Support 5000 women out of sexual & economic abuse

The project has maintained and invested in the development of 30 women leaders, all of whom have benefited from on going training and awareness building of domestic violence, human rights, and leadership skills. A further 200 women have benefited in training at grass root level on how to build and maintain Self Help Groups, the Panchayat Raj (village government system) and how to climb out of poverty.

Manisha Tokale is the secretary and driving force behind SPMM, Karuna Trust’s project partner delivering this project. Manisha’s basic nature of raising a voice against any sort of injustice from an early age gained added volume when she perfected her public speaking skills through the college debating society. Manisha Tokale is now one of Maharashtra’s most influential and vocal advocates of women’s rights and Dalit rights.

Chandrakala Shinde is a mother of four and wife of a farm labourer. As a former sub-caste Hindu, Chandrakala was previously completely excluded from any involvement in village social activities. She would never go to local festivals and felt afraid to talk to others in the village for fear of reprisal. Confined to her home, she held deep rooted superstitions and had poor self esteem. Through the project, Chandrakala has attended training programmes on women’s and Dalit rights, the legal system, domestic violence and gender equality. As a result she now sits on the village leadership committee and is one of the project’s thirty Community Leaders.

We purchased machinery for milling flour with support from the women’s group. Buying the machinery for the mill was a big investment, but we had a lot of help from the group. We paid 40,000 rupees for the machinery, which was part paid by a loan from the group of 20,000 rupees. We are now receiving an income of 3,000 rupees a month and because the loan interest was so low, we have already paid back half of the 20,000 rupees. It would not have been possible for me to do this otherwise because the money lenders’ rates are so high. Thank fully there are no longer any of these money lenders operating in our village.”