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| Overview |
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Women's empowerment, the most
important goal of RGMVP, is a sensitive issue
in a project area which has a deeply
patriarchal and feudal social milieu. While
the Programme has been successful in enabling
women to assert their right to control the
resources of the household and to participate
in decision-making for their families, gender
and social issue continue to pose challenges
for the complete empowerment of women.
Traditions such as the purdah system,
discrimination on the basis of caste and
class, lack of respect of the identity of
the woman, and total disregard for the
rights of the girl child and the
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woman are rampant, and have served to undermine the position of the woman in society for
centuries. Traditional beliefs, social taboos
and blind faith have contributed to endangering
the health of the mother and child through
beliefs such as sauri-patha which dictates that,
after delivery, a woman cannot step out into the
sun for one week, or that the first milk (colostrum)
should be offered to the gods rather than being
given to the infant or that Polio drops lead to
infertility in later life.
The primary challenge faced by RGMVP is that of
changing the belief systems and making them more
sensitive to women so that they are given equal
opportunities. A strategy that has proved
especially effective in dealing with these
challenges is that of integrating the Swathya
Sakhi programme and the Gender and Social Action
initiative. Since the Swasthya Sakhi is a woman
from within the community and understands social
perceptions, she becomes a powerful advocate for
change. Convergence with the Community-led
Healthcare initiative and with public health
functionaries is also used to reiterate and
reinforce the importance of natal, antenatal
care, maternal and infant care.
The Gender and Social Action initiative works to
sensitise women. Training of Trainers (TOT)
sessions have been organised on gender issues
for RGMVP staff and community leaders. They have
been sensitised to various issues from a gender
perspective. They in turn use advocacy and
motivation building to create awareness about
these issues to bring about changes in
perspectives and attitudes in each household.
Gender Committees have been formed by VOs and
BOs to take this agenda forward. Each Gender
Committee consists of women who have been
trained to understand the gender issue and its
dimensions; they in turn discuss this issue at
the VO/BO meets to create awareness and to
resolve problems related to gender within the
community.
SHG women are encouraged, through simple
exercises, to understand the concept of gender,
to appreciate the difference between productive
and non-productive work, to calculate the sex
ratio in their villages/communities, and to
understand that the gender of the new-born child
is not in a woman's control. VOs across the
project area are conducting PRA exercises to
collect data on infant and female mortality, the
sex ratio, and pregnant women to understand the
problems and then to act accordingly in
collaboration with their Sawasthya Sakhis and
local health functionaries.
The institutions of the poor – the SHGs, VOs and
BOs –act as important fora to bring about a
social revolution at the grassroots level. The
sense of unity of purpose and strength generated
by these institutions has compelled members to
take stock of centuries old traditions.
Discrimination on the basis of being a woman, or
of belonging to a certain caste, class or
community, has lost its hold on SHG women. The
ability to earn and to generate funds has given
the women the confidence to participate
effectively in community life, and therefore to
establish an identity for themselves as well as
to earn the respect of the community. Most SHG
women have dispensed with practice of the purdah.
Women from different castes, class and
communities work with each other in the
institutions of the poor and reject
discrimination on the basis of these parameters.
In many cases, SHG women have also learnt to
stand up for their rights against the power of
the local landlords and higher classes. Other
social evils such as addiction and violence
against women are also being resolved through
collective action of the institutions of the
poor.
Overall, CIPs -- through increasing women’s
mobility in terms of coming out of their homes,
interacting with other women, officials and
outsiders – have created a huge wave of
awareness and inculcated knowledge on community
development, and gender and social issues among
the women. |
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