Taking a step towards gender equality is the need of the hour: Richa Chadha

Known for her consistently strong and fearless voice, Richa Chadda has now joined a movement to celebrate the strong, resilient women of India. She has extended her support to a special edition of Oxfam India's fundraising walkathon — the Oxfam Trailwalker-virtual challenge — set to take place around International Women's Day 2021. The idea behind this edition is to make aware and empower people to fight and end all kinds of discrimination against women. The 'Masaan' actress has been a frontrunner in taking a stand for issues that matter, whether it is through her on-screen roles or her personal opinions.

Just like the previous one in 2020, this one will take place virtually keeping in mind the pandemic restrictions and social distancing guidelines. Starting from 25th Feb to 6th Mar and 8th to 17th March 2021, the edition offers three challenges to the participants to choose from. They can complete either 100 km, 50 km or 25 km in 10 days. The challenge is accessible to anyone who wants to participate and every joining contribution will help Oxfam India in their projects. This year, the walkathon is themed around #WalkForHer, with the tagline, 'Walk to end all discrimination against women'. The theme resonates greatly with Richa, given that she has been very vocal about how women are treated in the film industry across the globe and has often reiterated how important it is to end biases and discrimination.

The pandemic has been tough on everyone but women and the marginalized communities bore the real brunt of it. Statistics paint a grim picture of women suffering due to domestic, professional and health issues. The walkathon's theme this year is a response to the countless examples of gender-based violence, extreme injustice and deep rooted discrimination against women that shocked the nation in 2020. Richa emphatically states, "The way we treat our women in emergencies is a testament to how much we as a society respect the gender at large. Our fight for equal opportunities for women is consistent, and initiatives like this walkathon help bring that many more people together for a cause. It's the need of the hour, and the Trailwalker has my wholehearted support. A movement for equality, this call to #WalkForHer is a step in the direction of zero discrimination."

For Oxfam India, a non-profit organisation working to support child education, empowering women and fighting against inequality, the Oxfam Trailwalker virtual- challenge has been one way to involve citizenry in important conversations as well as fund-raising. Last year, even though the walkathon had to go virtual due to the pandemic for the very first time, the participation remained enthusiastic. Last year, the 2020 Oxfam Trailwalker virtual-challenge focussed on the plight of migrant workers who were hit the worst due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. The 2020 edition attracted almost 5,000 participants who walked in solidarity of the migrant workers and raised over Rs.50,00,000, which helped immensely in our COVID-19 response across 16 states

Participants can register here (https://virtualtrailwalker.oxfamindia.org/) and make contributions easily on the Oxfam webpage.