Survivors as Agents of Change

Survivors as Agents of Change

We support survivors become agents of change.  We have a theatre group, a music group, and a quarterly magazine written and edited by survivors, called Prayas.  Nari Adhikar Samta Manch (NAPM), is a women’s collective comprising women who came as survivors to Swayam.  They create awareness and intervene in cases of violence against women in their own communities. The music and theatre groups write and perform plays on women’s issues and are integral to our awareness programmes. Prayas features reflections on issues that women wish to raise, including inter- personal experiences, environmental concerns, and communal harmony.

The groups and publications empower the survivors enormously and result in transformations seen at the individual, community and societal levels. We consider this a reflection of the strength of Swayam’s work and the survivor’s journeys.

Art for Social Change

Swayam has been actively using art as a medium to creatively showcase survivor voices, journeys’ and using this to reach the general public.

Connecting survivors with the larger women's movements

As part of our empowerment process we also help women connect their personal struggles with those of the women’s movement and mobilise them to organise and participate in campaigns/programmes covering violence against women. This may be a part of spot campaigning or annual campaigns we follow each year. For example, the International Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls, which runs over November/December allows survivors to become vocal spokespersons for these issues.

“Women will work out their own destinies, much better too, than men can ever do for them. All the mischief to women has come because men undertook to shape the destiny of women”

– Swami Vivekananda (Indian spiritual leader in the 19th century)