ICPRD

Youth Forums Against Gender Based Violence

A Growing Movement of Male Youth in Combating Gender Based Violence and Other Women’s Rights Issues

A key success of the project seems to be the beginning of a shift towards perceptions of individual master trainers/peer educators/youth forum members regarding issues relating to GBV and other issues existing in their communities.

A large number of Master Trainers after being part of the project have stopped eve-teasing (ie teasing girls on streets etc) or are counseling and in a few instances, combating it positively through calling the police. Eve teasing often lead to parents stopping girls schooling.
Individual internalized changes have also begun. Sometimes they intervene in “the private spaces of extended families, neighbours or other households” on alcoholism and related GBV such as wife beating. Proactive behaviour has begun on combating patriarchal manifestations (dowry, rape).
Monitoring these changes are mechanisms such as essays and debate competitions organized on ‘The Role of YFAGBV at the Community Level’ or ‘Freedom from Gender Violence Campaign’ on India’s Independence Day (August 15th) etc.
Also, in the course of organizing and participating in mass campaigns, the youth forums have had opportunities to link and interact with other stakeholders such as village heads, panchayats, school heads and teachers. It says much to the effectiveness of the project that the youth forums are exhibiting great self confidence and clarity of issues as they go about eliciting support of the key stakeholders in their communities for GBV and the project. In addition, this inroad into, and interaction with their communities through mass campaigns, has also contributed to a broadening of issues existing at the village level to which they are now becoming cognizant – such as social and civic issues including problems of citizenry.

TOTs and IECs are both identifying, training and are beginning to initiate re-socialization measures for the young men inducted into the project. Further, strengthening these attitudes are a network of YFAGBVs that are the ‘local level platforms’ supporting the movement combating patriarchal attitudes. Behind the platform, firmly planted are mothers of master trainers, women SHGs – indeed several planks of mentoring support to a ‘new form of social change’ in the urban slums and villages of Karnataka and Rajasthan

In Phase I of the project, pre and post GES (Gender Equity Scale) was administered on the young men of the project for a qualitative study to assess the shift in attitude towards women as a result of project intervention.

The ICPRD/WWF (local project partner engaged in micro-credit for poor women) partnership under the project has been able to develop a new model for short and long term solutions to reduce GBV and enhance women’s rights and development. This model has been able to demonstrate that when loans are backed with sound commitment by supporting the Anti-Gender Based Violence activities in villages –overall women’s rights and productivity are enhanced.

ICPRD youth forums focus on violence issues, highlighting women’s rights to fight against atrocities and at the same time promoting loaning through other organizations as a long term solution for self-employment and income-generating activities for women. In Karnataka, due to YFAGBV efforts, 500 new SHG members have joined WWF of which 200 are new loanees.

“Support against GBV” to SHG members with alcoholic husbands or to girls against eve teasing (to prevent drop-outs) and mass awareness campaigns promoting “micro-credit/enterprise” through street theatre has produced “the GBV intervention product.” This is the add-on product, that women feel in the longer term, a micro-credit/enterprise leads to lesser harassment for women. Higher networking between women and SHG groups protected by sons/nephews/neighbours from ICPRD’s youth forums has become a very low cost, people-oriented easily-capacity built solution.

Future Plans
Feedback from youth forums through reviews at TOT/IEC workshops has made the project to broaden its base beyond GBV to encompass other forms of non-violent activities – namely YFAGBVs being capacitated to become vanguards of women’s rights.

In the future phases of the project, it is envisaged that the youth forums will be strengthened to undertake other Rights activities including as health referrals, promoters, anti-trafficking HIV/drugs committees, counselors, intermediaries with panchayats, education, justice and enforcement system. Particularly as they have begun to build linkages at the local level in all their activities with the above stakeholders.