Empower 300 girls to end gender based violence

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