Hyderabad turns orange for a cause

By Wednesday, several profile pictures had turned orange and a duo has been instrumental in roping in Hyderabad’s support. Hannah Nor-ling and Elca Gobler are working through their organisation, My Choices.

On Day 1, they created 110 customised profile photos. Even as they work on over 50 pending requests with more requests flowing in, Hannah and Elca explain the importance of bringing in as many people on board as possible.

“It is extremely important to unite and see this cause not only as women’s but also a cause for humanity. We need to stand together not only as human beings, but as organisations, governments and nations,” says Elca.

Hannah, meanwhile, roped in prominent names like Cindrella Prakash, child sexual abuse survivor who had shared her story on the show Satyamev Jayate; Bengaluru-based guitarist Naveen Thomas Joseph, and even actor Rana Daggubati, who has pledged to take a stand during the 16 days campaign.

In tune with the “He for She” campaign, even this initiative has found support in men.

“The campaign stood for everything I fundamentally believed in,” says Sam Rufus Nallaraj, CEO of Mxit, adding that although some believe that violence is only limited to the uneducated class, it is there in the educated class as well, so social media is an effective tool.”

Naveen Thomas adds, “The aim is to at least reduce the cases from 100 to 50. It also comes with a solution a helpline number that will enable people to report these crimes.”

This campaign also aims at driving across the point that both genders need to stand up for each other. “Many of the anti-violence campaigns recently have been male-centric, focusing on how issues of gender policing hurt men as much as women.

In fact, gender policing of boys reinforces beliefs like ‘real men don’t cry’. These ideas of masculinity. cripple boys and men to relate with women,” says Hannah.