CAMPAIGNING FOR A CAUSE

Building understanding of Women Rights in Meo Muslim Community

The Meo Muslim tribe of Mewat is still living with archaic ideologies and customs. Where women remain in the background, without access or control over resources, no participation in social sphere, where women are still bearing the worst consequences of a patriarchal society without any knowledge of their victimization.

It has taken the Institute of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD) a decade of dedicated work in Mewat mobilizing community on issues of water, education and skill building of women, to be able to build up a platform to address the issues related to Rights of Women.

We now find the space conducive enough to begin talking about Justice for women, by discussing with the community:
a) The Protective Laws on Gender Violence and
b) Bringing to light the subtle manifestations of Gendered Violence viz, absence of women leaders. With these grounds we begin our active contribution against Gender Violence.

THE CAMPAIGN

IRRAD took part in the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991.

Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day for Violence against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights.

IRRAD’s Policy, Governance and Advocacy center is working to secure “Good Rural Governance Now”, which has six basic points in its agenda. The most basic of them being community participation, followed by women’s leadership, supportive governance, better coordination; zero tolerance to corruption; and priority to basic services.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence forms part of the rural governance training. Through this, IRRAD seeks to create awareness amongst individuals and groups in its area of implementation to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women. The aim is to build understanding of Women Rights in Meo Muslim Tribes through film screenings on Violence on Women, Training of Village women on Dowry, Domestic Violence and Child Marriage, Training on Women Participation in Local Governance (Panchayats) and decision making, Interaction with Grassroots Women Activists. The campaign was surrounded by lot of interactive discussions with village women and men on different manifestations of gendered violence.

The outcome of the activism campaign was as bold as the campaign ideology. The long suppressed aspirations of villagers, especially women found utterance as villagers signed the action charter that read, “We the citizens of India pledge that we will oppose all kinds of violence against women and will continue to work for their benefit in our respective spheres till the time we achieve success.”

To visit IRRAD’s profile on the campaign homepage, visit:
http://cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/kit09/asiapacific.html#INDIA