Priyanka Reddy’s brutal rape and murder is a dire reminder of the urgent need to reform how we raise our children.

Capital punishment and a mob mentality for immediate vengeful justice are not the solution; teaching gender sensitivity, consent, and the need for gender equality are the only ways forward.

On 30 November 2019, I conducted two such workshops for children—one for classes 6-8, the other for classes 9-12.

The focus of the workshops was:

1. Gender sensitisation

2. Understanding and then breaking gender stereotypes

3. Learning to look beyond traditional gender roles

What’s sad to know is that upon being asked whether they’d ever had an honest conversation about sex and gender with any adult, the children’s response was a unanimous no.

If we don’t normalise the conversation around these vital topics, we are failing our children and the many victims and survivors of sexual assaults.