Rights at the Centre

A Documentation Series

HHS' Engagement With Women's

Federations in Karnataka

Hengasara Hakkina Sangha

www.hhsonline.org

Email: hhscontact@gmail.com

Hengasara Hakkina Sangha (HHS) is a women's rights

resource centre established in 1993. Based in Bangalore,

we have worked in most districts f Karnataka on capacity

building with grass roots NGOs, women's collectives,

media, State institutions, civil society groups, private and

unorganized sectors, union, police and others to enable

rights assertion of women. We use rights education as a

means to achieve gender justice.

This book is part of documentation series of a decade

engagement with women's federations on issues of gender,

rights and law across Karnataka.

To know more about our work, click www.hhsonline.org

Rights at the Centre

A Documentation Series

HHS' Engagement With Women's Federations in Karnataka

AuthorsIndhu Subramaniam

Usha B N

Hengasara Hakkina SanghaBangalore 2014

Supported by KIOS, The Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights

Context

We write this in the year 2014, with

news of so much violence against

women, particularly rape and sexual

abuse of children. Claiming public spaces

and being visible and articulate as citizens

was never more important for women as it

is today.

It is a moment to look into and visibilise

the quiet work of many years women have

been doing to makes their own lives and

other women's lives better. Yes it has

been slow progress- laying claim to public

spaces and using them. As is evidenced

in daily reports of violence from across the

country, things are not equal or fair or

safe. But we do need a robust

countervailing discourse and public

register that can highlight the positive

stories of courage, assertion and sense of

justice women's collectives have

displayed with activism at the grassroots.

In a sense, giving meaning to the

abstraction called democracy.

In the eighties and early nineties

through various national level policies and

World Bank thrust policy decisions, grass

roots development organizations moved

from village to village speaking with

women conducting meetings and

convincing them to come out to attend

meetings in their efforts to form self help

g roups (SHGs) .Conv inc ing and

negotiating with their husbands and

fathers to let them go and at the same time

holding talks and discussions with

community leaders to convince them to

allow women to come out for meetings

would have been no mean task. It wasn't

an easy process, firstly to access women,

secondly to convince them and

importantly negotiating with strongly

patriarchal rural communities to do

something unprecedented- sending

women out to uncharted nontraditional

spaces and activities.

Sometimes trying to preserve the

status quo so that they were still welcome

in those communities and sometimes

taking on the obstructers, it wasn't as easy

as it appeared on paper- the act of

mobilizing women to form SHGs. It was

a tight rope for many activists and

development organizations to gain

access and encourage women in a non

threatening way. The prospect of saving

and getting access to loans and money

perhaps did sway the argument to an

extent.

Slowly women overcame their

inhibitions and reluctantly came to the first

meetings, they were mocked by groups of

men 'yaaru meeting hogthavre nodo'

(look who are going to meetings). These

women who were the first to come out

were illiterate or semiliterate, had never

stepped out of their houses or environs.

1

They were so far doing things that they

were expected to, fetching water, working

in the fields or going out only to the village

fair or weddings or other community

functions. They were now traversing

uncharted territory by going to these

meetings.The intrepid continued to attend

meetings where they discussed

children's health, issues like sewage

water, hygiene, safe deliveries-things that

mattered to them immediately. They also

started talking about creating resources

for their families, this aspect helped them

with negotiating and winning crucial

approval for their going out. They were

told that if their SHGs saved some money

they would be eligible to get loans from

banks to start some enterprise of their

own.

Through income generating schemes

and micro credit, women were

instrumental in buying cattle, goats

buffaloes, milch cows to augment

incomes for their families. The poorest of

the poor and Dalit women were being

mobilized through SHGs. Quasi

government agencies like Mahila

Samakhya were already mobilizing poor

Dalit women through literacy and

empowerment programmes while the

grassroots development organizations

intensified mobilisation efforts in the

face of funding and push from NABARD

and World Bank and other funding. In the

beginning of the 2000 decade, State

sponsored Stree Shakti programmes

solely focused on micro credit took off.

This to a large extent diluted the

empowerment aspect of mobilization in

Karnataka.

Going to meetings became the norm,

there we SHGs in every village, and all

women wanted to be part of SHG and

sangha as they saw the benefits of going

to meetings. Sangha became the norm.

It was no longer limited to poor women,

women from all castes including the

upper castes wanted to go to meetings.

By the beginning of 2000 decade SHGs

were widespread. Women from

different castes were sometimes part of

the same SHGs; they would share public

platforms together even though back in

their respective villages, caste

hierarchies, segregation and uneven

distribution of resources continued.

With the thrust on forming SHGs and

extending credit increasing grass roots

development organizations shifted from

mobilizing poorest of the poor to

mobilizing women who had the

wherewithal to save. The focus shifted

from the outcome to the process, it was

becoming unclear where the money was

going to. With availability of credit,

slowly the character of borrowings

changed. Investments on livestock or

enterprise (which was a high risk

endeavour without appropriate back up

2

support) failed. Since there was no

stable healthcare system available a lot

of loans were going towards health

emergencies.With the advent of

microfinance institutions the political

and empowerment component seems to

be almost erased, SHGs are getting loans

without questions, with a high interest

rate, as long as they were being repaid.

Women have become instrumental in

obtaining loans for any sort of expense.

As far as the market is concerned it is an

emerging business sector with huge

opportunities.

Coming back to what HHs was doing,

HHS started partnering with grassroots

development organizations who were

mobilizing women to help with capacity

building work to understand the

concepts of law, rights and gender. Since

violence against women has been our

focus we have consciously chosen to

work with women's collectives as we

believe collective actions have far

reaching impact and positive outcomes

for individual women. We saw the

enormous potent ia l o f women

collectivizing in the public sphere, even

if they hadn't come together for the

purpose of looking into women's issues.

We saw this as an immense opportunity

to introduce law and the discourse of

rights and entitlements. We saw this

opportunity affording us access to a large

number of women who were eager for

their life circumstances to change and

wanted social change. Our endeavour

was to provide analysis and information

from a woman's perspective and from a

gender rights perspective; which they

may not have come

across. Their exposure to law, from what

we gleaned, was lawyers expounding on

the sacredness of law-so removed from

their lives- that it ended up alienating

women from law.

When HHS started training groups of

women mobilized through grass roots

organizations we didn't know the extent

of tribulations, negotiations and battles

that were behind these women actually

being able to leave home and hearth for a

period of three days to sit in a training

programme. What we usually saw was an

enthusiastic group of women in their best

sarees and jewels. The struggles that

we faced as women in the city were a

little different but through the course of

our sharing over the years we also

marveled at the common things that

bound us together as women. In our

trainings we would wonder why women

were unequal or why violence happened

only to women. How could we stop this

cycle of violence for our children? This

usually got them galvanized and

interested and thy would with rapt

attention listen to some of the things we

said and would most enthusiastically

participate and come up with solutions in

3

4

their group exercises. Offering counter

analysis and realities and stories of

collectivization and rights assertion was

such a part of our sessions as much as

helping women question oppressive

gender norms. Women were a constant

source of delight. Many of whom had

never had an opportunity to attend a

formal school would all vigorously

participate and absorb.

After the workshops there would

invariably be a phone call crackling from

one of the villages to let us know what

they did back home, we have thus heard

stories of women having gheraoed the

corrupt PDS (public distribution system)

owner or a group of women having

questioned their local Bank officials

about the delay in their loans. This is not

to say that our training by itself

transformed their lives, all this wouldn't'

have been possible without the

perseverance, robust motivation and

encouragement of the grassroots

organizations and activists who have

been working with them. For us it

demonstrated that we were contributing

very meaningfully to a process that was

making women assertive seek what they

were entitled to.

There is a story told at HHS which

has passed on from the first trainers to

this day, like an oral tradition, of a group

of women in Kakodlu village who after

attending training sessions from HHS

found an ingenuous way to stop violence.

5

equality in doing the last rites for the

dead-especially for parents. There was a

silence and no one knew how to respond.

We embed law and rights in the public

sphere and in the marital/familial sphere

while women don't think in such

compartments. The spir itual,

emotional, public and private meld into

each other and it is a seamless

crisscrossing thread. For us it was a

pointer that we can't just talk of rights in

public spheres away from realities of

gender, caste, religion, economy and

polity and the need to talk more and

more in terms of lives and lived realities.

The pyramid called the Federation

From the beginning of the 2000 decade

over the next few years all the work of

mobilizing women at the village level

into SHGs was getting strengthened and

culminating in a structure called

F e d e r a t i o n . F e d e r a t i o n i s a

representative legal body with

representatives drawn from each sangha

it represented at the district or taluk

level.

When Federations started appearing,

we saw this as another opportunity to

work with women's collectives with a

much wider base and reach. When

Grameena Mahila Okoota working in and

around Kolar invited us to train on a few

themes on law rights and gender with a

focus on violence against women, we

readily accepted. This was the beginning

of our yearlong association with various

federations across Karnataka. It was

very invigorating as it gave us a sense of

what was happening on the ground say in

a remote village called Gollara Hatti in

Kolar district in Mulabagal talu where

buses plied once in a day. In places

where organizations like GMO were doing

painstaking and persevering work,

politicizing and mobilizing women.

GMO was doing admirable work in talking

corruption, VAW and land issues, in the

process taking on local politicians, an

effort that was fraught with personal and

organizational risks.

Nothing was easy as it perhaps

appears in a string of words on this screen

or paper. Even though women were

collectivized and had a new structure

called federation and was a lot of

excitement about their struggles and

successes it was still a lot of work in

motivating and ensuring women came

out in huge numbers to make them

count. Before an event like our training

session, an activist of the organization

would've done a lot of work in convincing

the women the importance of the session

and remind them to attend and then

perhaps even go around to help cook and

pick them up! Most women would come

and then finally around 12 our sessions

would start. We went one step further

and invited them to Bangalore where

6

along with talks and discussions and role

plays women visited the Vidhana Soudha,

High court and the planetarium! Thus we

have discussed and chatted with scores

of women across the state.

7

Women like Papamma from GMO, a Dalit

woman imbued with an innate sense of

Justice have shown the world that

support and information can help them

collectivise and assume leadership.

Women like her have made sincere

efforts to understand their situations and

articulate the needs and aspirations of

their collectives in public and larger

forums. They have inspired us and also

endorsed in good measure the

meaningfulness of the work we do. Also

most importantly helped us understand

that collective action can influence

change.

This document is an attempt to capture

our engagement with federations in the

past decade. This engagement wouldn't

have been possible without the

continued and unstinted support of KIOS,

The Finnish Ngo Foundation for Human

Rights.

T h i s n o t a c o m p r e h e n s i v e

documentation of our work, we would

like to give the reader an idea of the

context of rights based work HHS has

been doing with women's federations in

Karnataka. We have drawn from field

notes and reports from HHS archives and

fresh interviews conducted over the last

year with the following federations and

activists. We would like to thank,

Sangama okkuta Ilkal, Bagalkot district,

Kituru Rani Chennamma Okkuta ,

REACH,–Harapannahalli, Davanagere

distr ict, Aagama Dal ita Mahi la

Vimochana Okkuta, Spandana – Belgaum

district, SWARAJ network, Karnataka.

What are federations and why did HHS

choose to work with them?

Rights based approach has enabled

a context where rural women collectives

have gained confidence to assay public

roles as gram panchayat members or

members of sanghas. It has not only given

them a collective identity but also has

increased their mobility and a space to

talk of socio political issues that concern

them in their villages and surroundings.

In Karnataka , the past decade saw the

formation of exclusive women's

f e d e r a t i o n s ( M a h i l a O k k u t a ) .

Federations are registered bodies, with

representatives from all affiliated

women's sanghas at the level of the

taluk, district and the state. These

sanghas are mobilized by NGOs and even

government departments. (for example

the milk federation by KMF etc). Many of

these federations work on issues of social

justice in their villages and districts.

Mobilized by NGO's and the State,

federations of sanghas have a much

stronger political identity and are better

equipped to take forward the rights

discourse as opposed to individual

sanghas. Federations enable women's

mobility to an extent, where they will be

8

able to participate in broader debates on development, women's rights, etc. We

see that federations work on various issues of governance, effective delivery of

schemes meant for them, livelihood, basic amenities, education of children etc.

Though federations are of women sanghas, they do not automatically talk about

issues of gender or gender based violence. Though they do help women in crisis,

VAW many a times is not on the agenda or lower in the agenda of many of

federations. Women's collectives working on women's rights issues in Karnataka

still have to contend with traditional power structures of the feudal landowning

upper caste male- in politics, access to resources, challenging gender relations,

asserting rights to property, mobility and demanding systemic accountability.

HHS work with federations focused on enhancing and facilitating peer learning

processes through building capacities programs and by dissemination of easy-to-

use material on gender rights, especially on VAW. This intervention also sought to

contribute towards enabling non-traditional secular spaces to promote citizenship

rights and public life of women. HHS began working with women's federation in

v a r i o u s p a r t s o f K a r n a t a k a f r o m 2 0 0 4 .

A copy of the form that participants fill during the workshop

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9

What did we do?

Federation women at the workshop

HHS has had long term association through capacity building programs for a core

group of women leaders of 15 federations from 16 districts of Karnataka.

Workshops, back home tasks and resource kits containing booklets, manuals,

audio CDs and posters were used to aid learning for women who were part of the

trainings. We have built capacities of core group of 48 women leaders from 15

federations from 16 districts of Karnataka to work on issues of VAW. We have also

closely associated with the federations on advocating better implementation of

laws, services and assistance by the State for women facing violence.

A letter confirming participation from a federation

10

List of Federations HHS has worked with

vSadhana Sampanmoola Kendra, Maddur, Mandya District

vGrameena Mahila Okkuta (GMO), Mulabagilu, Kolar, Srinivasapura,

Bangarapete, Kolar District

vJagrutha Mahila Sanghatan (JMS), Manvi and Sindhanur, Raichur

district

vStree Suchana Sangama Okkuta (SSSO), Koppal and Bijapur districts

vVikasa Grameena Abhivrudhi Samste, Ilkal and Hunagund

vSadhana Grameena Mahila Okkuta (SGMO), HD Kote, Mysore district

vVimukthi Grameena Mahila Okkuta, Savlanga, Davengere

vNisarga Vividodesha Mahila okkuta – Tarikere, Chikmagalur,

vKituru Rani Chennamma Okkuta – Harapannahalli, Davanagere

district,

vAagama Dalita Mahila Vimochana Okkuta – Belgaum district

vJagruthi Parisara Mahila Okkuta, Bhadravathi

vSwaraj Network, Karnataka

vUttara Kannada Mattada Okkuta- Honnavara

vNavajeevana Mahila Okkuta, Raichur,Guruha Karmikara Okkuta,

Bangalore

Training of trainers: We have also been able to train 12 activists of

federations and NGOS from various parts of Karnataka to be a trainer/resource

person on gender and law. A training manual on gender and rights was brought out

to aid trainers to do capacity building on gender rights issues.

What were these workshops all about?

The aim of the workshop is to build capacities of collectives of women to respond

to issues of violence against women from a rights based approach. Through

discussions, presentation, games and reflections the workshop equipped women

with legal and non legal strategies to combat gender based violence.

A snapshot of our workshops with federations:

11

vThree to four days workshop spread over three phases over a year. We have

done three such long-term, phase wise workshops with various federations.

Women leaders of the federation and activists have been part of these

workshops.

vIssues and laws related to domestic violence, dowry related harassment and

deaths, sexual assault, and caste based violence against women from Dalit

communities were covered in the workshops. Each workshop would look at

conceptual understanding, myths and facts, personal experiences of

handling cases on these issues followed with legal and non legal strategies to

combat various forms of violence listed above.

lThese workshops were accompanied by back home tasks which helped

participants and federation to consolidate what was learnt at the workshop.

These tasks, planned as a group activity ensured equal participation of all the

five representatives in the process. The tasks were planned by HHS and

p a r t i c i p a n t s a t t h e e n d o f e a c h w o r k s h o p .

lSurvey on protection officers, widow pension, and status of hostels meant for

Dalit girls, VAW cases registered in the nearest police station were some of the

back home tasks that were undertaken by federation women. These back h o m e

tasks helped them observe, analyze and apply some of the perspectives a n d

information that were gained from the workshop. These tasks ensured sharing

of learnings from the workshop with other women in their sangha and

u n d e r s t a n d i n g a s p e c t s o f g e n d e r a n d v i o l e n c e b e t t e r.

lInterface with other NGOs, activists and lawyers were included in the

workshops to give participants a glimpse of different kinds of interventions on

w o m e n ' s r i g h t s i s s u e s i n v a r i o u s p a r t s o f K a r n a t a k a .

12

Resource person and a litigating lawyer

interacts with women at the workshop

l

Samakhya, struggle for better food

supply by women in Bangalore slums,

work toward s mak ing l oca l

government bodies respond to needs

of women made it possible for

participants to not only understand

how these issues of women rights are

framed by these groups but also about

how these issues were identified in

group processes, campaigns and

r e sea r ch . V i s i t t o women ' s

commission and Karnataka State Free

Legal Services Authority was an

opportunity for the group to interface

with government offices and officials.

Exposure to Nari Adalats of Mahila

Rekha demonstrates how to use the flip chart

13

Resource kit

One of the major impediments to deepening the discourse on rights is the non-

availability of resources in the local language. Workshop learning needed to be

augmented by material resources in print, audio and visual forms for it to sustain

retention, and wider replications.

The Resource kit was specially designed for use by federation members who are

mostly semi literate. Therefore the accent was on visual and audio material. The

content of the resource material covered concepts of gender, rights and equality

and provided legal information. Primers and booklets which were previously

produced by HHS were also included in the kit.

The content of the resource kit was conceived and presented in a manner that

was empowering to women. It did not just stop at providing legal information. It

highlighted how a federation could use the knowledge of rights and information on

law to benefit women. For example: Poster on dowry harassment illustrated the

role of federations in registering complaints, recording statements during

panchnama (which is a first step of police investigation in a crime) and

accompanying victim to file a complaint. The aim was to politicize the issue of VAW

(as against being viewed as a private problem faced by individual women) and

emphasized collective actions.

14

The process of putting together a resource kit involved creation of

new resource material and sourcing already available material on

women's rights.

Our resource kit contained

1. Two Flip charts on

· gender and impact of gender on women'

· domestic violence law and relief's

2. Three skits on understanding the concepts of rights and equality

3. Three set of audio CDs on

· laws related to rape,

· domestic violence and

· dowry

A copy of our workshop evaluation and feedback form

15

One of the participant with the flipchart

4. Three posters on

· Substantive equality, · Dowry harassment and ·Dowry death

5. Handbook on crisis intervention with women facing violence

6. Booklet of FAQs on PWDVA

7. Calendar containing some important legal provisions for women facing

violence.

8. A training manual on Gender and Rights

9. Videos on women's rights in Kannada available online.

Plays on All India Radio

HHS has had a positive experience of disseminating information on radio, especially AIR as

it has an amazing reach. HHS designed and produced plays on laws concerning women's

rights to reach both federation and other men and women through radio. Three

conversations between activists and women on laws related to Domestic Violence, Dowry

and Rape was produced. The program included strategies and suggestions that could be

used to help a victim assert her rights. The last episode had representatives from the

federations who spoke about themselves, their federations, aspirations, achievements,

struggles and constraints of their work. For many, this was a first time experience, to be

recorded and hearing their voices broadcast on radio. All the episodes were broadcast on

All India Radio, Karnataka outreach.

16

Voices of women

A participant in rapt attention at the workshop

HHS workshops brought women leaders from various federations together

from various parts of Karnataka. Our work with federations had few

important aspects. Firstly we decided not have one off workshops with any of

the federations; we had a long term interaction and support. We tailor made

the workshops based on the consultations and field visits to many of the

districts and dialoguing with federation leaders and NGO heads. Conceptual

understanding of VAW issues as well as practical tips to use legal and non legal

strategies to combat VAW was the main focus of the workshops. We worked

with federations who already had been working in a rights based perspective

on various issues of social justice and women's well being. However to

exclusively talk about VAW, violations in intimate relationships, women's body,

sexuality and rights was a complex, albeit important arena.

To narrate how we plugged into the process of supporting federations and

strengthening responses to VAW has to start with who are these federations

and what do federations mean to these women? What do women do in

federations? How has it aided their lives?

17

Here are some glimpses of women in the federations through their voices.

'Naanu gandanna bittaru, Okkuta bidalla'( I may leave my husband, but will not

leave the federation)

Shahina of GMO at the workshop

Shahina of Grameena Mahila Okkuta told us this in great gusto. Grameena Mahila

Okutta is a women's federation that has mobilized more than 8,000 women largely

from Dalit, OBC and minority communities in and around Mulbagal taluk in Kolar

district. This statement captures what federations mean to women. Federations

have created an identity and space for women which family or villages in general

have not afforded them. It is Okkutta that has given them a larger public identity

and purpose. It has made it possible to have a financial resource from their own

savings, made them representatives of their communities to voice concerns;

federations have indeed played a major role in building self worth for women.

Apart from savings and credits activities, federation has been a place for forging

friendships, becoming active citizens in their villages and gave them the

opportunity to travel beyond their villages and taluks. A common refrain we hear

while talking to the women is that 'before going to the sangha, I did not know many

things, we were mostly inside our houses. But after joining sangha we have learnt a

lot of things about the outside world.' This journey from just attending monthly

meetings to becoming active federation members has been difficult but fruitful

journey to many women.

18

· In the words of Bharthi Shettar “thought I didn't discriminate among my children in their upbringing. I realized after being part of this process that I restrict my daughters from doing few things. After this training, I have changed.”

· Participants from Sadhana Sampanmoola Kendra said that this project has helped them understand the need to prioritize working on gender issues in their federation. Savitha said that understanding of gender has given her courage even to do simple things. “After the training I demand seats in the bus reserved for women”. One of the participant's Sukanya from SSK said that she has learnt how to go about intervening in a case systematically. Susheela from JMS said “Now that I have learnt about the domestic violence law, I feel confident to give suggestions to women who approach me. I have personally also changed my thinking, now I feel women and men should be equal”

· Most participants said that back home tasks especially visiting police stations to collect data, introducing themselves to counselling centres and department of women and child was very useful and empowering. Ratnamma of JMS said “We had never visited police before. After this training, we feel visiting police station should be a common activity for activists”.

· All of them found information on the laws and legal procedures very useful. Shanta Hiregowdar of Vikasa Grameena Abhivruddhi Samasthe says “I had no courage and no information about law. If I had known about all this earlier I would not have been cheated in my own case. I have faced domestic violence. At least I will not

There are various kinds of federations. There are exclusive federations of women

belonging to Dalit and OBC communities as well as federations which have women

from all the backgrounds. We have federations that have particularly come to

existence to combat VAW issues as well. Some federations focus on issues of

livelihood, better governance and access to basic facilities in villages. There are

also federations whose main focus is credit and saving activities.

19

We began working with federations on violence against women issues. The very

virtue of being a federation attracts women from the surrounding areas; they

come to them seeking help, support and advice. Thus the federation ends up

taking cases of violence against women even when it is not their main focus. They

play a pivotal helping women access information on her rights, negotiate

structures of formal justice such as police stations and courts. They also become

spaces for mediation and dialoguing with a woman's family and perpetrators of

violence. Our role has been to equip these women's federations with knowledge

and use of rights and law for VAW. Sukanya, a member of Swaraj network based in

Chennapatna, Mandya district explains “We work with women victims of domestic

violence and even sexual violence. When such cases come to us, we first enquire

about the case through people we know in that village, later meet them. We try to

understand the situation. Later we sit with both the parties. If it is criminal l case

we go to the police station or else we go to protection officer for filing a case.” It is

here that HHS played a role in enhancing the capacity of the federations to respond

to VAW from rights perspective.

Sukanya of Swaraj network reads out her

back home task report at the workshop

20

However the ground reality of poor rural women to access institutions of

justice is not a simple matter, it is like running through an obstacle course.

Whether it is accessing the local panchayat or the police station or the protection

officer there are many hurdles to cross. Even though they are public institutions

in a democracy, patriarchal values and mindset rule the roost. Structures that are

responsible for providing services to women facing violence side with the abusers

and a woman or federation needs to confront them in many cases to obtain access

and respond to women. Our inputs to the women in the workshops which

reinforced their status as citizens and their entitlements have helped in this

process of confrontations and access. As Sukanya says- “We knew that the police

have to take our complaint if we go there with a case of VAW but we did not know

the laws then. We were also scared of going to the police station. With HHS

training we came to know how to talk with rights based approach, we came to

know about the laws. Thus we were able to support more cases.”'

Roopa, a young woman who was an activist based in Ikal (which is a small

town in Bagalkot district in north Karnataka) with Vikasa Grameena Abhivrudhi

Samste says “I am from a Gowda family, we never ventured out much. Our life

was between our house and college. That's it. Somebody would accompany us all

the time, if we wanted to go out. When we began going to sangha meetings men

at home rebuked us. They would ask 'what is the use of all this running around.'

This running around was important, it gave us confidence to talk, to go out. We

said lets help ourselves and save some money. We began getting confidence to

deal with the outer world. Mobility of women and access to public spaces is

crucial issue that determines the power women have over many aspects of their

lives. Sangha or federations have played a major role in increasing mobility and

visibility of women in public spaces in rural areas which were hitherto men's

bastions. This shift has made many things possible for women.

Sharanamma from Bharkundhi village near Ikal, one of the most active

members of the governing body of Sangama okkuta, supported by Vikasa

Grameena Abhivrudhi Samste says “We had not entered a bank before because

we never had our own money. We always

21

borrowed money from men. When we formed our sangha we began saving Rs 10

every month. We started having some money in our hands. We had never used a

cheque before in our lives; we began transacting with cheques at the bank. All this

gave us new confidence that we could solve our own problems and that we need

not have to depend on men for everything.”She is also an ASHA worker who is a

health animator at the village level taking care of maternal and child health

nominated by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Anasuya from Belgaum and Sharanamma from Ilkal at the workshop

Though ASHA workers work for a government department, since they are hired on

contract basis they don't get full salaries. Sharanamama's work as an ASHA

animator came after she became active in her federation. People in Sharanamma's

village have to travel 7 kms to Ikal to access a hospital (which is run by the

government). Women have to come to Ilkal for delivering babies or for any other

medical attention. Sharanamma says “There are no good bus facilities to reach

Ilkal. We have to call 108 (which is ambulance services run by the Government of

Karnataka) when there is an emergency. I accompany women to the hospital for

their deliveries as that is my responsibility as an ASHA worker. I have accompanied

women at all odd hours since a delivery is simply not predictable. I have gone

whenever they have called me. Nowadays it is easier for me to go as my children

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are grown up and I can leave them behind. When they were younger I used to put

them to sleep in my neighbour's house and leave. It was very difficult to manage

but I have never missed a single delivery. People thank me whenever they meet me

for the help I have rendered to them. I get paid according to the number of cases I

help with, the payment sometimes does not come on time. But the kind of

recognition this work has brought me in the community is a very important thing to

me, in fact it is of greater value than money”.

Sharnamma belongs to OBC caste and she shared about going to the Panchayat

asking for NREGA work for her fellow sangha members- “I went to out Panchayat

asking for NREGA work along with the sangha members. Getting work was not easy

we had a confrontation and

Finally got work. But the upper caste men and others in the Panchayat called

over my husband and father in law. They asked him to advise me to mind my own

business and not get into NREGA and Panchayat issues. What is the need for all this?

They were asked. My husband and father in law in turn asked me to stop all these

activities. I told them I am not doing anything wrong, only trying to get work for

people. There was some friction. But we went ahead, got job cards and work for

everyone and finally the payment too.”

Sunanda and Bharathi share their learning using our flipchart at a federation meeting at Ilkal

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Confronting inequalities outside their homes as a collective is difficult but more

difficult it is in the home where the battles become tougher and intimate. We see

that federations have been a source of strength and inspiration to shift and change

things in public and private spaces of women.

What is NREGA?

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 ( ), also known as the

"Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act", and abbreviated

to MGNREGA, is an and measure that aims to

guarantee the ' ' and ensure livelihood security in rural areas by

providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year

to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual

work. Targeting poverty through employment generation using rural works, he

basic objective of providing additional wage employment involving unskilled

manual work and also to create durable assets. The major responsibility of

implementation was also gradually transferred to the

. Unlike its precursors, the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA guaranteed

employment as a legal right.

No 42

Indian labour law social security

right to work

Panchayati Raj

Institutions

Federations have also been a springboard for women for political participation.

Finding unending difficulties while accessing government institutions they often

think of fielding one of their own sangha members for the Gram Panchayat or

Taluka Panchayat elections. Sharanamma says candidly “The present secretary at

the Panchayat is a member of our federation. We all encouraged her to contest for

the panchayat election. We campaigned for her door to door telling people to vote

for a member of the sangha. All our sangha members voted for her and did not vote

for the person their husbands suggested! She won the elections. She is now helping

us.We do not have a place to have our federation meetings so we have requested

for a community hall for such purposes and she has promised to get it done for us.”

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Ilkal is famous for its traditional hand oven saris and many of the okkuta members

are weavers. Sharifa Bi, an active member of the Sangama Okkuta weaves

beautiful Ilkal sarees who belongs to the older generations of skilled weavers in her

village. She explains how the sangha, savings and the support from other women

have impacted on her life –I weave saris and I have to survive on the money that I

get from mediators who buy sarees from us and sell it to retailers and city traders.

Thanks to my sangha that I have been able to raise my children alone. I took loans

from the federation and helped my children to stand on their own feet. I am proud

that as a single mother I have been able to support my family and myself.” She

narrated the instance of delivery of her grandchild.. The government hospitals in

smaller taluks are either not equipped to deal with delivery cases or are apathetic

to the plight of the poor. It was the federation that helped Sharifa Bi and her

daughter in law to have a safe delivery by protesting against doctor's apathy at the

public hospital.

Roopa from Ilkal and Deviramma from Harpanahalli

looking into the crisis intervention booklet at the workshop

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Sri Kittur Rani Chennamma Okkutta, is women's federation drawing women

from 28 villages of Bagalkote district. This women's federation has a strong

presence in Harapanahalli and surrounding villages and works on various issues of

women's rights. NREGA, PDS, VAW are some of the important issues that the

federation has dealt with. Kumar, from REACH NGO, which is the driving and

nurturing force of the okkutta says “women of the okkutta interact directly with

the Taluk Panchayat on important issues concerning them. For example -the issue

of Below Poverty Line Cards (BPL cards) and AAY cards (Anthyodaya cards) are to

be given to people who have no land at all. These cards help people access

government schemes and facilities. There is a lot of mess up with these cards;

people who really deserve it do not get it. So women have questioned this. They

have met the Tashildar as well as food inspectors and asked them why such things

are happening. The problem cropped up when a government order said that the

number of BPL cards issued had to be lesser than the previous year. The logic

behind this is was thatthe government has initiated many developmental

activities, schemes and projects; and they expect the number of BPL card holders

to have come down. In reality we know it is not true. . When such an order came,

officials tried to eliminate as many BPL cards they could at the Panchayat and push

them into APL (Above Poverty Line). They usually do this to families who are meek

and will not ask any questions. The Panchayat has a fair idea of people in the

villages. BPL card is needed for healthcare, getting access to schemes at the

Panchayat and children's education. The federation used RTI act (Right to

information act) to get information and restore the BPL cards to those who really

deserved it.”

According to Kumar another scam that was taking place was with allocation of

work under the NREGA. When women approached for work they were given

physically daunting work to deter them from seeking work under the act.

Influential members of the Panchayat would then, on the sly use machines to get

the work done and pocket the profits themselves. They were

Cheating poor men and women of work. At a village called Karegudihalli one of

the federation members along with 25 others had applied for work under NREGA in

the Panchayat. This Panchayat at their village like many other Panchayats had

been using machines that one of their members possessed to get the work done and

pocket the money. This had been the practice for many years. So when the

26

federation woman insisted on getting work they tried to shut her down. As the

woman was a member of the federation for a long time she knew what she was

entitled to. She was also confident to confront because she knew her federation

would back her. She went to the police and gave a complaint based on the verbal

abuses that were hurled at her. Policemen came to fetch her to go to the police

station. She knew from the trainings that she could refuse to go to the police

station if she was not accompanied by a woman police constable. She refused to

go, since the police station did not have women police constables at their station,

they had to get a woman police constable from a nearby station and then took her

to the station. At the station she was spoken to and treated with respect. t. Finally

the issue was solved at the village. The Panchayat member apologized and was

directed to pay a fine. After this, work amounting to 2 lakhs was taken up under

NREGA and women were able to get jobs.

Kumar adds “Women being in a collective makes a lot of difference. They may

not be able to do anything alone to confront these things but as a group it becomes

possible. Even at night time women go to check where machines are being used

for public works they simply make note of the vehicle number and come back.

Later they give a complaint to the concerned officials and follow it up. This quiet

confidence comes from the backing of the federation and they know that there are

many other women and also many federations along with them.”

Group work at Training for Trainers

27

He avers “one has to also remember that bringing women together is not an

easy task. It is not that all women can unite for an issue automatically. There are

differences that crop up. For example, in the context of NREGA one of sangha

woman's relative could be using the machine depriving women of work. So when

the federation wants to take up this issue, that particular woman refuses to

support or diverts the issue. There is a lot of discussion and self reflection within

the federations.”

Agama Dalitha Mahila Okkuta, Belgaum has similar experiences to share. As

the name suggests, this is a federation of exclusively of Dalit women. With over

600 women from various villages near Belgaum, this okkuta has spearheaded some

important struggles on right to work, violence free life and caste discrimination.

Uma, who has been working at Spandana, the NGO that has supported the

federation recollects the process of mobilizing the women. “We began with

monthly sessions with women, began talking to them about rights, in the

Panchayat, in the Aganwadi, with respect to PDS, child marriage, and NREGA. We

began discussing these issues at the village. We encouraged women to approach

relevant government officials to address these issues. When the issue is difficult

to solve at village level, they take it to federation comprising 22 executive

members who discuss and try to solve it. We have lessened our involvement with

the federation these days to encourage them to take over and do things by

themselves.

Yellamma, Agama Dalitha Mahila Okkuta, makes her point in a group discussion at the workshop

28

For example: the federation has taken up the issue of PDS and has confronted

the system for not being effective. The food department officials come to the

Gram Panchayat to find out what was the problem because of the protests. Our

federation members have been co- opted into the vigilance committee formed by

the food department to check corruption. The federation also works

independently on NREGA issues. They apply for the jobs and payment and if any

issues crop up they approach higher officials-all on their own”

She continues recounting “In another village where we work, the Panchayat

had agreed to build a community hall for the Dalit community. In a recent meeting

this decision was overturned and the Panchayat declared that they wouldn't give

an inch of land to this community. This news appeared in the local newspaper.

People saw this and were outraged.

They locked the Gram Panchayat office and protested the reversal of decision.

Women from four of our sanghas took up this issue and were the main participants

in this protest. Finally Dalit leaders, police, Panchayat members were all called

together and the matter was discussed. Panchayat, in the face of such stiff

protests agreed to build the community hall. This happened recently.”

Dakshayini and Yellamma speaking to us during the interview at Belgaum

29

Capacity building : PWDVA and other laws relating to VAW

Violence against women is a serious issue for all the federations and women talk of

various forms of violence and violations they face, in sangha and federation

meetings very frequently. Other members listen to them and help them to get the

reliefs they desire. Sometimes it is just a meeting with the family or husband that

resolves the problem and some other times they have to go to the police and courts

as well. This support becomes crucial for a woman facing violence as it gives her a

collective voice to talk about her problems.

A girl called Jyothi came t us with marital issues. She has been married for

three years; she was 18 years old when she got married. Her husband was

very abusive. She was neither allowed to go her mother house, nor was her

mother allowed to talk to her in private. They restricted her mobility fully.

They even tried to kill her. She endured all the abuse. Once when they

brought her out to sign some papers, she somehow got back to her mother's

place and talked about the abuse she was going through. With the help of

one of the leaders of the Raitha Sangah(farmers union) a mediation was

initiated. A compromise was sought and she went back to her husband's

house. Despite assurances things did not change. She later come to us. As

she had not much evidence to prove abuse we opted to file under PWDVA.

There was an enquiry and the husband promised that he would not treat her

badly and will take her home. He even signed a declaration promising he and

his wife would stay separately from his parents. He asked her to wait till he

found a house and in the meanwhile he got himself a transfer to Chikmaglur

and abandoned her. We complained against him at the State Commission for

Women. He was again called by the commission for an enquiry. He has now

filed for divorce. Presently the PWDVA petition and the divorce petition are

going on.

As narrated by Sukanya, Swaraj Network

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Our capacity building programs were not only focused about knowing laws

pertaining to VAW it was also helping women to reflect on why VAW happens to

women, analyse government and society's response to VAW, Know about legal

rights and how they could use that knowledge to access justice as well as practical

information to take their case forward. The workshops also discussed how as a

collective they could support each on such issues and also get systems around them

to respond to women's needs in the face of violence.

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) was passed in 2005

and the act is being implemented in Karnataka from the year 2006. The law offers

civil remedies to women facing violence, such as interim maintenance, protection

orders, child custody, and residential rights. The law also created protection

officers who were expected to help women to access reliefs listed under the act.

HHS along with other organizations has been advocating for proper

implementation of the act in Karnataka. As a part of this process the law was

discussed with federations and they were encouraged to use the law.

With this knowledge federations were approaching protection officers, service

providers, magistrates and lawyers under the free legal services to redress

domestic violence. Federations were able to file cases under this law, get orders

from the magistrate for abused women. In most of the cases the federation

members had to confront the system when it was ineffective. We were also able to

connect lawyers who have been trained by us under the lawyers' fellowship

program with the federations for further help in legal counseling and litigation.

Through this process we were able to support women to get reliefs under the new

law and also bring back their experiences and suggestions for better

implementation of the law to our advocacy efforts at Bangalore.

As Kumar says 'we have always spoke of rights issues, how to get your right to

water, right to work, how to participate in gram sabhas. HHS training helped us to

do that with respect to VAW. We came to know for example what one should do

when there is a domestic violence case. We learnt about protection officer's role

and now we have a good rapport with the Protection officer here.' Kumar further

explains that sessions on role of police and how to register a complaint have helped

them to deal with cases.

31

Session on Fundamental Rights and Constitution

Sukanya says - 'We contacted Protection Officers (POs) to find out what is

happening with them in Chennapatna. Nobody even knew about Protection of

Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA). We knew a lot about the PWDVA

after the training! We found POs were not responding to women as mandated by

the law. We then protested saying that we do not need a PO who does not work and

cannot respond to women. We protested and got a new PO appointed in our area.

The POs told us that their knowledge of the act was limited to whatever they

learned in two days training conducted by the DWCD. This was clearly inadequate.

With the information and Knowledge I had about PWDVA, I trained other women to

take up cases. They are now equipped with information and are ready to handle

cases by themselves. Now we have become popular with the work we do that

people call us for help when there are cases in Chennapatna. We could be in any

place, we contact the PO on the phone and tell him/her about the case and he/she

usually responds. We have now established that kind of rapport and credibility

with the PO.' ”

Today they have been able to create a space for themselves as women's rights

activists.

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There was this girl called Swetha who was married to a lecturer of a private college. She had a boy child. Swetha’s family was very rich, so her husband began demanding money from her parents. When she refused to meet his demands, he tried to kill her. He refused to let her go out of the house. So some of us from various women’s group went to get her out of the house. We registered a criminal case as well as a case under PWDVA. He is struggling to attend both the cases. He is asking for divorce, she is refusing to give it. She says she doesn’t just want a divorce from him but wants him to be punished for the violence he has inflicted on her. I gave your crisis intervention handbook, she has read it fully! She spoke to directly to the judge asking how divorce could be the answer to the suffering she went through. If he gets a divorce, he will just marry again. He has to be punished for what he did. She is very a strong woman. Now she is helping other women who are abused. Many women who have themselves faced violence are now with us helping others with their cases. As narrated by Sukanya, Swaraj Network

Sharanamma says - “HHS training helped us to know about rights and laws

concerning our lives. We got to know how to lodge a complaint at the police

station. Earlier we used to hide when the police came to our locality. But once we

began discussing these issues we understood their role. This has given us courage

to face any issue that women in the federation face.”

Resource kit and back home tasks were integral to the workshops. As part of

the workshop one of the back home tasks was to look into the status of hostels run

by the government for girls in their taluks. On one such visit to a hostel run by the

government for SC/ ST girls in Chikkakondahalli ,Saraswathi, Prabhavathi and

Yashoda from Adhima Shakti Dalita Mahila Okkoota in Bangarpet, Kolar district

found it in a really bad state. They found that it was unfit to live for anyone, let

alone young girls. They also found that the hostel had a list of materials purchased

from the funds released to them but no materials! The team galvanized into action

and staged a dharna in front of the hostel and later complained to the district

office of the Department of women and child Development. These actions ensured

that materials were purchased and proper food was given to the inmates. In

Harapanahalli, Davangere district and in Belgaum district the federation had to

talk to concerned authorities to bring to their notice the sorry state of affairs at

the girls' hostel.

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Women in the workshop with resource kits

Sukanya tells us “We used your flip chart in the community. We used that to elicit

responses from the community about gender. I have found the handbook on crisis

intervention very useful. In fact I do not have my own copy of it now, others have

borrowed it! I would turn the pages and see which sections apply for a particular

case before I suggested something or went ahead. At the police station I I have

questioned why they were not including a particular section when it was

necessary. Even to this day policemen see me and tell others 'DV act madam has

come'!”

She adds, “ Another issue is the role of police in cases of VAW. Earlier when we

registered a case at police station, we would simply listen to whatever they said

and come back, we had no idea that they had no power to decide on the cases, it is

the court that has the power to decide. We now ask them to just register a case,

not sit on judgment or settle the case'.

End note

We have highlighted our capacity building work with federations here; they have

also been an integral part of most of our work including research and advocacy for

effective services for women facing violence. Our engagement with women and

federations continues and there are scores of more stories to narrate. That will be

for some other day!

The contents of this booklet can be accessed in our blog

This blog has additional video interviews of

activists and women federation members.

www.hhsaavarana.wordpress.com