggest patriarch’ – Baljit Singh Malik – the leader of the Khap Panchayat (a community organization that influences social decisions) in Haryana who told her when they first met that there was no place for women here [in the Khap meetings]. "Today, he is screening Son Rise across the villages.".Towards the end of the documentary, Baljit Malik is seen passing a resolution in over 700 villages to socially boycott anyone who has committed rape, honour killing, or female foeticide. Smiling to the camera, he explains how change is a "rule of nature" and urges men to realise that female foeticide is a sin that needs to be stopped.. New Zealand Pavilion’s Commissioner General Clayton Kimpton, New Zealand Ambassador to UAE Matthew Hawkins, filmmaker Vibha Bakshi, Consul General New Zealand to India Ralph Hays, Vishal Bakshi, founder, Avatar Capital Growth Partners, at the event at Expo 2020 Image Credit: Supplied .This is precisely what makes Vibha’s documentary a beacon of hope for its viewers – the many men she features are making it evident that change is always possible. "This is about not changing the women, it is about changing the mindsets of the men.".Vibha is also attempting to paint a new picture of masculinity, "It is about awakening the true essence of masculinity – who is a real man. And these men showed it." Through her documentary, she wishes to help men in the audience find role models – men who are fighting for women despite constrained circumstances.."I focused on those who are making change happen because I feel without hope nothing can be won. And this is a fight that we cannot afford to lose. It is very important to make men a part of this movement.".Hind too believes that men becoming allies to the movement creates an important shift in the power dynamic between the genders, "Men coming in and saying ‘I am going to be with you in this movement’ just levels out the playfield. It doesn’t allow for anybody to be higher than the other.".Stressing on the importance of starting from a level playing field, Hind says, "If women had that equal chance, no matter how much a man came in to even be that saviour, he wouldn’t be able to, because she already has everything. She already has an equal opportunity. He wouldn’t be able to come say ‘I’m your saviour’ because I don’t need saving…buddy!".The first Emirati to hold a senior position in the United Nations as the Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships at UN Women, Hind points to the exclusion of men as a shortcoming of past feminist movements. She understands the apprehensions behind involving a man in a women’s movement but also feels that true equality cannot be achieved unless men are also involved.."That’s why feminism I think wasn’t successful in a sense, and we still have inequality. The narrative is not about me over you or you over me, it’s about us. It’s about a partnership, and it’s about equality-- true equality. It’s not about pushing anybody away.".It is All Interconnected.Women make up almost 50 per cent of the global population, and so it comes as no surprise that there is a strong link between women’s issues and global issues- and they all urgently require more feasible long-term solutions. Taking the example of climate change, Hind explains, "You can’t solve one without the other. You can’t solve climate change without thinking about the role that women play within that. You can’t solve the equality of women, their access to water, to basic needs without solving climate change.".Essentially the aim is to look at these problems as a whole instead of viewing them as separate issues, "One affects the other. We can’t operate in a silo anymore. We have to think about 360 degrees on the issues, and not section them off," she adds..Hind also speaks about what she found at the Program for People and Planet being carried out by the Expo, which looks at issues ranging from climate change and biodiversity to health and access to water..The responses to Vibha’s film only further drive this point home. "I’ve been screening across India from villages to the big cities, the reaction has been the same, which is amazing. It just means that the issue goes across strata, it goes across countries. It is a global reality. The story may be out of India, but it addresses a global issue.".This was the moment they realized it was important to bring up the issue of violence against women and gender inequality on a wider, more global platform like the Expo, through any and all initiatives that were in the pipeline. "It was necessary that we join forces with those who are like-minded. It was important to raise awareness about this, to really destigmatise it," says Hind..‘When Women Thrive, Humanity Thrives’.While highlighting the importance of equality amongst genders, Hind is reminded of a quote that the former Executive Director of UN Women and her former boss used to say: "A good law that sits next to negative social norms means nothing.".She strongly believes that the UAE has succeeded because "they’ve been able to reform the laws to make sure women got their rights at every stage, and to make sure that everybody bought into this idea. The narrative was pro women.".Vibha agrees about the power of storytelling in influencing these narratives. "It [helps] change mindsets because change cannot be forced.".UAE’s founding father Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan strongly believed that women must take their equal and rightful place in society. Hind who has also worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlights that this mindset has been successfully carried forward throughout the years by all its leaders. "It’s beautiful to see how mindset really can change a whole country which, mind you, is only 50 years old and very traditional. But we never had to feel like we had to choose between our tradition and our empowerment, the two went hand in hand.".Indeed, the UAE can boast about the success of its women empowerment goals. Take Gallup’s 2021 Law and Order Report for instance where the UAE ranked first in the Safety Index. The report found that 95 per cent of the country’s citizens feel safe when walking alone at night..As His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai said in a tweet, "If you are told that a woman can walk alone, at day or at late hours at night with no fear, you should know that she is in the UAE.".Read more. 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