To commemorate 2nd October as the International Day of Non-Violence, an awareness campaign against atrocities on women and children was launched at Karuna Sadan in Sector 11 on Friday.

Secretary of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Board, A K Dua, welcomed the participants. Dr Ameer Sultana, an expert with the Centre for Women Studies and Development, Panjab University, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Comparing the official statistics of crime against women with the ‘tip of an iceberg’, she said many such cases went unregistered. She also expressed concern over the dwindling sex ratio in Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab.

Speaking about today’s scenario, she said: “Honour killings have emerged as a serious problem nowadays for women in rural areas. Caste Panchayats, operating without any legal sanction, are the main reason behind this.”

She also explained the correlation between poverty and trafficking of women and children. Chairperson of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Board and former mayor of Chandigarh, Lalit Joshi also expressed her views on the problem of child labour.

Earlier in the day, the Chandigarh Social Welfare Board along with other voluntary organisations had organised a ‘Prabhat Feri’ in Sector 22. Over a 100 social activists participated in the 2-km long rally chanting Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.