The Change in My Perceptions

Working on gender-related issues such as domestic violence and social discrimination that affect their lives and dignity has brought women closer to each other and has given them insights into how much they have suffered silently as well as how they are themselves the perpetrators of regressive customs and traditions.

W hen I look back and reflect on whether the training programmes, events and discussions that we organized for the women in the villages have had any impact on me personally or have brought about any changes in my team members, I realize that there has definitely been a shift—as if we have shifted gear from low to high. The change is perceptible in the manner of functioning of the team.

The team has been working on many fronts of governance such as the PDS, the Indira Awas Yojana and social security schemes; on issues of domestic violence (DV) and other women-related issues, however, the work earlier varied depending on the proclivity of the professionals towards these issues.

The impact of our efforts was limited to those areas in which SHGs and Clusters were strong, and where these had taken some action regarding issues of violence against their members. The protests were sporadic in nature, and mainly reactive rather than proactive. The women and even the team members had very poor knowledge about the different forms of violence. Apparently, no one had really thought about this aspect earlier.

Even when some members brought up their problems in the meetings, the issues were not given priority by the facilitator or other members. The issues were relegated to the background to be discussed separately when the facilitator was not present. When engaging with the community, my aim used to be to finish my agenda first, which could range from checking SHG accounts, organizing a Cluster meeting, facilitating a loan repayment, grading of the group or agriculture planning. It was only after all these had been dealt with that the personal issues of the women were discussed.

I used to share with my colleagues my concerns about issues, other than the credit and livelihood issues that we dealt with every day, that affect the lives of the women but I was not sure how I could engage with them, what my stance could be and how far I could become involved in dealing with these issues. The action plan and review meetings in the team focussed more on the output rather than the outcome.