Bollywood actor, Ayushmann Khurrana urged everyone to play their part in ending gender-based violence as Covid-19 has caused huge rise in the challenges faced by women.
The 37-year-old stated, "As Unicef's Celebrity Advocate towards ending violence against children, I firmly believe that discrimination and violence against girls is unacceptable and holds us back as a developed and caring society.”
He continued, "Covid-19 has added to the challenges faced by girls. With limited access to mobiles or the internet, girls have faced restrictions in accessing remote learning and in having their health, nutritional and social needs treated on par with the boys in their families.”
The Andhadhun actor added, "At the same time lockdowns for Covid prevention have increased incidence of gender-based violence. My aim is to initiate powerful conversations that help all of us understand the challenges girls continue to live and grow with even today, and how we all can and must play our part in changing this. There are few simple ways in which we can all begin to make a difference.”
“A lack of value on girls' education leads to a high incidence of child marriage, which perpetuates an intergenerational cycle of violence, poverty and ill-health. Even though India has made significant gains towards reducing the incidence of child marriage, one out of three child brides still lives in India,” he concluded.