Discussion about entry
Men Engage: Empowering women to involving men as allies, in Combating Violence Against Women
This is discussion about Men Engage: Empowering women to involving men as allies, in Combating Violence Against Women.
Take action: |
||
|
Share This Forum |
add to favorites |
|
A thank-you and a question
16 March 2007
Dear Poonam Kathuria:
Thank you for sharing this inspiring account of your determined and effective work in five districts of Gujarat state over the past four years, and its beginnings in the meeting that you initiated with 27 NGO’s in the region in 1999. Your activities to end violence against women stand as beacons for all of us: large-scale women’s collectives, support for women, legal aid, women’s justice committees, counseling, mass campaigns, work with local self-governance bodies, research, workshops with men and youth, interactions with community leaders, establishment of gender-just redressal mechanisms, “campaign on zero-violence zones,” collaboration with existing non-governmental and civil society organizations. You work shows what is possible when committed people work together to provide support to women victims of violence, and, at the same time, address what you describe as “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.”
Posted on your website is a deeply moving and insightful report of your Focus Group Discussion studies of men’s attitudes, values, and practices: “Involving men as allies in violence against women: Are we pursuing a mirage?” (http://www.swati.org.in/publication.html). The roots of your commitment to considering men as allies in education for liberation are evident in your answer to the question, “why do we want to pursue such an approach?” (a) The success of the male involvement approach is linked to our belief in changing the world, of the human ability to transform one’s reality and the world around us. (b) It is important to us as human beings, and as women to think of (most) men as allies so as to keep our faith and hope in this synergistic relationship alive.
We all can learn a great from you.
A fundamental issue comes immediately to mind.
In your work as a teacher, how do you deal with the central question that faces all of us who are committed to ending violence and changing the world by working with people in non-violent ways: How shall we be directive in our work without being authoritarian or manipulative? To put it in other terms, in the intersection between theory and practice, if we want to help people develop a commitment to interacting in collaborative rather than authoritarian ways, how shall we structure our learning groups so that everyone understands our goals and no one is dominated, demeaned, or domesticated by our practice? What guidelines do you propose in your learning groups, for example, for dealing with a situation in which one member interrupts another? In dealing with an instance of domination by one group member over another, how shall we model the precept to do naught unto others that we would not have them do unto us (Mahabharata 5, 15, 17), or the teaching that we must be the change that we wish to see in the world (M.K. Gandhi)?
Again, please accept my expression of appreciation for what you are doing and for sharing what you are doing. I shall be grateful for the opportunity to continue learning from you.
Warmly,
Herman M. Frankel, M.D.
Building Caring Families
http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/167
frankelh@earthlink.net
response to querry by poonam kathuria
Dear Frankel:
Hi and thank you for your most insightful comments on our work. You capture the essence of our work really well.
The issues you raise are fundamental and you are right we some times tend to become coarse in the pursuit of our seemingly lofty goals. The issue you raise is related to processes / methodology that we follow to achieve our objectives. In today’s world where development thought is dominated by mass mobilization and pace.. these issues do take a back seat.. The paradigm is efficiency, achieved some times at the cost of some of the issues you mention.
There are no pat answers but as I reflect on what you say , I make a note to become more conscious of these but also feel that otfen women are natural at recognizing and confronting these issues. In fact we find that we question ourselves and our processes much more than others do.. This often slows us down, as we often get confused half way through and question the path we have taken.. The women’s movement in India with all its gains , is questioning itself over the active role women have played in communal riots in Gujarat and in other parts of the country. The Dalit women are today raising there voice over their marginalistion in the women’s movement. So are women of alternate sexualities. As I look at these processes I gain hope.
With in my on organization SWATI-Society for Women’s Action and Training Initiative we make it a principal to work with the poorest and the marginalized and most exploited. But feel ill-equipped to deal with exploitation and corruption with in. I tend to fall back on Pedagogy of the Opressed,- Paulo Freier, who said that there is an exploiter inside the exploited. For the exploited to be a ‘man’ is to become like the exploiter . We need to recognize this and make conscientisation a part of our education and more important our proceses need to be monitored.
Thanks for posting this reflective querry..
Best wishes
Poonam Kathuria
SWATI-Society for Women's Action and Training Initiatives
pswati@satyam.net.in
Frankel wrote:
A fundamental issue comes immediately to mind.
In your work as a teacher, how do you deal with the central question that faces all of us who are committed to ending violence and changing the world by working with people in non-violent ways: How shall we be directive in our work without being authoritarian or manipulative? To put it in other terms, in the intersection between theory and practice, if we want to help people develop a commitment to interacting in collaborative rather authoritarian ways, how shall we structure our learning groups so that everyone understands our goals and no one is dominated, demeaned, or domesticated by our practice? What guidelines do you propose in your learning groups, for example, for dealing with a situation in which one member interrupts another? In dealing with an instance of domination by one group member over another, how shall we model the precept to do naught unto others that we would not have them do unto us (Mahabharata 5, 15, 17), or the teaching that we must be the change that we wish to see in the world (M.K. Gandhi)?
Again, please accept my expression of appreciation for what you are doing and for sharing what you are doing. I shall be grateful for the opportunity to continue learning from you.
Warmly,
Herman M. Frankel, M.D.
Building Caring Families
frankelh@earthlink.net