Stop Violence Against Women in South Asia

Jyoti Devi from Deogarh, Jharkhand is a Maitri Network fellow . Once branded as a witch , she was thrown out of her house with her young children . After a long struggle, today she fights for women’s rights in her village. Maitri Network presently supports 3 fellows in the state of Jharkhand.These fellows are trained in providing counselling and legal advice.

Through its partner Gramin Vikas Kendra, groups of men and women have been formed in the three districts of Deogarh, Chatra and Bokaro. These groups meet regularly to train and educate women on issues of gender based violence and provide relief to those women who are victims of violence.

Recently, gender training sessions were held with the women groups, through activities - concepts of gender , patriarchy and domestic violence were discussed. The women in these groups became aware of different forms of violence and its effects on women’s health and well being.

Women in these groups have now decided to meet frequently and discuss more on issues like child marriage, dowry harassment, sexual violence against children and others. They have also been successful in encouraging men in their villages to form such a group. The first session with men was also organised where general discussions were undertaken and men were encouraged to raise their voices against violence.

In the coming months these groups together plan to campaign on the issue of child marriage in their villages. For this they are planning various activities and women are getting together making posters, writing poems and inviting members of village panchayats for these meetings.

The Maitri Network works in five states in India with the aim of creating a society where both men and women are equal and where gender justice prevails. This is achieved through various grass roots organisations working with women belonging to marginalised communities . The network operates through its grass roots activists or paralegals who deal with various cases of violence against women and children.  

 Recently, the Maitri Network in cooperation with  the Human Rights Law Network, organised a three day residential training in Pune for 25 paralegals from 7 districts of Maharashtra, 3 districts of Jharkhand and 1 district of West Bengal. This is their 2^nd level training to go more in-depth into relevant  human rights issues and laws.

The training covered a different number of topics  ranging from gender, sexuality, child sexual abuse, child marriage, offences against women, the criminal justice system and others. Various activists and lawyers  facilitated the sessions which were followed by discussions that gave the participants the opportunity to share their experiences and  reflect on their learning. Various films and documentaries were used to discuss  relevant topics.

The paralegals are key in facilitating access to government schemes at village level.  A session discussing  schemes for women and children was most apt for the group. The paralegals thoroughly enjoyed consolidating their knowledge and reported gaining more confidence in their ability to use various instruments to avail government benefits to women and children.

The training ended with identifying relevant issues around  public interest litigation  and  to creating a multi-stakeholder network of doctors, lawyers, students, activists, civil society organisations, and government officials at village level.