Gender Equality India Project #54654

Empower 300 girls to end gender based violence

by iPartner India

Project Report | Mar 1, 2023
Empower 300 girls to end gender based violence

By Sumedha Sharma | Project Leader

Dear Global Givers,

Thank you for choosing to support iPartner India’s campaign to empower 300 girls to end gender-based violence. Your support is crucial for these girls who come from extremely resource-poor communities to get a chance to achieve their potential. Through this campaign, iPartner India aims to empower girls to know their rights and also break gender barriers through various leadership and skill-building programs.

We at iPartner India have been working tirelessly to keep the girls motivated through numerous initiatives and at the same time seeking offline donations to make the campaign a success.

In the last quarter, the following activities were undertaken through this campaign.

The core group members have regular meetings with the counsellor who helps the group members to find solutions to any challenges that may arise within the group. Some of the core group members have completed their computer and accounting courses. These courses were aimed at capacitating the members on organisational management skills.
50 girls participated in various activities such as counselling, yoga, art, nutrition and disaster management. Post the training, 33 girls have formed 4 batches and are conducting sessions with children between 6–9 years. From mobilizing children to planning session to team planning meetings, the girls are using their skills to interact with children. As part of the weekly meeting activities, yoga and meditation, preparing nutritional salad, art and craft with recycled items are conducted.
Out of the 60 girls who completed the Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (ARSHR) in the previous session, 40 girls are now receiving skills training based on their interest areas. External experts in counselling, yoga, nutrition, and art/story-telling are training the girls which will enable them to pursue it as a profession at the same time share the skills with their peers in the community.
110 adolescents who attended sessions on understanding gender are now trained on reproductive health and rights. This batch has already been trained on puberty, menstruation, conception, through interactive tools like audio visuals, and games. They have also received an orientation on communication skills, assertiveness skills, and other life skills through day-long camp sessions.
During this period, 130 more new adolescents have been reached out by the mobilising team. The new group is meeting on weekly basis. Sessions on understanding the difference between sex and gender, how society discriminates girls and women, understanding how and why women face different forms of violence, are some of the topics discussed to sensitise them on gender equality.
22 women and girls have completed a two-month certified course on ‘Assistant Decorative Painter’. After completion of practical and theoretical classes, the women have received their certificates and are ready to take up independent or group wall and decorative painting assignments.
A community sporting event was held recently where more than 200 girls and women participated in various games such as relay and running races.
Three women received legal assistance related to domestic violence. Couple counselling are also being held regularly.
14 counselling sessions have been held for six girls. A support session was designed and held by a counsellor for students appearing for their board exams to help them cope with stress along with strategies for exam preparation.
Six girls from the One Team One Dream special football team under the guidance of a senior coach have registered in the Indian Football Association. Five of them played at the Kanyashree Cup, Kolkata Women’s League and signed up with two football clubs. The remaining fourteen special football team girls are getting trained at the Football Academy while thirty more girls will attend basic training under a
professional coach.

Gender-based violence is a human rights violation and often goes unseen, untreated, and unchecked. Poverty, lack of education and healthcare increases both vulnerability and the likelihood of exposure to gender-based violence. iPartner India remains fully committed to ending gender-based violence by empowering young voices, as agents of change for a future free from violence.

Thank you Global Givers, for your unwavering support towards this campaign.

With deep gratitude,
Team iPartner India

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Nov 11, 2022
Empower 300 girls to end gender based violence

By Sumedha Sharma | Project Leader

Dear Global Givers,

We are happy to share some of the progress from our current project. Despite our sincere efforts, we are still a long way from achieving our funding target which will help us to expand our existing project to empower girls from the marginalised community. We are hopeful that through your kind support we will be able to meet our funding target.

Over the past months we have been able to achieve the following in the project:

The management training for the core group has been completed. In total 18 core group members meet regularly to plan and implement the proposed project activities.
Skill-building courses, such as English speaking, Microsoft excel, digital record keeping courses, and accounting courses have also been conducted for the core group members which is an essential part of organisational management training.
A batch of 50 girls was trained with the help of external experts and resource persons on skills such as counselling, yoga, art therapy, nutrition, and disaster management. The training will further enable girls to make a career in the above mentioned sector.
ARSHR (Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights) training: 60 girls have completed the ARSHR training. The training has several sessions, which talk about sexual identity and sexual violence. Sexual violence is very common in our intervention area; therefore, it is important to make girls aware of the same.
Gender training for the new batch of 110 adolescents: The Gender training was conducted with 80 girls and 30 boys. This batch of girls and boys is part of the new outreach group. Post training their understanding of gender issues has improved, the same was assessed through baseline and endline surveys.
Film screenings and community events: To build sensitivity on gender issues three community events were held and films based on gender issues were screened. More than 300 community members participated in the same.
Legal assistance has been provided to seven women and girls who have been experiencing gender-based violence.
26 counselling support sessions were held with the girls and their mothers who were facing domestic abuse. A special workshop on ‘Suicide Prevention’ on Suicide Prevention Day was conducted by the counsellor.
Two stakeholders' interaction on child rights and abuse was held. We had police personnel from the local police station attending the session. Police shared that the support of parents is crucial as incidences of crime against children are on the rise.
In both sessions we had community stakeholders attend the session who had unanimously agreed and pledged to protest and report the cases of child abuse.
Football: The coaches of the girls had suggested residential football training for the girls in an academy so that they can dedicate more time to practice and building team spirit. The team reallocated the budget and a 10-day residential football camp was conducted at the end of August 2022, which 22 girls attended. The camp was extremely helpful in raising the confidence and the sporting spirit of the girls. The coaches got more time to understand the girls and the challenges they face in the community to continue their sport. The parents of the girls were very proud of the fact that their girls have been selected for a special camp.
Post camp, the coach has selected six girls from the senior team, who are practicing under a club and a senior coach. Members from this club will participate in Kolkata Women’s League and if the girls perform well they will be signed up for the league. Based on the coach’s suggestion, and the girls’ performance, one girl has also registered as IFA (Indian Football Association) player, which will allow her to be selected in future leagues/championships. The remaining five are in the process of registering themselves as IFA player.

To continue with the proposed project activities, iPartner India is seeking other funding options so that the campaign does not lose its momentum. Through this campaign, we are aiming to break gender stereotypes and give these women and girls a voice to speak out against gender disparities and claim their rights in their communities and society through sport.

Thank you, GlobalGivers!

With deep gratitude,
Team iPartner India

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Jul 18, 2022
Empower 300 girls to end gender-based violence

By Sumedha Sharma | Project Leader

Dear Global Givers,

In our last report, we shared an update on how 300 women and girls in Kolkata are being trained on various gender issues, leadership and negotiation skills, prevention and reporting of abuse, ARSHR (Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health, and Rights), and sports.

In the past three months, we are happy to report that our team on the ground has continued to have regular engagements with the beneficiaries to help us reach our core project goals. Despite our intervention with the local community, young women and girls still face social and gender barriers. The girls nevertheless show resilience and are determined to pursue their passion and dreams in the face of uncertainties that lies ahead of them.

Stories from the ground

Shaista is a Junior Core Group member. She has been with the One Team One Dream, an all-girls football team for three years. She plays in the mid-field position. This year, she applied for the ‘Three Dot Dash Global Teen Leader 2002’, an online summit where global teen leaders will meet. We are excited that she has advanced to the third round of the selection process. She has already completed the interview round and is now waiting for the results to be announced.

For Shaista, her father is her role model. She enjoys watching football matches and playing video games during her free time. Being part of the team has helped her learn about unity, discipline, and sportsmanship.

“My first dream is to become a pilot and my second is to become a football player. When I play football, I feel energised, confident and strong.” – Shaista

Shaista is one example of how girls from conservative and resource-poor backgrounds can break gender stereotypes and become role models for her generation. With persistent counselling, meetings, and hand holding process with her entire family, today Shaista is a confident girl who dares to believe and challenge societal norms in her community.

Activities

The 46 girls who signed up for a skill interest assessment and have been divided into five batches for the skills training - counselling, art therapy, nutrition, yoga and meditation, and disaster management.
Experts/resource persons for all skills training have been identified and finalised and modules have been prepared based on the need of the batch.
Capacities of core group members have been built to facilitate these sessions in the future.
60 girls have completed Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health and Rights (ARSHR) sessions. A ten-session module on ARSHR was prepared using different IEC (Information Education Communication), activities, and audio-visuals.
Gender training for the new batch of 130 adolescents (100 girls and 30 boys) has been conducted. Many boys have shown interest in being part of the training, however, they could not be accommodated as the batch size was limited to 30 boys for this year of the project.
Two women are currently undergoing training of becoming professional chauffeurs and five women sought legal support during this period in cases related to domestic violence.
Film screenings & Community events such as the “Chai par Charcha” (discussion over the tea) event was held with 86 women from the community. These women are the mothers of adolescent girls and boys from the project.
Regular football coaching is held with 30 girls. 10 regular coaching sessions have been held for the girls during this period. During this period, three sports academies were approached. Of which one academy has been shortlisted for advanced coaching. A certified coach trains the girls on a rented football ground for the practice.

There is still a long way to go to empower these women and girls who need your support to overcome the many challenges they face daily. We will continue to raise our voice and with your support, we are hopeful that we will be able to achieve our funding goals to support all the planned activities.

Thank you Global Givers for your love and support.

With deep gratitude,

Team iPartner India

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