In collaboration with Oxfam-GB, World Comics India organised a five-day Comics workshop in Sri Lanka. The idea was to produce comics on Gender issue.

The workshop was organised to produce campaign material for sensitisation of masses on violence against women. Comics were produced in both Tamil and Sinhalese language. 

On the last day of the workshop it was decided that we would go to Dhiwara Gammanaya village, which is inhabited by the fishermen community. We decided to display all the Comics wall posters made by the participants and see how the fishermen community reacts to them.

It was a novel experiment, which would serve as a pre-testing of our campaign – We Can.
And these are the observations of the villagers:
Theodore Fernando; age: 54 years. Profession: Fisherman

“Comics wall posters displayed in our village would serve as an eye-opener to us. Drunken duels are a regular phenomenon in our village. Husbands beat their wives, in a drunken stupor.

Comics wall posters can herald a new beginning for ending violence against women.
Moreover, the comics pasted on the village walls do not require special skill to understand. Even an illiterate can very well grasp it.I think I can be a part of the campaign.”
 
Shreyakanti; age: 42; Housewife.      

“Majority of the male members in our village treat their wives like a personal property. In a male-dominated society like ours, a husband is only interested in a physical relationship.

They have no emotions or feelings for their wife or children. I liked the Comics wall poster, which depicts a daughter-in-law taking action against her husband and mother-in-law, after being driven out of the house by them. I would be happy to be a part of this campaign.”

       FEEDBACK FROM
      THE PARTICIPANTS: 

TM Samanthika Priyadarshani Niroshani observed that the Comics wall posters were well received by the villagers. It made an impact on their psyche.

 T. Jegatheswaty reported that most of the women in the village took keen interest in the posters. They could also identify themselves with the character drawn in the wall posters.

She also reported villagers asking questions like as to why local schools could not adopt techniques like comics in imparting education to the children?

AK Mary recalls her conversation with the women of the village. Mary was told by the women that they could identify themselves with the characters of the wall posters.

The women also suggested that these posters would go a long way in generating awareness against violence and ill treatment meted out to women.

MNM Rushdie said that literacy is not a barrier in the wall posters as the illustrations help in easy understanding of the issue.