PRESS RELEASE

Sub: NCFM, Bangalore celebrates International Men’s Day on 19^th November 2010

About NCFM:

The National Coalition for Men (NCFM) is a nonprofit educational organization that raises awareness about the ways sex discrimination affects men and boys. Operating since 1977, NCFM is the oldest U.S. based men’s rights group. NCFM has recently launched its Bangalore chapter and is proud to announce the celebration of International Men’s Day on the 19^th of November, 2010.

About International Men’s Day:

International Men’s Day (IMD) began on November 19th 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago and was supported by the United Nations. The event received wide support from men’s groups in USA, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Indian men’s rights activists celebrated the same for the first time in India on 19^th November 2007. Since then, it has been celebrated every year thereafter.

Realizing that awareness is the key to the solution of men’s problems and the silent sacrifices being made by men that go unnoticed, NCFM Bangalore has come forward to create awareness about men’s problems by celebrating the International Men’s Day on the 19th November, 2010.

NCFM, Bangalore is organizing “Save the Male” at the Forum Value Mall at Whitefield, Bangalore on the 19th November 2010 from 4 PM to 8 PM based on the theme that “Men are Emotional Beings”.

Women can play a small fun game (bow-arrow for example) and win some exciting goodies for the men they love in their life be it their sons, brothers, father, husband/boyfriend, fiancé, cousin, close friend etc.

Why International Men’s Day:

IMD is being celebrated to mark a tribute to:

1. The great inventions that men have made over the past several millennia to make technological advances and reduce communicational and organizational latencies.
2. The sacrifices that men have made over the past several millennia for either running their households or the country or its defenses or by undertaking the most risky jobs. The lives that men laid down for the sake of martyrdom are often gone unheard and unsung.
3. And the issues that men in general and Indian men in particular have been facing and that have sadly fallen on deaf ears so far like:-
   1. Today, the expectations from men by the family and society have touched the roof. A man is expected and often demanded to provide luxuries to his family, take care of parents and also in-laws. Men are forced not only to spend all the money that they earn and but also are forced to take huge loans to provide for luxurious apartments, diamond necklaces and costly cars. In a nutshell – There is no limitation to the expectations from a man and there is no acceptance of the limitations of a man.
   2. The unaccepted and unaddressed domestic abuse and family disputes are taking a huge toll on married men’s minds. No one shares their pain, grief and there is no social support system for these distressed men.
   3. Men, who commit suicide, are often ridiculed as being weak and irresponsible and this arguments is used to deny any support or counseling to men. Moreover there is no acceptance of the fact that a large number of men are victims of domestic violence as apparent from the fact that in the last 12 years 1, 70, 000 married men have committed suicide directly due to domestic violence.

Here are some figures just indicative of the grim situation men in India are facing currently with no redressal mechanism in sight.

1. As per the Labor and Employment ministry more than 13 lakh men have lost their jobs in the five years span of 2001 to 2005.
2. As per suicide statistics provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), every year more than 57000 married men are ending their lives vis-à-vis 30000 married women. The suicide stats for the years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 are 52583, 55452, 57593 and 57639 married men vis-à-vis 28188, 29869, 30064 and 30224 married women respectively.
3. As per NCRB records, every year, more than 93% of the crimes have been registered against men but still this fact has never been highlighted in media reports.
4. Men in India are responsible for 82% of taxes, yet not a single rupee is spent for men’s welfare despite the fact that 221 men are ending their lives daily.
5. More than 98% of men have faced Domestic Violence at some point of time in their lives at the hands of their wives and in-laws in terms of verbal abuse, physical abuse, economical abuse, relationship cheating, and mental harassment on an average in 3 years of marriage.
6. Men pay more taxes than women at the same salary levels.
7. False allegations should they be related to dowry harassment, sexual harassment, relationship cheating or any other form of social abuse, has become a norm to be used as a tool against any man by the unscrupulous women, supported and pampered by the society, to realize their vexatious designs or hide their own follies / crimes.
8. All the gender neutral laws under IPC have a clause of punishment for abusers of those laws, whereas there is no such clause in any of the women centric laws, which is a clear violation of the article 14 of the Indian Constitution and discrimination against the male gender.
9. Adultery is a crime for Indian men but not for women, which also depicts direct discrimination against men.

These figures are merely illustrative and not exhaustive of the gory picture of men in the society coupled with the fact that all of these problems are currently either unaccepted by the society or unaddressed at best.

In addition to celebrating the IMD, NCFM, Bangalore also puts forth the following demands before the Govt. of India and the society:

1. Form National Commission for Men to study issues of men and provide the Government with recommendations for Men’s welfare.
2. Institute Men’s Welfare Ministry that will implement the recommendations of the National Commission for Men on behalf of the Government.
3. Abolish all anti-male and gender biased laws.
4. Close down the National Commission for Women.
5. Rationalize the tax provisions to make them gender neutral.
6. Form welfare schemes for boys and girls unilaterally.
7. Form an ombudsman to regulate the anti-male quotient in media, television and films.
8. Allow single adult men to adopt children before the age of 30.
9. Do not force men to don the role of the breadwinner against their wish and give them a choice about their life.

10.  Address health issues of men like prostate cancer, short life expectancy, high suicide rates, etc with seriousness.

11.  Government should urge the private sector to come up with Health Products specifically targeted to diseases affecting men in large numbers.

12.  The World Economic Forum should start recognizing men as human beings as well as study and publish Gender Index of Men besides that for women alone

NCFM Bangalore is proud to announce that the all the gifts for the event have been sponsored by branded car audio portal, Acoustics for You – Sound Opinions. Acoustics for You provides high-quality branded car-audio and is proud to be associated with this year’s International Men’s Day, what with love for gadgets being a pronounced masculine trait. Do visit http://www.acousticsforyou.com/ for more details.

The stall will be setup from 4PM to 8PM in the lobby area of the Forum Value Mall at Whitefield, Bangalore. The stall will also have a “Voice your Opinion” contest wherein people are free to come and share their opinions on the celebration of International Men’s Day and its significance. The best opinion gets some cool goodies.

On an ending note, it is imperative to mention here that International Men’s Day is celebrated in 19 countries including the West Indies, Australia, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore to name a few.

India Liaison Officer
National Coalition for Men, Bangalore