SWATI has initiated projects to combat violence against women through efforts at the village level and more recently, at the broader regional and district level. We believe that challenging violence against women challenges the core patriarchal structures and institutions of society that perpetuate discrimination against women. Our projects in this area consist of socio-legal awareness trainings, legal aid and counseling support for victims of violence through Women’s Justice Committees, and social outreach and networking efforts with other NGOs in the Surendranagar area.

Socio-Legal Awareness Trainings

SWATI and its network agencies have set up a primary objective of initiating the support men in combating violence against women. This has led to the creation of the Training and Sensitization Workshops Program for rural men.
Mahila Nyayya Samiti (Women’s Justice Committees)

A major shift has taken place in the justice-seeking approach proposed by SWATI. Instead of victims of violence taking recourse to the legal system (which we have found to be inappropriate to their current needs), women have organized to form women-led community based gender-just mechanisms of addressing issues of domestic violence. A major advantage of this process has been a shift in leadership from SWATI to the Mahila Vikas Sanghs (the women’s collectives). The Mahila Nyayya Samiti (Women’s Justice Committee, made up of 10 women in Patdi and 11 women in Dhrangadhra, serves to.
The Panch meets every Monday (to preside over cases, to provide legal counseling, to conduct training sessions?) TO DO WHAT? The Samiti is respected in the community (WHICH COMMUNITY) as a credible institution, for it is backed by the strength of the Mahila Vikas Sangh collective. The Samitis are taking a lead in building community opinion and changing perceptions on issues of violence against women. Combined with our efforts at creating male involvement, the Combating Violence Initiative is building an environment where issues of violence against women are becoming public, community issues instead of a private matter of the individual woman.

Social Outreach and Networking

In addition its efforts at the village level, SWATI is also the coordinator agency for a wider effort to combat violence against Women in four districts of the Kachchh Saurashtra region. Six NGOs working on women’s issues are partners in this initiative.

SWATI and its partners organized its first annual 200 village-wide Campaign Against Violence in 5 districts of Gujarat last year. The campaign, which runs from the 25th November (International Day on Violence against Women) to the 10th December (International Human Rights Day), spreads the message of non-tolerance of violence against women.

During the village-level campaigns, awareness and discussion was generated through the use of poster exhibitions, songs, and a play on domestic violence. At the closing statewide ceremony, over 150 men and women had signed a pledge and vowed to “Say NO to Violence against Women.” SWATI’s efforts toward the Campaign Against Violence are part of a larger nation-wide movement to spread the message of non-violence, elicit male involvement in preventing violence, and affirm the rights of women to lead lives without violence.

Women & Health / Violence against Women / Economic Resourses / Women, Land & Water / Adolencent Education Programs