Author: Amit

Saraswati a Gram Sakhi of Roopnagarh, has been designated by the Roopangarh Police Station as a Suraksha Sakhi (Protection Buddy).  This is under an initiative by the Rajasthan Police to form Suraksha Sakhi Groups (Protection Buddy Groups) in every police station across the state to support the safety and security of girls and women.

On her new role, Saraswati says, “I gained knowledge on laws and redressal mechanisms. My confidence grew and I was motivated to raise awareness of the people in my village.”

Indeed, Saraswati has been doing just that. Her efforts are paying off.  The village community is now aware of the helplines they can access in times of need, of distress including 1090, 1098, 100, and 181. Saraswati adds, “As a Suraksha Sakhi, I also collaborate with the police to impart training on self-defence to school-going girls.”

Saraswati is part of a wide network of Gram Sakhis or Village Buddy – who are local village women motivated to become a social change agent in their area.  Gram Sakhis, cover 33 villages falling within 10-gram panchayats in Kishangarh block, Ajmer district. They work closely with frontline workers, paralegal volunteers at the village level and collaborate with other networks such as Women’s Forums and Survivor Support Groups for raising awareness on Violence Against Women (VAW).

Despite the existence of lawsand implantation authorities to protect women against crimes, women continue to face violence.  The primary reason is the lack of knowledge on redressal mechanisms available to them. They simply do not know where and how to report incidents of violence. Eight Gram Sakhis, each responsible for one Gram Panchayat along with 93 members of Women’s Forums have taken up this challenge head-on. Their objective is to educate and inform women about VAW including the redressal mechanisms in place.

The effect of the work of Gram Sakhis is becoming increasingly evident.  They have been able to share their own increased understanding and knowledge on how to address VAW with the village community.  This covers both the legal and social aspects of VAW. Further, those who have faced violence have been empowered to speak out, to call out perpetrators, to hold them accountable

“We have launched an intensified door-to-door awareness campaign on the helpline for VAW. This serves as a crucial resource for women who may be facing violence or abuse. Our objective is to spread the word about this valuable tool that can empower women and provide them the required support for their safety and security,’’ says Sakina, Member, Women’s Forum, village Chundari, Patan Gram Panchayat.

Sakina herself is a survivor of violence. Along with members of the group, Sakina is determined to reach each of the 153 households in Chundari. The group has already covered 70 per cent of the households.

All this is shaping sensibilities on the ground.  A deeper understanding and awareness of not only the issue but how to protect oneself –is taking root.  “We were not aware of any mechanisms to complain or reach out to when we needed or were in trouble.  Even though the helpline numbers had been shared with us verbally, we would forget. But now these have been pasted in our houses. We see them and find it easy to remember. We can access this and also help others when they face violence.  This has been very helpful to us indeed” says Lai Rao, SC women, Roopangarh Gram Panchayat.

The government has stepped in to offer support both at the level of governance as well as provision of legal services. The establishment of the District Legal Services Authority, One Stop Sakhi Center, Women’s Safety Center, and the State Women’s Commission –all point to the intent and engagement at the governmental level.

However, these can only be effective if the women are made aware of these facilities and have access to mechanisms. On the ground, this effort has gained momentum. At the village level, a group of women and adolescent girls began to discuss these issues in order to create a narrative around VAW and its prevention.

This group has taken up the responsibility to educate every woman in the village about the legal framework and helplines established by the government. They are putting in enormous effort, going diligently door-to-door. Outside each house, posters giving crucial information on all available services including helplines are pasted.

Their outreach is wide, their dedication commendable.  The group is driven by the desire to empower women to seek help for themselves as well as others who are facing violence. Their hope is that all this would help create a safer and more informed community.

Indeed, theirs has been an inspired effort.  It speaks of their commitment towards creating a safer environment for all.

The door-to-door campaign began a month ago. The campaign began with priority households with survivors of violence, school going girls, single women, elderly women and Dalit women.

3210 households in 10 Gram Panchayats namely Sursura, Roopangarh, Harmara, Khaotli, Barna, Kadha Bandersindri, Nalu, Salemabad and Patan –have been covered till date.

The women’s group is being supported by the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR). CFAR is implementing the project ‘Building a Coordinated Response to prevent and reduce Gender based Violence (GBV) in Kishangarh block, district Ajmer, Rajasthan supported by India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) and Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) .

“We, women not only need dry ration, milk and grocery during this difficult time, we also need peace of mind and harmony at home and in our basti. With lines of men queuing up from 4 am in the morning, drunken brawls and abuses waking us early in the morning, we decided it was high time that we took matters in our hands and thus our struggle to stop the sale of liquor began…” says Kamlesh.

When the Delhi government declared lockdown and police barricades were installed all around Okhla, the only source of home brewed liquor was the corner house in Mazdoor Kalyan Camp. The police had sealed all the lanes and entry points across most bastis leaving a lane or two allow residents access to the main Okhla Road.

However, since March 22, we observed that the number of people standing at the entrance of the lane leading to Mazdoor Kalyan Camp to purchase liquor was increasing every day. Since all liquor shops in the adjoining areas were closed, men from all the neighbouring bastis flocked to our camp to purchase home brewed liquor, blocking the entrance and making it impossible for women and men to move around freely.

We, members of the Community Management Committee, made several attempts to reason with the two liquor shop vendors to persuade them to stop the sale. Our pleas fell on deaf ears. We were told, “Do as you wish. I know many influential people in this area. I supply them with freshly brewed liquor and as long as I have their support no one can stop me from doing as I please.”

We tried many other techniques. We drove the men away, abused and argued with them, and even threatened to call the police but nothing seemed to work in our favour and the business continued to flourish.

This became almost a daily affair and we often returned home feeling angry, helpless and defeated.

On the morning of April 21, Kamal, Vidya’s son told us that there was a scuffle at the end of the lane between two men over one bottle of liquor. The fight had turned ugly and a crowd had gathered around; some men and women from our camp were trying to stop the fight. Vidya and Kamal also intervened but the men would not stop.

We were scared and alarmed so we made a call on 181 Women in Distress helpline expecting the PCR van to come and set matters right. However, there was no response for over forty-five minutes. Meanwhile, we made several calls to police helpline 100 and in a few minutes Mukhtar Ahmad, Beat Officer and Head Constable Ashvani Mongra came to the camp. Hearing the police siren, the crowd dispersed and the men fled. The police officials asked us to make a written complaint and helped us detail out the concerns. They also assured us of their full support and promised to come the following morning. A patrolling vehicle was also stationed on the main road to keep a 24×7-hour vigil.

The next morning Mukhtar Ahmad, Beat Officer and Head Constable Ashvani Mongra reached the camp with their teams early in the morning. Assisted by CMC members they searched the house and collected all evidence. They however could not nab the two men as someone had leaked the information and they had escaped. Both police officials went door to door and spoke to the residents. They recorded testimonies, made notes, and collected signatures the next day orders for sealing the house were received and since that day sale of liquor has stopped.

“While we women from the CMC made our own efforts, we would like to place on record and acknowledge the support and trust which the two police officials Mukhtar Ahmad, Beat Officer and Head Constable Ashvani Mongra, placed in us. They not only believed us but also helped us complete the documentation formalities and also assured all residents that in case of any problems they were just a call away. They are regularly visiting the camp and even assisting us in distribution of dry food kits, added Mukesh.

“You are working with us as part of our team, so it our duty to offer you all our help. It is because of the good work that the CMC members are doing that the image of police is gradually improving. You have helped bridge the gap between the community and us and we thank you for making this happen”— Mukhtar Ahmad, Beat Officer.

“We are working round the clock but police cannot reach everywhere. We need your support to act as our eyes and ears in the community. We are also gratified that you are updating us on a regular basis, informing us about areas where we can work with you such as distributing ration kits “— Head Constable Ashvani Mongra.

As narrated by Vidya, Kamlesh, Rajkumari, Pista, Jyoti, Sunita and Mukesh

Understanding its Impact on Marginal Groups and Populations

Panel 1: COVID-19 and Gender Justice: Is the Response Adequate?

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2020, Time: 10.30 to 12.30 hrs.

Moderator: Dr. Kanchan Mathur, Honorary Professor, Independent Consultant and Gender Expert, Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur

PANELISTS:

Pushpa Mai, Founder Nai Bhor, Jaipur, a CBO working for the rights of transgender persons; she is a well-known transgender leader in Rajasthan and member of the transgender board. Strong advocate of transgender rights across the State, she has been involved in facilitating relief and financial assistance to vulnerable transgender with support of the local government.

Basanta Nayak is the Senior Programme Manager at the Centre for Youth and Social Development in Odisha, an organization working with urban poor communities for over four decades. An expert on gender budgeting, he is presently involved in leading the organization’s work on SDG Goals which, he believes, has to be shaped by the people.

Meera Parida, Founder, SAKHA, a CBO working for rights and entitlement of transgender. As a member of the Odisha Kinnar Samaj she has represented the concerns of transgender at many national and international forums including the International Visitor Leadership Programme. Meera anchors a TV programme Bhinna Manush Bhinna Katha to sensitize people to issues related to transgender.

Shobhita Rajagopal, is an Associate Professor and Officiating Director of the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur. She has extensive experience of working on gender and intersectionality issues cutting across sectors including education of marginalized girls, MHM and gender mainstreaming.

The key questions deliberated upon during the panel discussions were as follows:

1. Can we say with confidence that gender is recognized as key issue and there is a collective will to address all the barriers it poses?
2. How can we equip and sensitize society and administration on the challenges faced by transgender, single women and girls?
3. What measures do we need to take to make the system provide all basic and essential services and be responsive to the needs of transgender, women, girls and other vulnerable groups?
4. How to shape policies and interventions that ensure the principle of Leave No One Behind?

While explaining the main objective of the Webinar, Akhila Sivadas, Executive Director, Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) stated that for organizations like CFAR who are deeply inured in community engagement processes with the teams literally spending time from dawn to dusk with the community listening to them, deliberating with them, planning and acting together in many ways from organizing campaigns, holding stakeholder consultations and advocating jointly with policy makers, the pandemic is now posing new challenges. With no large gatherings allowed and movement restricted, the time has now come to regroup and change one’s strategies of community mobilization and collective action. We need to invest in each individual community member, strengthen leadership of each person, connect digitally and enable every person to participate, shape local action, get their voice heard and assert their agency. To enable this to happen, CFAR with the support of Water for Women (WFW) and DFAT organized the three-panel webinar on COVID 19- Understanding the Impact of the Pandemic on Marginal Groups and Populations on 28-29 May, 2020, and brought together experts, civil society and community leaders to weigh in on each of the themes especially in the context of COVID and to empower each of the community members with renewed perspective on what more we need to do with even greater conviction to enhance gender sensitivity, social inclusion and universal access to safe WASH services. She concluded by stating that this alone will enable us to secure the policy and budgetary support for a pro-poor COVID response and recovery.

Pushpa Mai said that the funds for COVID were not reaching the Transgender community. There is no mention of transgender in Government Orders and Directives related to COVID-19 response. Transgender persons are stereotyped and seen as earning their livelihood by singing and dancing at weddings and collecting alms on auspicious occasions. We, therefore, need to sensitise the administration by organizing workshops to address their inherent preconceptions against the community and make them aware of the issues faced by the community.

Pushpa asserted that there is an urgent need to build capacities of transgender leaders and community representatives to take forward WASH issues, especially, in the current scenario of COVID-19. She also spoke about the efforts being made to secure inclusive toilets for the community for which she has approached the Jaipur Municipal Corporation to adopt trans-friendly signage in public toilets and construct dedicated toilets for transgender users.

Basanta Nayak pointed out that gender was not adequately integrated in the COVID response efforts of the Odisha government. He highlighted the three primary challenges faced by the urban poor. These were:

• Economic distress and instability faced by the poor including migrant workers, daily wage workers and those in informal sector.
• Absence of integration of gender issues within the overall administrative framework of the city government.
• Inadequate decentralization at the Ward level.

Basanta stressed on the importance of gender-being a cross cutting concern-to be made an integral part of the city planning and budget allocation.

To address these challenges, he proposed setting up of a ‘knowledge network’ which will focus on gender planning, budgeting and strengthening the institutional mechanisms instituted by the government. On the latter, he opined that given the fact that the public finance framework is not gender sensitive, there is an urgent need to evolve alternatives and even models to demonstrate that it is possible and essential. He also stressed on the need to strengthen accountability mechanisms, without which gender integration would be a challenge.

In the current context in Odisha, the role of the village head or sarpanch in managing livelihoods especially of migrant labour is indicating a shift towards decentralization. Basanta appealed for deepening these practices so that there is meaningful decentralization.

Meera Parida said that neither society nor government had given any thought on how transgender persons would cope and meet their basic needs during the lockdown. Inadvertently, the Finance Minister of the country also did not mention transgender when she announced her economic package for all marginalized communities to off-set the crippling effects of both the pandemic and the lockdown.

She also dwelt on the fact that transgender was not a homogenous group and like all other groups they have within their ranks the elderly, unmarried and those with disability and they face the same set of challenges as others.  To date there are no quarantine facilities in Orissa or Rajasthan for transgender persons. They are not so small in number that they can be ignored by those managing the pandemic, she added.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment gave reservation of seats to 33 percent women. However, the transgender was not granted any reservation and been socially excluded in diverse ways. People are experiencing lockdown now but transgender has been experiencing social lockdown since birth.

Speaking about WASH services, Meera pointed out that a large majority of transgender were either homeless or lived-in rented premises. Post the pandemic they have been evicted by the landlords, hence, how could they be expected to wash hands frequently to protect themselves against the virus, when they do not even have a roof over their head? Transgender also live together in cramped spaces and social distancing is not easy.

She said that her organization SAKHA would want to work with CFAR at the advocacy level to include rights of transgender in all policy formulations and during planning of programmes and services during COVID- 19.

Shobhita Rajagopal began her presentation by saying that COVID-19 had disrupted the lives of the people but the most impacted were the most vulnerable and marginal sections of society. She highlighted that several services had been disrupted during COVID-19 including sexual and reproductive health services, midday meal in schools, distribution of sanitary napkins, and education of children belonging to marginalized families.

The existing inequalities have grown and the administrative response has been gender neutral so far. But if we have to address the differential needs of communities and groups including women, men, children (boys and girls), and transgender, a Gender Task Force needs to be constituted to assess the impact of the pandemic and the response of the government, she suggested.

Gender lens is missing in policy making, planning and implementation of initiatives and measures to prevent and manage the virus. For this to be set right, we need to collate gender disaggregated data so that all response is informed by it.

In the discussion that followed, the panelists responded to the questions posed to them. Some specific points were made:

Shobhita and Basant said that as May 28 is observed as Menstrual Hygiene Management Day, it was absolutely essential for all stakeholders to address issues related to MHM in an integrated manner. However, local solutions need to be devised to address issues effectively. One suggestion was to enable Self-help groups to produce sanitary napkins and sell them and do this at scale by building on existing efforts. In Jaipur, the police department had also distributed sanitary napkins. Menstrual waste must be disposed properly to ensure safe sanitation.

Meera and Pushpa responding to the inclusion of transgender needs and demands in the COVID response and planning by suggesting that there was an urgent need to sensitize the administration on their identity related issues and their capability and needs.

All panelists agreed that with violence against women and especially against transgender having increased during the time of COVID, some institutional mechanism needs to be set up and to begin with more Helplines need to be put in place to enable women who are experiencing violence can secure timely help and support. There is also a need to set up a greater number of Gender Cells and build capacities of people managing these cells.

The panel highlighted the need to conduct a gender analysis study to assess the impact of the economic package and the benefits that have accrued or expected to accrue to different sections and constituencies.

Recommendations

To ensure a gendered COVID-19 response, the following recommendations were made

• Apply a gender lens in policy formulation, planning and implementation.
• Set up a Gender Task Force to mainstream gender issues at all levels.
• Adopt integrated approach to address the livelihood concerns of transgender community.
• Strengthen ‘Care Economy’ and in particular recognize the caretaking roles of women (cooking, cleaning, care for children, elderly and those ailing) while planning COVID-19 response.
• Involve Ward Committees in planning and executing COVID related initiatives.
• Involve youth groups, both girls and boys, in collating gender disaggregated data.
• Sensitize police, doctors and media on gender and transgender rights and entitlements.
• Let CFAR, along with CBOs and NGOs, strongly advocate for mainstreaming gender concerns in COVID response planning and implementation.

Bhubaneswar/Jaipur: This unique handwashing station is helping people stay safe and healthy during the pandemic. It costs little, made entirely of locally available material, and serves the needs of community members of slums in Bhubaneswar and Jaipur. The design for affordable and self-assembled handwash stations was developed in Barabhuja basti in Bhubaneswar’s ward 63, and has, since, served as a model for other community-led innovations.

The need for a foot-operated handwashing station was felt due to the knowledge that the COVID-19 virus can get transmitted when one touches contaminated surfaces. Since community taps are touched frequently, this was seen to increase the risk of transmission. In April 15, the CFAR team visited Barabhuja and shared the guidelines designed for densely populated areas, issued by the Government of India, with the Community Management Committee (CMC) and Single Window Forum (SWF) members. The advice included designing and building low-cost foot-operated handwash Stations. A Barabhuja resident, Rankanidhi Nayak (52), who is a carpenter and mason by profession, agreed to build the foot-operated handwash station.

Rankanidhi tried to make the model in the manner prescribed in the guidelines, but soon realized that without a proper wall or pillar it was difficult to set it up inside the house. “I attended the meeting with CMC and SWF members and CFAR, where the design and the ways of making it were discussed. I was also shown a video on how to do it. I tried to do it in that way with some small changes,” he said.

Rankanidhi said the handwash station could be made “at a very nominal cost”. “People can easily assemble it themselves and identify a place for it such as under the stairs or outside the house, etc. Ensure that this is near a drain so that the used water can flow into it,” he said.

Mamata Subudhi, a CMC and Mahila Arogya Samithi (MAS) member, said, “Such a handwash station should cost about Rs. 450 to Rs 500 so that we can afford it. If it is for one person, it should not exceed Rs. 100 to 150. We need to experiment with many sizes and bring the cost down to the maximum extent.”

Jaipur model

Meanwhile, in the water-scarce city of Jaipur, handwashing stations using pipes and taps have been designed and installed by communities. The first was installed by a group of five community representatives in ward 10 of Kishanbagh Harijan Basti, a 35-year-old settlement in the Vidyadhar Nagar Zone of Jaipur. It came about in response to the pressing needs of the community.

Poonam, a sanitary worker from the basti said, “We are in the field for over 12 hours, collecting and segregating waste, cleaning manholes and choked drain and sewer lines. There are no facilities for washing hands for us. We can only wash and bathe when we return home. This increases the risk of infections not only for us but also for our children and other family members.”

The residents of the area are mostly frontline contractual sanitary and health workers involved in road-sweeping, rag-picking, desilting drains and manholes and desludging clogged sewer lines. It is ironical that although they provide sanitation services to others, a large proportion of their own households do not have sanitary toilets or piped water connections.

Why a handwashing station?

In a communication training on COVID prevention in August, the Community Management Committee, an empowered community forum instituted by CFAR in urban slums as part of its community engagement strategy, where female sanitary workers spoke of the high risk they were exposed to. They said that they did not have protective gear provided either by the urban local bodies or by the contractors.

A CFAR team member shared a video on the Bamboo Tippy Tap station set up by a community in Africa which made handwashing easy and fun for everyone. It was made using a hollow bamboo. However, since bamboo was not available locally, the CMC members suggested that they could use a PVC or a cement pipe and affix a tap to it, install it at the entrance of the settlement.

First handwashing station

Immediately after this, Subhash, Lakhan, Vishal, Radhe Shyam – members of the Male Forum –and Poonam, a Single Window Forum member, decided to set up the handwashing station in their settlement. It was decided that the station would be installed near the temple in an open ground which was at the entrance of the basti to make it easily accessible to residents. “We felt this spot will be ideal and many people will use the facility,” said Poonam.

The five-member team found a spare seven feet long cement pipe lying unused in the settlement. Two members dug a pit in the ground to place the pipe, and a small hole was made in the cement pipe and a tap was attached to it. The pipe was fixed firmly in the pit, using a paste of sand and cement. Once this was done, water was filled from the top with the help of a bucket. A soap bar was placed on a soap dish fixed on the pipe with the help of a rope. The Male Forum members volunteered to look after the station and also ensure that it was filled with water at all times. The members of the Community Management Committee took charge of providing soap and persuading people to use the facility.

Many more stations

Since then, handwashing stations have been set up in five more localities, including Transport Nagar, where is in front of the community toilet directly and benefits 55 households. In Swami Basti which has many persons with disability and children, the station has been installed in the school premises directly benefitting 45 households and four persons with disability. In Sundar Nagar, the station has been placed at the entrance of the basti benefitting 60 households. This station was made by Rafeek, a carpenter and a master trainer, who was supported by Aslam, a Male Forum member. Handwashing stations have been installed in Barabhuja, Bapu Basti and Rajeev Nagar too, where they are serving a large number of people, helping them stay safer and healthier during the pandemic. In all the locations, they are being managed and maintained by community members.

The handwashing stations have become a hit with the people, and are used by children, women, disabled persons, the elderly and others. “This is innovative, affordable and easily accessible for children and persons with disability,” said one of the users.

Launch NO Masks NO Entry Campaign in Jawahar Nagar

Jaipur, October 28: The Centre for Advocacy and Research in partnership with Jaipur Municipal Corporation and NULM launched No Masks, No Entry awareness cum free mask distribution campaign in Jaipur. The objective of the campaign is to encourage citizens to adopt safe personal hygiene practices including wearing masks, washing hands using the correct technique and proper toilet usage. The campaign is a part of CFAR’s ongoing work on strengthening access to water sanitation and hygiene in 6p urban slums of Jaipur supported by Water for Women Fund, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia.

This campaign began with a nukkad natak in the JMC Adarsh Nagar Zonal office by youth forums from Sitaram Nagar and Patel Nagar kutchi basti. The young people highlighted the importance of mearing masks, and urged the audience to take care of persons with co-morbidities and come together to break the chain of the pandemic.

This was followed by a rally led by women from Shiv and Parvati Self Help Groups which began from Adarsh Nagar, covered several settlements including Jawahar Nagar Tila 4, 5 and 6, which were among the most densely populated slum clusters in the area. Other activities included distribution of free masks to sanitary workers, shopkeepers, and pedestrians, IEC on handwashing and  display of posters in prominent location, walls and autorickshaws.

In his inaugural speech Mr. Lok Bandhu, Commissioner JMC Heritage stressed on the importance of positive behaviour in flattening the curve and combating the rising cases of infections during unlock down. “The government and people have to work together to make this campaign successful. The city administration cannot contain the pandemic without the support and ownership of people. When everyone adopts the practices of wearing masks, using toilets properly and maintaining social distancing, cases will not only reduce but we will also be able to drive away the disease from the country,” he appealed.

Mr. R K Meena Deputy Commissioner, Adarsh Nagar Zone shared, “We understand that wearing masks and washing hands is one of the easiest steps towards prevention. But this has to become a part of our daily life. The Corporation is seeking support from civil society organisations to distribute free masks with the support of our SHG groups to those who cannot afford them. We aim to reach out to every lane and person in the area and encourage them to support the campaign by adopting safe practices”.

Resonating the resolve, Anita Mittal, Deputy Commissioner, NULM shared that the campaign seeks to involve active participation from citizens. “It is encouraging to see the support received from women’s SHG groups. They have already distributed over 500 masks and are leading from the front chanting slogans, “Mask nahi, pravesh nahi, Haathon ko dhona zaruri hai, Corona se banani jo doori hai.”

Roshni, President of Parvati Self Help group shared that residents living in slums and densely populated areas are more prone to infections. “The diseases affect elderly, persons with disability and those with chronic ailments and through this campaign we are reaching out to every needy person in these kutcha bastis and urging them to wear masks”. Sugna, President of Shiv Self Help group added “We are also educating people on nine steps of hand washing and proper of toilets and urinals.”