A four-day-long Girls Night Out campaign was launched in Kerala’s Muvattupuzha to encourage women to reclaim the night and create a nightlife in town. The festival involved food stalls, festive lighting, live music performances, Zumba dancing and a women’s marathon—and even a fundraiser organised by school girls. The initiative was launched by Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan, who wants to develop the streets of this Ernakulam district town into a more gender-inclusive, lively version.
“Girls Night Out is receiving an extraordinary response. Many people and prominent personalities, including women, from the constituency and other places called to congratulate and express their support,” Kuzhalnadan said in a Facebook post. “This shows that the people of Kerala want a nightlife that women can also be a part of. The 4-day programme concludes today. Hope everyone who can will come. Thank you very much for your support and cooperation.”
The Girls Night Out campaign was initially implemented on a half-kilometre stretch of MC Road, which is an arterial state highway connecting several towns between Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam. Usually, everyone in the town calls it a day by 8PM-8.30PM. To change all this, and to ensure that women feel safe while travelling at night, the initiative was launched. Hundreds of young girls and women attended the campaign along with their parents. Women also took the opportunity to highlight other issues plaguing them, like the lack of public toilets, the safety problems associated with private bus operations, etc.