DanChurchAid
India
Engendering gender justice
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| A Mala, R Shanthi and M Danamani (from left) at the candle making unit, which is run by a local NGO. |
"Before the tsunami we did not come out of our houses. But now there is a great change. We have the confidence to come out, talk and even fight for our rights," says A Mala from Ayyampettai village in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu.
Ayyampettai is one of the villages taken up by LWSI for post tsunami intervention, where it has conducted many of its capacity building and women empowerment programmes.
Helping people help themselves
LWSI / ACT International have been conducting capacity building and disaster preparedness activities along with relief and rehabilitation programmes right from the inception of the Tsunami Response Project in Tamil Nadu. It has been organizing awareness, orientation and training programmes to empower women, ensure better health and sanitation, and make the communities more disaster resilient. By facilitating the creation of group funds and opening of bank accounts by Self Help Groups (SHGs), LWSI has encouraged micro credit operations among women.
Self-help groups empower women
“We have become better informed now. During meetings women are told to sit in the front and share their views,” says R Shanthi from the same village.
The women are now part of a self help group and feel they have the confidence to meet government officials and NGO staff to advocate their cause. At the family level as well they are now able to explain matters and make them understand their point of view.
Even among the men, the level of acceptance has gone up. “Before they would not have allowed us to come out and participate in meetings. Now they encourage us to attend even if they are unable to, so that they can get the information being shared. A very positive attitude is noticeable among the men,” enumerated M Danamani of Ayyampettai village.
Women bringing home some additional income
Many of the women are involved in a candle making unit being run by a local NGO. They earn Rs 20 (about half a dollar) a day. Since more women were interested to join, a soap making unit has also been set up. Their husbands are happy that they are bringing home some additional income. But before the tsunami they would not have allowed their wives to come out and work. The men are definitely more gender sensitized now.
“Though tsunami is a disaster, it has brought some positive changes also,” says Mala.
But not all women and men are gender sensitized. Gender discrimination, dowry problem, alcoholism and domestic violence continue in both fishing and non-fishing rural communities of Tamil Nadu. And a lot of hard work is needed before a visible attitudinal change is evident everywhere. But this is the beginning, and now there are women like Shanthi, who boldly asserts, “I will not force my daughters to marry. I want them to do what they want. A mother should be a friend to her daughters.”
By Rina Chunder, Information/Documentation Officer, Lutheran World Service - India
India
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