Mansi Firth, a GiveIndia volunteer, is working with MoneyLIFE magazine on their Beyond Money column.
In this article, Mansi profiles AWAG, a NGO that deals with gender inequality issues. AWAG is compliant with GiveIndia’s rigorous due diligence and Credibility Alliance’s norms for NGOs.
“You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women” -- Jawaharlal Nehru
Gender inequality is a pervasive problem and evident in cultures across the world. In India, it encompasses education, professional work, property ownership, relationships within families and access to basic facilities.
To erase these inequities and work on the developmental aspects for
To erase these inequities and work on the developmental aspects for
empowerment of women, a group of inspired women came together and formed AWAG -- Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group -- on 16 July 1983. Dr Ila Pathak, who heads the organisation, was originally a student of English literature and a literary critic in Gujarati. She turned to social activism in 1981 and has worked tirelessly for the cause since then.Set up as a part of PeaceWomen, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, AWAG has worked in Gujarat for the past 25 years to support and protect women, obtain social justice and assert for gender equality through advocacy, policy intervention and training to raise awareness among women about their individuality and rights.
Many of the women who come to AWAG are victims of domestic violence. Parvati came to AWAG in unbearable physical pain after being battered by her husband. She was rushed to a hospital and, after she recovered, was put up at a Short Stay Home run by AWAG and trained in stitching export quality garments.
Thirty-seven-year-old Salma’s husband threw her out of their home. He even refused to accept their children as his. Disturbed and traumatised, she came to AWAG and was put up at its Short Stay Home at Bapunagar in Ahmedabad with her two daughters and two sons. She was treated by a clinical psychologist for trauma and later learnt stitching.
When Salma began to earn a steady income, she moved to a small rented house with her children. Today, her eldest daughter is married; her elder son has a job and the two younger children are studying in school, giving her a sense of fulfilment.
AWAG provides support and welfare to women in the form of counselling, training and legal advice to women of all ages. Its other projects include organising health awareness programmes, employment programmes, running children’s nurseries, sensitising the police force of Gujarat to women’s issue and to begin registering complaints of domestic violence, which has led to reduced cases of suicide. AWAG has provided shelter to 3,600 women at its Short Stay Homes, while 630 women have been counselled and 3,600 children have been nurtured in crèches.
In 1997, AWAG started a campaign to make rural women aware of their rights. This campaign has today helped women to consider the importance of their own health, seek medical assistance and assert their right to procure services from healthcare providers.
How can you support AWAG?
You can help with immediate medical treatment to a victim of violence for Rs1500 (appx $32)
You can sponsor skill training for an resident of the short stay home for Rs4500 (appx $97)
Many of the women who come to AWAG are victims of domestic violence. Parvati came to AWAG in unbearable physical pain after being battered by her husband. She was rushed to a hospital and, after she recovered, was put up at a Short Stay Home run by AWAG and trained in stitching export quality garments.
Thirty-seven-year-old Salma’s husband threw her out of their home. He even refused to accept their children as his. Disturbed and traumatised, she came to AWAG and was put up at its Short Stay Home at Bapunagar in Ahmedabad with her two daughters and two sons. She was treated by a clinical psychologist for trauma and later learnt stitching.
When Salma began to earn a steady income, she moved to a small rented house with her children. Today, her eldest daughter is married; her elder son has a job and the two younger children are studying in school, giving her a sense of fulfilment.
AWAG provides support and welfare to women in the form of counselling, training and legal advice to women of all ages. Its other projects include organising health awareness programmes, employment programmes, running children’s nurseries, sensitising the police force of Gujarat to women’s issue and to begin registering complaints of domestic violence, which has led to reduced cases of suicide. AWAG has provided shelter to 3,600 women at its Short Stay Homes, while 630 women have been counselled and 3,600 children have been nurtured in crèches.
In 1997, AWAG started a campaign to make rural women aware of their rights. This campaign has today helped women to consider the importance of their own health, seek medical assistance and assert their right to procure services from healthcare providers.
How can you support AWAG?
It was really heartening to know about the good works of AWAG working towards eradicating the social evil of gender inequality…
Hi . A quick introduction. I am sunaina bhakhri working at Breakthrough, Delhi. This post is most interestingly written and very sensitively deals with the most pertinent issue of gender equality and women emporwerment And you have managed to put the issue in focus quite well//What comes through is the concern/sensitivity you have exhibited for this issue.// Well, I work on a youth oriented site called www.bellbajao.org and would love for you to blog on it.
As an awareness campaign against Domestic Violence, we house addresses and contact numbers of service providers who help victims in situations of abuse. Your post talking about an organisation working for gender equality and is very similar to the posts on our blog under the category "Resources" which houses contact information on service providers.
Please visit the site and do write back to me at sunaina.bhakhri@gmail.com about your thoughts on the campaign. And if you're interested, do blog on the site as well, giving us any information you'd like to showcase about service providers in your city, state or country. And if you're a regular blogger, we'd be happy to put you on our blogroll and crosslink your blog page on our site.
Thanks and hoping to hear from you