Community Women

Community Women’s Groups Swayam has been working consistently to establish gender-just and violence-free communities by mobilising women to access their rights and entitlements and to develop strategies to end violence against women and girls. We organise women in these communities to become facilitators of social change, enabling them to contribute to genuine long term development in their communities.

Women in Diamond Harbour

Diamond Habour is a rural area near Kolkata with an almost equal mix of majority and minority community populations. Women Protection Committees (Nari Suraksha Committees NSC) were formed in each of the four Panchayats. These action groups work to protect women from violence and discrimination and act as a pressure group by advocating with the Gram Panchayat and linking the community with its services. The NSC members have begun to organise awareness programmes for their communities independently ofSwayam. They also reach out to their community through plays written and performed by the women on domestic violence and other forms of violence against women, including acid attacks. Members of the women’s community groups are extremely active in monitoring a range of issues within their localities. For example, the Nari Surekha Committee (NSC) in Diamond Harbour set up a Vigilance Committee. One of the objectives of this committee was to monitor the food provided at ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) centres as well as the education at the upper primary levels. This led to further cooperation and advocacy with the Child Development Project Officer which helped to standardise meals at the centres and improve the teaching-learning processes. Other women groups in Diamond Harbour appealed to their Block Development Officer for urgent repairs and this advocacy work led to the village tubewell being fixed. In one year alone (March 2017 – April 2018), the Diamond Harbour community groups conducted 24 awareness campaigns and intervened in and prevented 11 cases of violence against women.

“In Diamond Harbour, a woman was being beaten up by her husband and he had poured kerosene on her to set her on fire. The NSC intervened, called the police and stood outside the woman’s house to prevent her husband from fleeing. In Mashat, the NSC intervened and stopped a child from being trafficked in the community with the help of the local police.” – some examples of the impact on communities, shared by an NSC member.

Women in Metiabrutz

Similar action groups namely Insaaf ki Awaaz, were formed in Metiabruz. Metiabruz is a minority-dominated, poor area in Kolkata. Since our initial intervention, there has been a gradual increase in the involvement of the women in the area, and every year more and more women break out of their traditional barriers and contribute towards ending violence against women. The groups are well established and now take initiative in identifying local problems and responding to them appropriately, including intervening in case of violence against women. They are able to mobilise support from other community members including teachers of local schools and colleges, counsellors and local government representatives. Group members also conduct awareness programmes in their communities independently of Swayam. Key group members also deliver training on women’s rights issues to yet more women. The video clip below provides more information about why Insaaf ki Awaaz works so well in the community.

Economic Empowerment Programmes

Economic empowerment is achieved in multiple ways. Firstly, Swayam builds the capacity of the community groups by educating them on their choices, rights and entitlements. By empowering our community groups, the members are able to support men and women within their community to gain access to government schemes. These include the Adhaar Card, Digital Ration Card, old age pension, OBC certificate, SC certificate and more. Youth in the community are also made aware of governmental educational scholarships. Secondly, Swayam is able to increase women’s access to viable opportunities for jobs and self-employment. This is done through vocational training provided in house, such as tailoring skills. The community groups also receive Income Generation Training. Swayam also refers members to external placement agencies and vocational training programmes, this includes teacher, beautician and hospitality training. Connections have also been established with local businessmen who place orders with our women for their tailoring services. Thirdly, Swayam also have some capacity to provide small loans to survivors who wish to start their own business.

Community Publications

Our work in the Metiabrutz and Diamond Harbour communities also led to two creative publications. Hamari Awaaz, a magazine in Urdu written by community women in Metiabruz and Amader Katha, a Bengali broadsheetwritten and circulated in Diamond Harbour. Hamari Awaaz provides community women and girls a platform to write about their experiences and issues that affect their lives. Amader Katha not only includes experiences of women but also those of men and boys too. See examples of these publications in our Resources section.