Women's Rights Workshop

Last week, I ran a workshop for the women of Jodhpur Empowerment Centre about women's rights. It was inspired by a series of workshops the previous week by some local law students, who spoke about women's rights, human rights, child rights and how to report incidents to the police. We discussed the Indian Constitution:

• The right to equality
• The right  to freedom
• Equal pay for equal work
• The right to economic development
• The right to education
• The right to freedom of religion

This got me thinking about the reality of these rights - although every Indian citizen is theoretically entitled to these basic promises, to what extent are they enacted? From very basic demands that are largely dismissed yet still significant (the right to wear jeans) to more pressing issues, such as the right to chose your husband, or to chose not to have a husband at all.

 

I began by asking women to think about the things they are grateful for in their lives, that are available to them because they are women. Many responses were linked to Sambhali - they are happy to be able to read, to speak English, to sew, to do embroidery. Many women were also grateful for their families and children. We then thought about the things these women wish they were able to do, but is not possible at the moment. The responses were often economic - they would like a house, a car, some women even said they wanted a book. Some women wanted children, and something I found very significant was that some women said they wanted to not have children. Definitely a rebellion against the Indian status quo. We finished by discussing what these women want for their children and the future - a good husband, a good education, to be a lawyer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This workshop let these women dream - about things not currently possible, about what they can change to make possible for their children. But it is more than a dream - simple things they may deem insignificant can gradually change society's notion of what is and isn't acceptable, presenting a challenge both the caste and patriarchal systems that paralyse the social mobility of unprivileged citizens such as those of the Jodhpur Empowerment Centre.