Men Engage
Empowering women to involving men as allies, in Combating Violence Against Women
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Focus of activity
Community Involvement
Year the initiative began
2003
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Women’s Low Status
Which of the insights is the primary focus of your work?
Increase Women’s Power
If you believe some other barrier or insight should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
social acceptance of Violence Aagainst Women, and the construct of masculinities in a patriarchal structure are the two other barriers that promote Violence Against Women. The equation between men and woman is one of power in which male violence against women perpetuates and is tolerated by women because of the unequal power relation between the two. Calling upon men to be allies in combating violence against women is essentially an appeal to men’s sense of justice and egalitarianism. While we do believe in the synergistic essence of the relationship between men and women , we also believe that women have to empower themselves to engage in it.Other wise it will be like inviting the patriarch to become a patron. And therefore our initiative focuses on 'Empowering women to involve men as allies....
Name Your Project
Men Engage: Empowering women to involving men as allies, in Combating Violence Against Women
Describe Your Idea
Description of Initiative
‘The Men Engage: Empowering women to involving men as allies, in Combating Violence Against Women’, is a network based initiative being implemented by a group of agencies in the Saurashtra kachchh region ( covering five districts) of Gujarat state , India. The program is based on the premise that, Violence Against Women ( VAW hence forth) has such vast dimensions- to succeed in combating it, the effort needs to be equally vast and broad based. Towards this end the initiative has focused on placing VAW on the agenda of organizations working for women’s development, bringing the issue of VAW out of the culture of silence that surrounds it and bring it into the public domain for debate. Empower women to combat VAW through building women’s leadership and capacities, set up alternate redress mechanism –in the form of Women’s Nyaya Samitis -the women justice committees, that are community based , women led forums that function in a socio-legal and gender just framework. The initiative has taken up for advocacy, the implementation of Domestic Violence act as well as government recognition of paralegals as associates of the justice giving mechanism.
The initiative recognizes that women are not single gendered and men’s subjectivity is central to gender domination. The Men Engage and women’s Empowerment program, works extensively with men and youth in building male partnership and community opinion against VAW.
It has critically examined through systematic research the extent and forms of violence against Women, in the region and the limits and potential of working with men in partnering to prevent VAW and shaped our interventions based on the understanding .
The program intervenes and impacts through offering holistic support including legal aid , counseling , couple counseling, gender and VAW orientation trainings for men, involving students, youth and community leaders as change makers in VAW, mass based campaigns for building public opinion against VAW, influencing the media and policy advocacy on implementation of legislation on violence against women, work with key stakeholders such as the law enforcement agencies , village panachayts ( local self governance bodies) and health functionaries on VAW. A large part of our work is also beginning to entail research, policy level intervention, wider network building and capacity building of other civil society organizations .
Innovation
The Men Engage through women’s empowerment program is different and unique because it marks a shift from the pure service delivery model approach of providing support to women victims of violence, to building a multi pronged strategy approach that involves support to women victims, but also at the same time addressing the root cause i.e. the social acceptance of violence against women in the family and the structural nature of women’s secondary status that forces them to stay in exploitative relationships.
The program thus focuses on creating awareness and bringing about attitudinal changes in the community, men in particular on VAW. The initiative of women’s justice committees , is an extra legal strategy provides an alternate plat form that is proving much more effective in aiding women in their quest for justice. Rooted in cultural and community norms, the alternatives, actively engage the women and the community in a dialogue on what is just and right. Such a process manages to take the discourse to a higher level and challenges and changes community norms. Born out of a process of empowerment and a consciousness of rights among women the Nyaya Samiti’s are quasi legal platforms that are proving to be fitting alternatives to violence against women.
Delivery Model
The Men Engage and Women’s Empowerment program’s target population is the general community , women , women victims of violence and men and youth. The program has its basis in large scale women’s collectives which are membership based forums. Together the membership of these collectives in five districts is toady over 25,000. The program reaches out to the target population through these collectives, community out reach workers, campaigns, training programs, publicity, helpline phones and the women Nyaya samitis forums.
Through posters and pamphlets the initiative creates awareness on VAW and changing community attitudes and behaviour. We publish a newletter ‘Paraspar’ meaning mutuality which reaches out to over 4000 familes , civil society groups and NGOs
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In 2004 we conducted a research in five districts to measure the extent and forms of VAW. The research also looked at help and health seeking behavior of women. This research acts as a data base and provides a base line to measure the impact of our work. On an ongoing and short term basis the impact is measured through working on systematic outcome indicators, level of participation in our programs, number and typology of cases coming to Nyaya samitis . The program tries to measure it’s impact also through its influencing of social and political institutions such as the caste panchayats , gram panchayats (local governance bodies) getting involved in combating VAW.
Key Operational Partnerships
The program has established partner ships at four levels;
a) Those that strengthen our grass roots and community advocacy on VAW: Grass root level governance bodies the village panchytas, the local youth groups and community leaders
b) Those that help strengthen and build capacity : Research and capacity building Institutes, Other networks etc. Examples of these are, The Gujarat Institute for Developmnt research ( Our research on VAW was conducted with their support, )Indian Iinstitute for Paral Legal Studies (IIPLS), Aekal Nari Sangathan- a collective working on social security concerns of women, Women and land rights network. HIVOS, OXFAM, Community Aid Abroad are the long term donors that support the program.
c) Those that help us to network, broaden our vision and make the micro to macro linkages :The Men Engage coalition – a global alliance committed to working with men on VAW, UNFPA, UNIFEM, and the women’s movement, WE CAN (end all violence Against Women) Campaign by OXFAM, the White Ribbon Campaign, National Alliance of Women ( NAWO)
d) And finally those that strengthen our objective of strengthening the policy and it’s implementation :department of women and Child, The Judicary, National Women’s Commission , The National Human Rights Commission
Financial Model
The program works on grants from the donors and offers free or highly subsidized services to its clients. We have provisions for extending skills, capacity building and seed money support to women who would like to become economically self reliant in a relationship
What percentage, if any, of the total operating costs does earned income (from products, services, or other fees) represent?
5%
How is the initiative financed? Is it financially self-sustainable or profitable? How much do beneficiaries contribute?
We work on a people’s contribution approach and the Nyaya samitis charges a case fees of up to ten $ . This system is flexible and often the fees is reduced or waived altogether if a woman expresses inability to pay. The Nyaya samitis are getting enough cases to become financially self reliable. About 10% of our cost is being generated through the services offered by the Nyaya Samiti.
Effectiveness
Some of the concrete outcomes of the program have been:
The SK-VAW, began their work in 2002 from a point where: we felt that few groups worked on VAW their was lack of acceptance of VAW as a key issue VAW was rampant in the region
Through sustained activities, the Saurashtra Kachchh network today has successfully placed the issue of violence on the agenda of several NGOs and many more today are in agreement that Violence against Women is a key concern in the Saurashtra Kachchh region. At the government level too, the Gender Equity Policy document, prepared through a multi-stakeholder dialogue process has a thematic section on VAW and VAW also figures prominently in its legal section. We are today taking the lead in advocacy for effective and efficient implementation of the DVA, 2005 ( DVA was passed by the Government of India in 2005 and has come into force in October 2006). We have succeeded in engaging in this dialogue over fifty women’s groups from all over the state of Gujarat.
Some of the significant achievements of the group are:
Set up alternate, gender just, redressal mechanisms – the Mahila Nyaya Samitis, to address the issue of VAW. The Nyaya samitis altogether in five districts resolved directly or through litigation 30-to 35 cases of domestic violence per month, i.e over 1800 cases. Over 6000 people were counseled. Nine cases of rape were supported through police and court. In four cases perpetrators have been punished with imprisonment.
Involvement of men and youth in combating VAWnWorkshops with men on the issue of Violence Against Women. We have so far trained over 600 youth in training programs and involved at least 1,00,000 men and women through campaigns ..
A campaign on zero violence zones has led to individuals, families and groups taking the non violence pledge. Seven village panchayts passed a resolution on VAW and pledged tomake their village a zero violence zone.
The networks efforts in the past five years have placed Violence on the agenda of several agemcies. Many more workon VAW issues , where almost none worked before.
Public rallies and campaigns have brought the issue of of VAW into the public domain and initiated a dialogue on male responsibility and changing social attitudes towards the culture of acceptance , hence silence that perpetuates VAW.
Advocacy on the issue of VAW through research studies and work with the print and electronic media.
How many people have benefited from your program over the last year? Which element of the program proved itself most effective?
The Nyay samitis handeled and resolved over 360 cases last year . One thousand families / couples were counseled Over 3000 persons and 200 families and six village communities ( representing 15,000 people) took a pledge to become non violent. The Zero violence zone campaign was carried out in 700 villages, of eight districts in Gujarat, India. ( Taking a pledge means a responsibility and involves wearing a badge by an individual, putting a plaque outside their house by a family and placing of a board by a village of working towards becoming a zero violence zone)
Scaling up Strategy
Our priority for the next three years is up-scaling the work of the Nyaya samitis, getting them legitimacy in the justice giving mechanisms and advocacy on effective implementation of Domestic Violence act passed in 2006. Broad base our program to include all forms of violence against women – caste, communal, violence at the work place. And make violence against women a public health and civil society concern. We would like to strengthen the rights based aspect of our work on women’s empowerment to combat VAW .
Stage of the Initiative
1
Origin of the Initiative
In the initial stages my work with SWATI-Society for Women’s action and raining Inititives, we worked with a socio economic empowerment perspective that focused on mobilising women for their primary needs of water health, economic control etc.. , As our work progressed, we soon began to realize that violence is a hard reality of most women’s lives and is a single biggest impediment to any kind of empowerment for women. Unless we work on curbing this scourge, the goal of women’s empowerment remains a mirage we may keep chasing.
VAW is such a deep rooted , complex and broad issue that working on changing social attitudes required a concerted and multi pronged effort by civil society and NGOs. The initiative to involve civil society had to come from NGOs. I on behalf of SWATI, took the initiative to call for a meeting in 1999. 27 NGOs fro the region attended the meeting . The Group called itself Saurashtra Kachchh network on VAW . The SK-VAW network today works in over 350 villages in five districts, is the only network in Gujarat on VAW and is an active force in influencing, linking up and advocating against VAW.
This Entry is about (Issues)
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate?
I heard of the contest on the email. My motivation to participate is to involve others in getting feedback and measure the creativity and impact of this initiative through an external and expert audience. And Hope fully win too...
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up
The main obstacle to scaling up is:
Dependence on grants and donors exigencies of which at times determine organizational priorities and programs.
Lack of skilled and competent persons. The Social sector though increasingly becoming a carrier option, is getting project oriented . Not too many people are interested in joining grass roots level rights based work .
Main Financial Challenges
The challenge to financing the growth of the initiative is in few donors willing to fund long term and large initiatives. We would like to link up with foundations and government as these understand and are interested in funding rights based work. Linking the work with them also gives us an opportunity to engage on issues and policy
Main Partnership Challenges
The most important challenge is to keep the network character of the initiative alive. Thus collective ownership, participation , contribution , responsibility and accountability are the challenges we constantly grapple with. Building member capacities, maintaining quality work and retaining a process and outcome orientation, promoting self reliance and relationship management are the key challenges that we face in working together as a network.
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