20 Years of Disha
2003: Dehradun Foray

Plain areas of Dehradun district are endemic to violence against women. According to an estimate violence is committed against women in almost 60 per cent of the families in the area. Disha started a campaign on prevention of violence against women in a part of the plain areas of the district in January 2003.

The campaign builds on taking out yatras (journey with specific purpose) and holding melas (fairs) to create awareness among the residents of the area on the issue. The yatras are taken once in a month in a cluster of five villages. Campaign material in the form of pamphlets is distributed and small corner meetings are held during the yatras. The yatras give message that Campaign to End All Kinds of Violence against Women physical violence (against women) is not the only type of violence – it can have different forms such as denial of education to girl child, denail of proper food and nutrition, sexual and mental harassment, etc. After the conclusion of yatras in a cluster, a mela is held the following day. Village leaders, prominent persons of state and national repute, media, etc., are invited to these melas. Instances of violence against women are tackled during the yatras and melas.

Legal literacy camps are organised to sharpen skills of women leaders identified in yatras and melas. The focus of legal literacy camps is on means to combat various forms of violence committed on women.

To spread the theme of the issue, media has been involved. Media involvement began with holding a conference on the issue ‘forms of violence against women and role of media’. The mediapersons were main participants in this conference. As a result, news stories about violence against women have started getting prominent place in the print medium. As a follow-up meetings and media conferences are held from time to time.

And to further spread the work, networking and alliance building with other voluntary organisations working in the area has been done. Joint events are held with these organisations.

Following the maxim ‘to catch them young’ students in schools and colleges of the area are being reached. They are shown plays and distributed pamphlets to motivate them towards gender just society. Events like debate, drawing competions are also held.

Special events like International Women’s Day are regularly celebrated in the area to express solidarity with women and shun violence against them.

Education for Adolescent Girls

Eleven education centres for imparting literacy skills to adolescent girls are being run in rural areas of Dehradun district of Uttaranchal. These girls are mainly those who never went to schools, or dropped out from schools because of family ‘responsibilities’. Most of them are from among Muslims and some from among Scheduled Castes.

The curriculum followed in the education centres is based on formal education system of Uttaranchal government. It is designed in such a way that education from standard 1 to 5 is completed in three years duration.

While teaching the girls it is ensured that the teaching is not confined to textbooks alone. Practical knowledge about health and nutritional aspects, which is quite important in the coming years in the lives of girls, is also given with a view to break the vicious cycle the women are at present caught in.

The girls are made aware of the issue of prevention of violence against women and gender equality. Since normally Muslim girls are not allowed to attend school and they are not allowed any kind of exposure, they are likely to face violence at home and gender discrimination. The education centres thus are emerging as a platform where the girls can acquire reading and writing skills, and also learn how to fight for their rights.

Parents’ meeting are organised every month to discuss progress of their daughters in classrooms. During these meetings they are motivated and mobilised to understand the importance of education so as to ensure that they sent their other children to school.

Each centre caters to on an average 30 girls and their age varies from 12 to 18 years.

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