An Institution for Women of India

A one-day programme was organised for the lecturers of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi in collaboration with Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women Studies at their campus in Jamia Nagar.

The objective of the programme was to give an insight into the development in relation to gender and share the gender issues, which are being discussed in the circles of social development.

Programme started with an introduction exercise, which was amazing in the sense that it helped them to relocate themselves in the organisation and analyse themselves vis-à-vis their organisation. One participant in the metaphor presented herself in the conference room sitting with other colleagues and with one of her colleagues sitting by her side smoking. She raised the issue of colleagues taking the permission for granted, and felt men lacked sensitivity, and took women for granted be it the home or the workplace. Another participant saw herself as the person who gave direction and moulded young minds. There was another participant who felt being a doormat was all that was in store and hoped that the doormat could one day at least be a curtain cloth that decorated the window rather being trampled upon all the time. The introduction exercise, the participants felt helped in creating a congenial atmosphere.

The concept of sex and gender was discussed in detail. The gender biases, which exist in education sector, were also highlighted. Female participants in a unifying tone supported the initiatives being taken for gender sensitisation, which intended for a desired social change. Various approaches like welfare, efficiency, empowerment, WID and GAD were discussed with them. Analysing the myths like men are untidy, women are talkative, women is the enemy of women etc the facilitator tried to trace the origin and its implications on men and women. Discussing the implications facilitator lamented that the myths helps in shaping wrong opinions and biases about each other which makes it harder for men and women to understand each other. It devaluates the person, groups and communities. Therefore it is very necessary to open the channels of communication with each other keeping in mind the socio-cultural background. We should not hesitate in admitting the fact that women and men differ in their ways of communication. Open channels of communication helps each other to come closer thereby reduces misunderstandings. At the end of the workshop participants urged for more gender programmes in future. Top

CSR COUNSELLORS PROGRAMME 24th Feb 2003

A one-day training programme was held for the counselling team of CSR�s violence against women section on 24th of February 2003 in CSR office New Delhi. There were twelve participants in the programme. The Coordinator and Head of the Violence against women section also attended it.

The purpose of the programme was to understand the different situations where gender disparities operate in the society thereby analysing the role of communication in countering them. Also the importance of listening in achieving organisational as well as professional goals was also analysed. It becomes of paramount importance when someone involves in psychosocial counselling. These one-day programmes are aimed at helping them in their day-to-day work. Top

PTC JHARONDA KALAN 29Th Feb 2003

GTI was called to conduct a two-hour session with the young recruits at Police Training College Jaharonda Kalan. The topic was gender sensitisation and its need in the police force. The total number of participants were 1400 which is quite large and beyond the scope of interaction with the facilitator. Number of female participants was nearly 200. All were in the age group of 18-21. The participants were very excited and curious at the same time, for them gender meant women; some went on to describe the grammatical concept of masculine and feminine gender.

Since all were sitting in one hall it was a Herculean task for the facilitator to get the message across. After a round of introduction a story was related to them. To make it more participatory five girls and five boys were asked to come to the dais and share their preferences and give reasons for their choice, some preferred boys because of the rights given to boys by religion and also because the society made boys the rightful heir of the family. Preference for girls was for their caring and sacrificing role they played. The facilitator contextualised the output to sex and gender. The gender session was supplemented with the film Meena (UNICEF film on girl child). This led to the debate on status of women vis-à-vis men. Data related to sex ratio, nutritional status, hours of working, wages, age of marriage was shared with them. It helped them analyse how participation of women helped the society in attaining the goal of human development. Top

BAHRAICH- MANAV SEWA SANSTHAN 27TH FEB 2003

Manav Sewa Sansthan, an NGO working on mapping the trafficking routes facilitated this intervention with the police. The organisation is working on creating awareness and taking steps to combat trafficking along the border of Nepal and India this with the support of local bodies functioning in the area. The objective of the workshop was to identify and analyse the knowledge and understanding of gender and trafficking. There were 250 participants in all with only three women and 247 men

Mr. P.M. Nair exhaustively dealt with the subject of trafficking and it was apparent that there were many gaps in knowledge and information on the subject. The session on gender was aimed at understanding the different values attached to boys and girls and how these differences put their stamp on the expected behaviours from boys and girls.

The facilitator helped the participants relate their attitude and initiatives taken during recovery and rehabilitation of the trafficked to their own values. Almost all the participants felt that the victim of abuse should be taken care of by Nari Niketans, none of the participants felt the parents or relatives would be willing to take back the affected. There was a stigma attached to these girls despite the fact that they were lured, violated, brutally abused and many were only children. Top

WORKSHOP ON HIV/AIDS WITH UNIFEM & LADY IRWIN COLLEGE 21ST FEB 2003

The workshop at UNDP was aimed at finalising the module on HIV/AIDS that is to be implemented by the Railways in their railways schools with the support of UNIFEM. Lady Irwin Colleges was assigned the task of evaluating different modules and identifying the gaps and recommending changes. The one-day workshop was with different NGO�s working in this field. The participants were divided into four groups and were assigned different modules. Each group looked at how best the modules could be made gender sensitive and also worked on the methodology to be used during implementation of the program. Top

WORKSHOP ON GENDER AT NATIONAL POLICE ACADEMY HYDERABAD 10TH - 15TH MARCH 2003

The five-day training programme was organised by GTI at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad with an endeavour to sensitise the police force to gender issues. Sixteen-IPS officers from across India attended the workshop. Extensive discussions on various aspects of gender such as, gender expectations, unequal power relations, gender vulnerabilities, gender roles and responsibilities, cultural diversity at the workplace, trafficking, challenges faced by men and women at the workplace and importance of communication took place. The participants were initiated to these gender aspects through various exercises in which they actively participated and detailed information, which helped them understand the situation at the macro level. These sessions helped them to contextualise gender in their own lives and the police organisation as a whole.

The workshop brought to light the humane face of the police force and helped the participants see a �different self�. The participants became aware and came to an understanding of the crucial role socialisation processes play in shaping our perceptions of �self� and �other�. Further, the workshop brought to fore the thoughts of the �other� group. An awareness of this can help to bring about a change in the direction of fostering better relations between men and women. Through the sessions, the participants came to recognise that the powerless in a relationship are most vulnerable and that diversity can be an asset in bringing efficiency to the organisation. A discussion of the various aspects of communication was also dealt with and related to how it can help foster gender equal relations.

The participants felt that training the police force helps in developing their skills to handle issues and problems through a special sensitivity. At the end of the training programme, an action plan was prepared. A consensus emerged that though there are certain restrictions and constraints within which the police has to work, there is scope to perform and make a difference to achieve the objective of better policing which would lead to the protection of human rights irrespective of gender differences. Top

GENDER SENSITIZATION WORKSHOP WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS OF MAMTA- An NGO SANGAM VIHAR 25-27 MARCH 2003

A three-day training workshop was conducted for the community women with whom MAMTA is working for the last seven years. The training programme was designed keeping in mind the requirements of the participants as their educational level varied and included some who never attended school. There were others who were involved in welfare activities in their community.

Beginning with the introduction of participants and GTI, various issues of gender were discussed. The difference between gender and sex was enlisted. This was followed by various sessions on issues such as gender, which unfolded gender perceptions, and the way it affects expectations from children and thus leading to an analysis of the processes of socialisation. The participants were also given statistical figures to help them understand the status of women in society.

The workshop was conducted for the participants to create an understanding of gender in a manner that they could relate it to their own lives and thus start the process of change beginning with self. This was reinforced on the final day when the participants were asked to identify problems, which exists in and around in their community and through the chain exercise the importance of teamwork was demonstrated.

The participation level was good despite their busy domestic schedule. It would have been better if men were included in the workshop as it helps in knowing the other side of gender. Top

ONE DAY GENDER SENSITISATION WORKSHOP DEEPALAYA 31stMARCH 2003

One day gender sensitisation programme held with the staff members of Deepalaya, a voluntary organisation working with children. The Programme was held at its Corporate office in New Delhi.

There were twenty one participants in the programme out of which eight were women and rest were men. The whole group was very receptive and welcomed the initiative of Deepalaya and GTI.

Issues like gender, gender roles and expectations, myths related to men and women and its relation to socialization process were discussed threadbare. The relationship between social problems like sex selection, honour killings, dowry etc with the status of women were also analysed. The training sessions were supplemented with latest data and the constitutional provisions enshrined in our constition to achieve greater gender equality and justice.

Some of the remarks echoed by participants during feed back session can speak about the impact of programme.

-Data made us think that it is also a problem for men and men and women should work towards the goal together.
-Workshop was good because equal opportunities were provided to both male and female.
-Freedom to think and express was given in all sessions.
-Way of introduction was unique and thoughtful Top

TWO-DAY GENDER SENSITISATION FOR COMMUNICATORS CASPLAN 1st & 2nd MAY 2003

Twenty-seven communication volunteers of Casp-Plan, an NGO at New Delhi, attended this two-day training programme on gender sensitisation. The purpose of the workshop was to impart sensitivity to the participants on gender issues and to help them develop and sharpen their skills to effectively carry forward the action plan formulated on the basis of the learning from the sessions. Through this programme which included sessions on different aspects of gender such as gender story, change, communication, power and power relations and domestic violence, participants were made to recognise and identify gender issues in their community. The methodology adopted during the workshop was a participatory one where emphasis was laid on conducting interactive sessions. This helped to accomplish the process of learning for both the participants as well as the resource persons and made the workshop a qualitatively rich learning experience for all. Further the enthusiasm and vitality to learn on the part of the participants made the workshop a success.

At the end of the two-day workshop, participants were asked to devise an action plan based on the discussions of the previous days. This was important for it would help to bring a change in perceptions not only at an individual level but also at the larger level of the society.

They emphasised that they would call a meeting of their community members where they would impart all the information gathered over the last two days to others. However all agreed that in order to achieve this the first and foremost task would be that of self-perception, which the workshop facilitated through a change in gender perceptions. Top

TWO-DAY GENDER SENSITISATION FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS CASPLAN 14th & 15th MAY 2003

Majority of the participants of this workshop hailed from Badarpur border area of New Delhi. There were about twenty-six participants, the majority among, which were women. The workshop explicated various gender issues, brought to surface through the session on social origins of gender, the gender perceptions. The workshop helped to provide an understanding of how gender roles and responsibilities are a function of perceptions. The second day of the workshop provided a much deeper understanding of gender issues through the discussions on the aspects of change, power and power relations and domestic violence.

The two-day workshop was a good learning ground for the participants as well as the facilitators. Most participants were attending a workshop for the first time and expressed that they enjoyed being a part of it because in their case knowledge and information can only be gathered through attending such workshops. It helped to ignite minds to think on such issues, which are intricately interwoven into their lives. At the same time it helped the facilitators to understand the pattern of their lives and how the system of patriarchy sidelines women. Top

TWO-DAY GENDER SENSITISATION FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS CASPPLAN 22nd & 23rd May 2003

The workshop was attended by twenty-four participants from Sangam Vihar area of New Delhi. In order to impart sensitivity to participants on issues of gender, the workshop was divided into sessions, which dealt with gender perceptions through sessions on gender roles and responsibilities, socialisation to that of dealing with issues of violence against women to understand the impact of violence on gender relations.

The workshop helped the participants to identify and analyse expectations from boys and girls and its impact on them. It also helped the participants to understand and analyse how tasks are assigned to men and women and the role of social institutions in shaping gender identities. The workshop was further made an interesting one in terms of learning by the presence of professionals from an NGO from Bangladesh. These professionals and the participants interacted with each other freely which helped in understanding the relative position of women in India and across its border in Bangladesh. Using a poster of Durga, the Goddess, the professionals made all those attending the workshop understand the status of women in society.

The participants at the end of the workshop expressed that they had benefited from the workshop and would to their best ability ensure that they think and act in ways that are gender equal. Top

Workshop for Swa Shakti Project staff Organised by NIPCCD 19th May 2003

The main objective of this workshop was to help understand gender and identify gender issues in projects. Some of the participants were exposed to gender earlier. However since a majority of them did not have a very clear understanding of the concept of gender it was decided to begin the session by just understanding the concept. The participants were taken down the memory lane and asked to relive some moments in their childhood, go through their schools, their homes, the playground remember the friends they had, what was it they discussed, what was the kind of instructions given to them and so on. Some of the responses were, we were shifted from co-ed schools to boys/girls schools, I tried to hold the hand of a girl when I was in class three and the teacher beat me, I did not understand why? I was told to behave like a girl. The responses were related to the socialisation process, the participants were asked to explain why this happened? The response was the expectations from boys and girls are different. The participants felt that expectations resulted in restrictions and these restrictions were different for boys and girls. Boys were expected to be bold, take decisions, not cry etc, girls were expected to be at home, help around the house and learn domestic chores. The participants were later given some statements and asked to analyse the statements as those that had gender issues and those that had no gender issues. It is interesting to note that except for those statements that were very obvious like health of women all other statements were analysed as having no gender issues. It was only when the participants were asked to rework on the statements and analyse them using gender division of labour, access and control over resources, power relations, gender roles and gender needs. It was only on analysing the statements did the participants identify gender issues in all the statements given.
At the end of the session the participants expressed the need to be exposed to more such gender sessions and felt they were more comfortable in analysing gender in their respective field of work. Top

WORKSHOP ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT THE WORKPLACE FOR NACEN 20Th May 2003

15 officers from the customs department attended this session on sexual harassment. This was particularly important in the light of the fact that the nature of job of this department in itself makes it highly male centric and hence one that is disadvantageous from the point of view of women.

Initial resistance of the officers to accept that women are at the receiving end in society was soon given up by the end of the workshop. This workshop entailed a discussion on a wide range of issues whereby the participants came up with personal experiences in order to better understand gender issues.

The session made use of participatory methodology and case studies. The analysis of gender relations as power relations helped in the analysis of sexual harassment at the workplace. Using case studies participants were asked to address the responses and this brought out the various aspects of sexual harassment to the fore. At the end of the workshop the definitions, statistics and legal provisions were presented to the participants which helped in understanding the issue at the macro level also. Top

Gender Workshop for PACS partners at Delhi on 19th August 2003

Gender mainstreaming is an essential element of good governance. In order for gender mainstreaming processes and activities to be effective, a comprehensive, cross-cutting and gender-aware approach is vital.
Gender mainstreaming is a long-term strategy that attempts to redress the existing and emerging inequalities between women and men. The principle is that redressing this inequality is a shared responsibility by all aspects of government and civil society stakeholders � not just the remit of the women�s ministries organisations to undertake. The gender mainstreaming approach has been used to address new challenges and redress the differential impacts of policies and programmes on women and men.
PACS in its efforts to mainstream gender organised a two-day workshop with its partners at India Habitat Centre on

The outcome of the session on gender was as follows:

The session began with the participants being asked to respond to the situation of the arrival of a newborn in the family.

The immediate response was, �Is it a boy or a girl?�

If it is a boy then it is time for celebrations in the family, rewarding the nurse, distributing sweets amongst relatives and neighbours and above all security for the mother.

A girl child is greeted with tears, and increased violence against the mother.

The participants were then asked to work on their understanding of masculinity and feminity.

The responses were as follows:

Masculinity means:

Decision maker
Powerful
Head of the household
One who drives the tractor, uses the plough and does all the tasks that require strength
Religious heads
Warrior
Being promiscuous
Decides the code of conduct
Right to higher education
Responsible for protecting his family and looking after their needs
Being in the underworld
Being powerful
Being corrupt

Feminity means

Soft
Loving
Speak softly
Emotional
Creative
Shame
Burden
Underestimated
Sacrificing
Gossip monger
Vulnerable
Purdah
Weak

The responses clearly indicate that the expectations from men and women are different and the expected behaviors are also different.

The session then moved on to defining the concept of gender. It was defined by the participants as a social concept, and differed in different cultures and most often resulted in discrimination against women.

A number of participants felt that gender is a women�s issue and the responses were greeted with guffaws. It was only when the importance of integrating the gender aspect was discussed was the reaction to statements more muted.
It is amply clear that there is a need for addressing gender issues through workshops so that participants become more sensitive not only to the issue of gender but also reflect on their own behaviour when they are the predominant sex in a group Top

JAA PACS Workshop 2-3rd September at Aurangabad

The goal of the workshop was to brainstorm with the different members of the Jameen Adhikar Andolan and to develop an action plan by consensus on the gender issues faced by the Gairan beneficiaries in Marathwada region through a participatory learning workshop. The workshop began with sharing of information on Jameen Adhikar Andolan by the JAA members and a brief on the objectives of the workshop. Ms. Medha Kotwal handled the first session of the day on basic concept of gender.

The session that followed looked at identification and prioritizing of problems in the JAA, Dr. Madhumita Sarkar from GTI divided the participants into five groups and asked them to first identify and list the problems. Each group made their presentations and through a consensus one problem from each group was identified for further gender analysis and integration. The problems identified were as follows:

1. Ownership over the land
2. Making the land productive
3. Natural Resource Management
4. Improving the information system
5. Formation of groups

The participants were then asked to analyse the issues from a gender perspective using the tools of gender analysis. The tools for the analysis were first explained and then each group was asked to work on the gender analysis. The analysis was done on the basis of five key components of Gender Relation analysis, Gender roles, and Gender division of labour, Power relations, Access and Gender needs.

Gender Roles: Socially ascribed roles of men and women, defined by the perceived differences between the sexes and constantly changing and varying between and within cultures.
Gender Division of Labour: the different work that men and women do as a consequence of their socialization.
Access: it is influenced by gender roles and the accepted gender division of labour
Power Relations: it is the capacity of individuals and groups to negotiate on their terms actions to be taken and also determine the outcome which change the existing social and economic system and norms in order to equalize gender relations.
Gender Needs: these arise from the other four components. Since men and women have different roles, do different kinds of work have differential access to services and opportunities and experience unequal gender relations their needs are different. The practical and strategic gender needs are used to analyse this.

Analysis:

Both men and women would be the co-owners of the land, but when it came to the roles it was clear that special efforts would be taken to ensure women in roles other than the socially ascribed roles.
v Women to take up marketing activities
v Women to be involved in the decision making process, viz: What to grow? Who to meet? Where to go?
v Women would have access to skill trainings like: training on soil testing, growing of high quality seeds, special (latest) techniques required for crop protection etc.

Gender division of labour:
It is assumed that there are certain activities women are good at and there are others where strength is required, and it is men who take up these activities. The argument veered around whether women should be taught to drive a tractor, one participant felt that it is a men�s job and it will be difficult for the society to accept women in such roles. However when it was argued that in Chennai there is a lady truck driver, there are pilots, train drivers then why not women driving tractors?
When the discussion moved to water management it was clear that women are only looked upon as users and not as providers. The concept of management of water was completely missing. The maintenance of hand pumps, distribution of water was all in the hands of the men.
It was accepted by the participants that change is difficult and should begin with self, one could begin with sharing household work and encouraging women to take up productive labour, which are not necessarily an extension of their reproductive roles.

Access:
It was analysed that the primary reason why women loose out is because of lack of access to resources. Whether it is information, education or any other services women are assigned roles, which are determined by culture, caste, political situation and religious groups. Women they felt could be brought to the front through qualitative participation in decision-making bodies. Within genders it was identified and analysed that access to information that is of prime importance for any effort to be successful is mainly located in the hands of the powerful. The participants felt that the issue of control over water could be taken up immediately with the help of the administration. They would begin with taking up this issue in the panchayat meeting and ensure that women from the community are trained in hand pump repair.

Power Relations:
Power it was analyzed as a relational concept and acquired through resources, money, land, relations, labour etc. A power relation was again based on sex, male/female, caste, upper/lower, religion, majority/ minority, rural/urban etc.
It was also clear that the powerful like the sarpanch, the landed, and other vested interests would act as barriers to women�s participation in roles that were empowering.
Power could be used effectively by formation of collectives, by being informed, with skill training and self-confidence.

Gender Needs:
The needs of men and women were different because of their different roles, by
Empowering women they could help improve gender relations. A visible impact could be decrease in the violence against women.

Synthesis:
It is clear from this effort that there is an urgent need to integrate gender in the project. The participants were also able to understand that by empowering women they become partners to change, and empowerment of women does not mean disempowerment of men. When every issue was analysed from a gender perspective it was clear that the benefits were more equitably distributed and benefited both the sexes irrespective of caste class, religion and gender. Top

Workshop for Inspectors at NACEN - 4th September 2003

Twenty-six participants attended the training on gender sensitisation organised for the inspectors of the customs department. For the introductory session the metaphor exercise was made use of. Some participants viewed their role in highly optimistic terms, while others gave a very pessimistic dimension of the role they play in their organisation. A participant expressed that he is like a farmer ploughing the fields. For another participant he is like a goat in the organisation and the officers the lion. But he expressed that the goat cannot use its power and though there is enough grass, but it cannot eat the same due to the fear of the lion.

The session, �What Gender? Why Gender� helped participants to understand the term �gender� and to identify and analyse one�s perceptions and its effect on expectations from the children. What came out clearly from the output is that many of the roles and qualities attached to a boy or a girl are interchangeable. This immediately brought the discussion to a level where the understanding of the terms gender and sex was necessary. The facilitator explained that gender is a social construct while sex is a biological construct

The next session of the day was on analysing gender perceptions and the aspect of sexual harassment and this was done with the help of analysis of statements. The issue of sexual harassment at the workplace was addressed in detail. Statistics as well as various judgements on the issue were discussed. Participants expressed that this was an enlightening session as they came to know of the various kinds of behaviour that may be seen as being sexual harassment.

The workshop was a good learning experience for all those attending the workshop. The participants expressed that they were taking a lot back with them from the workshop in terms of learning and sensitisation to gender issues. In their opinion such a kind of sensitivity to gender issues should be imparted right in the initial stages of induction into the job and should also be a regular feature of school curriculum. The workshop helped in building awareness of gender issues not only in the set-up of the workplace, home but also at the level of the larger society.