Reduce Gender Based Violence in Urban Communities

Deepti, 28, a trained nurse by profession, soon after her marriage, was abused, beaten and kept locked in isolation without food by her husband and in-laws. She was also no longer allowed to work.

“Fifteen days in a month I would either be absent from work or report late to work”, she says. 

The very foundation of her marriage was based on shaky grounds of fraud claims by her husband, of being educated with a job. Instead he was jobless and an alcoholic. 

“On the second day of our marriage he slapped me for no reason but just because he was drunk”. 

Deepti, spoke to her parents and requested for intervention but unfortunately, she was told that once she is married, she has to stay with her husband, at any cost and that “these kind of things happen in families and they should not be taken seriously.”

She continued to suffer violence by her husband and her mother-in-law because she did not get support from her family. Once she was attacked by them in the kitchen, her clothes caught fire and she wrestled for her life. No police complaint was registered by her family and her husband subsequently threw her out of the house. 

She did not feel safe with her family and with support from her colleagues reached out to Maitri. We helped Deepti to file cases against her parents, husband and in-laws; She has secured a Protection Order from the court as both her families threatened her, and she continues to fight for a legal divorce.   

“Maitri gave me strength to stand for myself and raise my voice against injustice. 

Now, Deepti works and supports herself while living in a women’s hostel with respect, dignity and no fear. 

Because of your support Maitri has been able to make a BIG difference in Deepti’s life. In the last few months, we have continued our efforts to create awareness on the issue of domestic violence through our social media campaign that was launched in July 2015. The campaign has had nearly 300 participants, by committing and getting themselves photographed with slogans about domestic violence. We have been encouraged by the response of 64K followers have been reached and 42k individuals engaged in this campaign worldwide. 

As part of the domestic violence awareness month, Maitri held two marches for Domestic Violence Awareness, in slum colonies in New Delhi.  Hundreds of underprivileged young girls, women and boys joined Maitri in solidarity to rally against Domestic Violence. Individuals from the community held up hand written slogans about the rights of women, what domestic violence constitutes, encouraging people to get involved.  The march sent a loud clear message that domestic violence is not acceptable in any circumstance. 

On 26 October 2015, Maitri India organized a street play titled ‘Dastak’ to raise awareness about domestic violence and other violence women commonly faced in our society today. The play captivated the attention of Select CITYWALK mall, New Delhi, goers with their moving performance. The play, ‘Dastak’ depicted various atrocities committed against women be it in workplace, public place or at home.

Maitri has partnered with GlobalGiving UK and 8 other Indian non-profits who work relentlessly at root cause of Gender Inequality to both protect and support the survivors of various forms of aggression. 

The campaign seeks to enhance awareness about Domestic Violence and bring more partners and support. Maitri stands united for equal rights for every single person oppressed by violence in India and are dedicated to creating a safe place for India’s #women to re-find #HerVoice.

Celebrate the inroads we are collectively making and #RaiseUrVoice with us to bring pressure for real understanding and change at judicial and societal level. Our project is on the GlobalGiving online fundraising platform that with more funding can bring Gender Equality to #India. Support us here: http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/projects/prevention-of-domestic-violence-in-india/

Once again, on behalf of the Maitri team, I’d like to thank you for believing in our cause enough to contribute monetarily. Every dollar truly makes the difference by allowing us to fight the denial of issues concerning domestic violence with awareness campaigns and victim to survivor programmes. Thank you for not being silent; Thank you for saying NO to domestic violence in India.