Apeejay Trust pledged its support to Breakthrough, a leading human rights organization for Bell Bajao! – their unique initiative to tackle domestic violence against women. Domestic violence against women is a social ill that has its roots in internalized views of manhood – where manhood is equated with aggression, dominance over women and sexual conquest. Breakthrough works towards changing these deeply ingrained perceptions while enhancing the ordinary citizen´s responsibility towards taking a stand against domestic violence.

We funded Breakthrough´s award-winning campaign in Delhi to address issues of eve-teasing and sexual harassment as well. Mrs Shirin Paul, Chairperson Emeritus of Apeejay Surrendra Group, launched the campaign by flagging off an educational video van from The Park New Delhi. The van was stationed for a few days at the Hotel to take advantage of its central location in attracting attention of Delhiites and thereafter travelled across schools and colleges in Delhi for 15 days using ´Bell Bajao´as a clarion call urging men and boys to take a stand against domestic violence.

The van screened Bell Bajao PSAs and became the staging area for street theatre performances, puppet shows, opinion polls, interactive games and flyers – all geared towards sensitizing young adults in Delhi to take action against eve-teasing and sexual harassment.

Apeejay also focussed the campaign internally to its own employees. The message was reached to thousands of Apeejay People who were trained by our HR departments with material provided by Breakthrough in recognizing the social evil and being able to do something about stopping it when one is a witness