Mukti Participated in the Workshop of Capacity Building Processes on Gender Issues

Ms. Nandita Jayraman, Mr. Pinaki Naiya, Ms. Panchami Shit, Mr. Apurba Karan and Mr. Shibu Mondal participated on behalf of Mukti in the workshop on Capacity Building Processes on Gender Issues at Hotel Girish, Diamond Harbor, on 22^nd and 23^rd March 2022. The workshop was facilitated by the “Rupantaran Foundation” and supported by the “OAK Foundation”. ISWS (Digambarpur), BTS-Rupantaran & DRCSC were the three other organizations that attended the workshop along with Mukti.

1^st day –

Gender and family- Men enjoy the benefits of family life to a greater extent than women, even though women contribute more to the stability of the family. Men have greater access to and control over resources and decisions, whereas women are used as commodities or helpers at best. Their contributions are undervalued. This creates a big imbalance in family life. Although there are biological differences between men and women, mostly because of their reproductive roles, the Indian constitution recognizes them as equal. Rather, it is societal norms that create a distinction between the roles and responsibilities that a community considers appropriate for men and women.

Gender and power – The attributes which contribute to power – such as money, assets, information and social standing – are mainly male-dominated. Through a plenary discussion and debriefing, the facilitator assisted the participants in understanding how women are being deprived of their basic rights and are made victims of gender-based discrimination.

Socialization of Gender – The next session was to explore how the patriarchal system gets induced in an individual irrespective of their gender and how socialization of gender occurs. Sports were taken as an example. Team sports that develop skill and physical strength are mainly played by boys, whereas girls mainly play indoor games. These latter games are often played one-to-one, and sometimes alone. Because of this, girls get fewer opportunities to develop skills related to communication, negotiation, team building, team bonding, and leadership. On the other hand, boys get fewer opportunities to develop the qualities of caring and patience. We are conditioned to maintain these patriarchal differences from birth.

2^nd day –

The 2nd day started with a recap session, where four participant groups exhibited their learning through innovative presentations.

Gender-Based Violence – Through a plenary discussion and debriefing, it was clearly demonstrated that violence (Physical, Emotional, Sexual and Economic) is connected to an imbalance of power and social position. When this imbalance increases, violence and discrimination also increase. In a family, where there is violence, there is also discrimination. The powerless person is always discriminated against and made the victim of violence. It was concluded that to eliminate gender-based violence we have to change the power equation. Also, there is a need to create a safe space where the victim can openly share about the violence faced, without being judged.

Men & masculinity – The patriarchal system puts men in positions of power. However, the conditioning and the expectations that men are subjected to in this patriarchal system negatively affect men as well. In patriarchal systems, men are usually found at the center of violence. The patriarchal system teaches men to express their emotional needs in the form of violence, be it on themselves, or on others. The patriarchal system has created two different prisons for men and women. According to conventional patriarchal ideas, men are positioned higher than women and any man showing feminine traits is considered weak or unworthy. Fortunately, the women’s prison has started breaking up.

Intervention strategies and action plan – While discussing intervention strategies to stop gender-based violence and discrimination, the points below were mentioned:

Narrative shift: The examples of existing narratives are that girls are born for marriage, men are an umbrella of the family, boys are the light of the dynasty (“Bongser Prodip”), etc. For gender equity, these norms have to shift. For example, men also can cry, girls can have higher education, and a woman can take the responsibility for her family.

Reclaiming the spaces: Men and women have always been confined to separate places. For example, the kitchen is for girls, the club is for men, the playground is not for girls. Such senseless ideas must change, and it must be ensured that anyone can access public places according to one’s will.

Creating alternatives: In order to break the patriarchal norms, society must create alternatives. For example – a Muslim girl has started cycling; she is the first woman in her area who has been cycling. People are abusing her by uttering foul language. But she ignores all obstacles and remains steadfast in her goal. After a certain time, many girls from her area started cycling and people started considering it normal.

Ensuring rights and entitlements: Marginalized families and persons have to be identified. Advocacy with the community ensures their rights and connects them with government entitlements.

After this, the participants formed groups to reflect and re-strategize. They presented their action plan to the plenary.

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