Strengthening women's self identity is essential for her empowerment, combating violence and facilitating gender equality

Summary:

Women in India are subject to many forms of violence, a lot of which goes unreported. In many cases, behaviors perpetuating violence find their root in women's social identity prevailing over self identity. Their idea of who they are is derived from who they are in a social group - a mother, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and not from their work or self-perception. An extent of their social identity is to follow the man of the house' - be it their father, husband or son and accept what they say or do. Facing violence is part of it. The presentation will draw from our experience in the tea sector in Assam, India. Majority of the tea pluckers and workforce are women. The men work in associated factories or in other jobs, where absenteeism is high. Yet, when children of tea pluckers are asked who the earning member and decision maker in their family is, they reply father'. The women don't have control over their finances and don't regard themselves as contributors to the economy. This low sense of self identity extends to their response to violence as well. Violence is normalized and reporting is low because of prevailing social identities. Our activities are aimed at building awareness on rights and protection mechanisms and enabling women to explore their real self' which is less derived from social identity and more on their story and gratitude for self. For violence prevention programmes to sustain, developing positive sense of self concept is necessary.

Background/Objectives

Underreporting of VAW could be associated with women's social identity prevailing over self-identity (who she is as a person). Her worth is dependent on external social validation. In Assam's tea sector, even working women don't consider themselves as equal and earning members of the family, don't control finances and accept violence as normal. Instead they fear that if they raise their voice against violence :they could lose their job, husband, family and that will isolate them. There is a need to strengthen women's sense of self concept to help them break negative patterns of behavior that perpetuate VAW.

Description Of Intervention And/or Methods/Design

In collaboration with UNWOMEN, we are working with women and children in the tea sector in Assam, India to empower them to negotiate their rights and entitlements for safe working conditions and sustainable ecosystem at home and community. Awareness on rights and laws on domestic violence, sexual harassment and protection mechanisms are being built, along with a focused approach on enabling women to explore their real self' through their story and gratitude for self. Different activities like concentration and theatre help women deconstruct societal structures and place the me (self)' in different groups. They are oriented on the concept of space and helped to reflect on how infringement of that space affects them. Role play helps to visualize oneself in leadership roles and they explore their personal preferences that are detached from their social roles. Culture-based approaches are being used to incorporate sensitive messages in a non-threatening way.

Results/Lessons Learned

1. It is not that women agree' with violence. But for them, taking action is a huge challenge which they fear they won't be able to handle as single women. This acts as a deterrent. Our work helps them give regard to themselves and believing that there are support mechanisms and that saying no to violence is not their failure as women'. 2. With continuous intervention from diverse stakeholders, women in Assam's tea sector are now being able to identify that what is happening is violence' and is a violation of their rights. 3. Along with fighting against violence at home, women are able to extend help and support to other women in similar situations. 4. Women are acknowledging the difference of safe and unsafe space and that homes could be unsafe spaces as well. 5. Strengthened sense of self identity has helped positively stimulate women's social roles as well.

Discussion/Implications For The Field

In C4D, practitioners seek to facilitate local ownership of the change so that development is sustainable beyond direct intervention. In cases where normalization of violence is tied to women's strong prevailing sense of social identity over self identity, for violence prevention programmes to sustain, it is necessary that the intervention is targeted to help women explore their real selves' and they learn to value themselves as much as they value their role in social relationships, along with increased awareness of rights and laws. Men and diverse stakeholders should be involved to strengthen the support mechanism and de-normalize' violence.

Abstract submitted by:

Adrita Bagchi - banglanatak dot com

Suravi Sarkar - banglanatak dot com