We often talk about the changing perspectives of the world towards roles of women as professionals as well as independent thinkers. But on the surface, women still continue to suffer imposed subordination and inferiority at homes and in the society. This not just adds to the deteriorating status of women but also hinders the development of society and the nation at large. Identifying major issues faced by women in Kuvempunagar, Jalhalli East, Vidyaranyapura post, Bangalore-97 as – poor health & hygiene and lack of maternal healthcare awareness, Bangalore centre of DJJS has initiated a women empowerment drive in this area to capacity build women residents as change agents.
As a preliminary exercise, a thought-provoking nukkad natak (street play) was conducted on June 14, 2015 in Kuvempunagar area on the theme – woman as core of societal development. Initially, drums were beaten to grab attention of people in the community. The play was then performed by the team of young Santulan volunteers portraying the challenges as well as the multi-faceted roles played by women in their lives. People were totally spellbound. Once the play was over, few volunteers quickly gathered feedback from the viewers and also counselled them by demystifying certain myths and misconceptions related to gender issues.
Further, volunteers briefed the viewers about the campaign to be launched and invited them to the upcoming women oriented awareness programmes. The same set of activities was repeated 14 to 15 times at different locations in the same area and thousands of residents were sensitized.
DJJS, through such rigorous campaigns, is adopting villages, towns and cities and then organizing gender based workshops with these target groups on regular basis to reinstate the lost dignity of women.
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