Young Girls Fight Against Early & Forced Marriage

Dear Supporters,

Feminist Approach to Technology is entering an exciting phase of work with its new project on, ‘Young Girls Fight against Early Marriage.’ We are working on this because India is said to become one of the emerging world powers in the near future but in a society that is still ridiculed with conservative notions of women and womanhood. The idea of positioning and situating women in households, to fulfill their domestic roles has not only hampered their development but has been detrimental for their personal wellbeing. Their familiarity and access to a new changing world is limited, especially for young girls who belong to an economically backward and a socially oppressed class. This is the group of adolescent girls that Feminist Approach to Technology aims to enable and empower.

Currently, with the funds that FAT raised through your support on GlobalGiving, it is planning the implementation of the project with the girls at the Technical Center regarding how they want to capture the issue within their communities, through filmmaking. This discussion is being followed by technical training on photography and filmmaking for the alumni and FAT team members – this will be the team assisting the filmmaking process. Simultaneously, we are attempting to raise institutional funds for aspects of the project other than film making. The team is also in the process of developing a detailed plan and strategy for the project, so that when it begins in January the implementation is swift and efficient.

From January onwards, the girls from the Center will be introduced to photography and filmmaking techniques by a professional filmmaker who will be working with them for next six months. She will also be the one helping them with editing of the film. This will then be screened amongst the communities and the public to engage them in a discussion on early marriage. With this we will also be involved in regular advocacy in Delhi while also expanding it to Patna (Bihar) – here the infestation of early marriage is as worse as urban slums of Delhi. This initiative will help in developing a network and running a larger campaign on young girls’ fighting early marriage.

At FAT, we are all gearing up to start our fight in personal and public spaces to enable girls’ to enhance their agency and realize their aspirations and ambitions without getting forced and pressurized to get married at an early age.

FAT would again like to thank all the supporters who have helped us actualize this project. Each and every contribution has reaffirmed the faith of the girls’ in this fight. We look forward to having you as a supporter with us always, with a promise of not disappointing you. We will keep you updated with all the exciting happenings of the project. Keeping checking FAT’s official website for more information: www.fat-net.org