Support A Young Girls Leadership Academy in India

One of the themes of the SELF academy is Gender and Technology. The theme interrogates the politics of gender, sexuality, and technology. It enables girls to understand access to tech control and the discrimination women and girls face through technology. Within this broader perspective, the participants learn computer skills, social media usage, self-expression, safety, and security, and explore technology’s fun and pleasures. Through the 15-day training, SELF academy builds the concepts of choice and consent, the importance of staying connected with others, developing online content, building self-confidence, and understanding rights.

There is a huge gender gap when it comes to access and usage of technology. Various forms of attitude, taunts, and norms stereotype women’s and girls’ relationships with technology. A few examples are:

“They will not be able to handle or learn to use technology; it’s enough if they are even able to make round Rotis (Bread).”

“They are not interested in tech; they are not tech-savvy.”

“They will press the wrong buttons, and the device will stop working, mobile balance will get spent.”

“They won’t be able to dial numbers on mobile.”

The majority of women have grown up listening to one or the other of these from the people they interact with—of course, with context-specific variations. Through the SELF academy, CREA has been able to shake this thinking by analyzing the politics together with the girls.

The world is currently going through a difficult phase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, it is not the same for all; the most marginalized communities are also the most hit. With the spread of coronavirus, social inequalities are becoming more evident. It is impacting people, especially women and girls, in the most negative ways. Violence, abuse, and burden of work have increased; they have restricted or no mobility leading to limited or no social connection with others. Mental health issues have peaked during the pandemic. The girls we work with are facing similar problems and challenges. A majority of them belong to the most marginalized communities, including tribal, Dalit, Other Backward Class (OBC), and Minority from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh states of India. CREA has been working in the area for more than a decade now. We have run 5 SELF Academies with more than 250 girls who graduated so far. They have gone through a series of workshops on skills and leadership building during the academy, including Sports, Gender and Technology, Grassroots Comics and Story-telling, Choice and Consent, and Relationships.

A group of 45-50 young leaders located in different districts and villages across three states is emerging as the hope and energy—especially during the pandemic. They are the ones who have access to phones and social media and are using it to stay connected, cope with the situation, reach out to others, share their thoughts, access information, and have fun. Most of them use social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and know how to manage their privacy settings, and create strong passwords to ensure privacy and security. They are filming videos and photos, editing them, and sharing on social media platforms and with each other. A few are reaching out to those who do not have access to phones; others are attending zoom meetings with support from their organizations to understand issues that are relevant to their lives. They are taking part in the meetings organized by CREA’s partner organizations and listening to the mobile-based campaign content on various aspects of gender and COVID-19. 

Natasha (Name changed), age 18 years, a coach from Jharkhand uses her phone to take pictures of girls playing, editing those to create motivating videos for girls to join sports.

One of the trainers shared – "They had learned about social media and Facebook in particular during the SELF academy. Girls have become confident to use machines and explore other social media platforms like TikTok. Understanding the politics of gender and tech during the academy has a vital role to play. They have even started negotiating for phones with their parents."

It is not about the ability of women and girls to learn technology or any new skill. As the examples above establish, it is about the opportunity, resources, encouragement, non-judgemental space, equal treatment, and realization of one’s rights. 

Links:

• Read more about CREA on our website.