Themes & Strategies

To enable marginalized and oppressed women in rural and urban areas with awareness and action for rights, Jagori undertakes capacity building workshops, documentation, grassroots action research, advocacy and campaigning in partnership with stakeholders including individual women and their partners, community members, civil society representatives, and other state/ institutional actors.

Perspective and capacity development on feminist principles and strategies

Organising gender trainings, workshops, study circles, campaigns and consultations with key constituents

Trainings with students and young adolescent women and men, providing them with the analytical tools and hands-on support to initiate positive action towards ending violence against women

Accompanying select organizations working with the marginalised and minority community on a long term basis

Training: A Brief Note

Training is an important component of JAGORI’s work since its inception. It aims to build perspective on gender equality through dialogue on current and emerging issues within the women’s movement. It attempts to raises awareness around unaddressed questions aecting the lives of marginalized and oppressed groups, to sensitize on the systemic nature of violence against women and girls, their safety and rights. It oers an understanding of the intersections between patriarchal institutions including marriage, family, religion and State and its impact on the status of women. “Personal is Political” has been the operating principle of JAGORI in facilitating training. In other words, training at Jagori helps build capacities of participants to bring a feminist perspective into their lives and work.

OBJECTIVES

Training at Jagori aims:

• To build conceptual clarity on gender, patriarchy and feminism

• To develop tools for critical understanding of development paradigms from a feminist perspective

• To share knowledge of the women’s movement: its inception, achievements, challenges and ongoing campaigns

• To build capacities to apply this understanding in their ongoing lives and work

TRAINING
AREAS

Reaching different
groups

The journey of our training began with workshops on the conceptualunderstanding of gender, patriarchy & feminism. Gradually issues like violenceagainst women, single women, mental and emotional health of women and alternative healing therapies through a feminist perspective were covered.

Jagori reaches out to women, youth and men of all ages through its annual Gender Course, thematic and advanced courses, short sessions and long term accompaniment. The programmes address NGO functionaries, social workers, grassroots leaders and gender trainers through its training programmes. Jagori has also conducted gender sensitization sessions and workshops with teachers and
students of schools and colleges; government institutions; bilateral and donor agencies. It is linked with a network of gender activists and trainers that enable work with It also has a strong network at advocacy levels.

USE OF
RESOURCES

Modification & creation
of new modules
& techniques

The training team uses the vast pool of resources and training materials that have been built through JAGORI’s extensive work over more than 3 decades since 1984, at the same time it also creates new modules to reflect changing contexts and expectations. Training materials are used within the training space and also distributed as reading materials. Participants are added to Jagori’s mailing list so that they remain abreast of current debates on relevant issues in the country.

METHODOLOGY
OF TRAINING

Training programmes are conducted primarily in Hindi and English. Emphasis is placed on participatory learning, and the use of gender training tools, small group discussions, role plays, song, art, and narrative. Training is grounded in personal experience and reflection, and results in individuals seeing opportunities for themselves to change their own lives and the lives of others. Participants are encouraged to access support from the resource persons as they apply this learning.

COURSE
CONTENT

Modules are determined with a view to meeting the needs and expectation of the participants. Current debates and questions are included. Basic modules include:

• Concepts of gender, patriarchy and feminism
• Violence Against Women/ Laws related to Women
• Women and work, globalization
• Creating safer cities for women
• Sexuality
• Masculinity
• Women and governance

The Resource Centre

Production and distribution of educational and advocacy materials serving the information needs of women’s groups, NGOs, researchers, media, academia, schools and colleges, community women in resettlement areas, youth and other regular users.

Digitising and archiving crucial materials from the women’s movement since 1984.

Fellowship support to women activists.

Violence Intervention

Running a helpline and case support services, accompanying women to police stations to file an FIR, access protection and safe homes/shelters and access legal aid and counseling.
Facilitating a process of healing and building collectives of survivors and investing into their legal and rights literacy.

Sensitisation of service providers including police, relevant government agencies, media and other stakeholders.

Policy advocacy on changes in the legal framework and implementation mechanisms.

Over more than two decades, we have supported diverse groups of women in their struggles against violence, from women facing domestic violence, Dalit women confronting caste violence, single women dealing with prejudice and exclusion in their daily lives, women facing sexual violence in the workplace and women workers in the informal sector whose rights are routinely violated by the State. We also actively support young women facing sexual abuse and other kinds of violence.

A long-term goal is to mobilise communities to challenge and resist violence. As part of this eort, we support communities in organising and creating mechanisms to address violence in their neighbourhoods. We are involved in interventions in two resettlement colonies in Delhi – Madanpur Khader and Bawana.

We are also involved in the frontlines of public education and policy advocacy.

Apart from this, we provide direct support (counselling, referrals, legal aid and facilitation of alternatives) to individual women facing violence. Through feminist counselling, we help the woman move from being a victim to becoming a survivor to developing as a change agent by providing support to other women in distress

Publications


National Workshop on Feminist Counselling

Reflections on Women Centred Counselling : A meet of Women’s
Rights Activists and Mental Health Professionals

Public meeting on Ending Violence Against Women

Courts of Women: Vimochana

The Safe Cities Initiative

The Safe Cities initiative works with key partners in the government, women’s movement, national and international agencies to pilot and upscale initiatives on making cities safer and more gender inclusive. Key activities include-

• Conducting research studies and safety audits to bring attention to the status of women’s safety
• Development of a strategic framework and plan
• Public outreach through organising and participating in various events
• Consultations and trainings with service providers
• Media awareness and communication materials
• Awareness sessions with students, young women and men, homeless and disabled women, urban planners, civic
agencies, and women’s groups
• Conceptualizing research tool-kits and subsequent sharing with women’s groups across the country

Approaches for supporting women’s leadership

Supporting women’s collectives in select resettlement colonies of Delhi through action research projects, resource mapping, social and safety audits, public hearings, ‘mini-courts of women’, in an exort to bring their voices and alternative vision to policy makers and local implementers.

Linking women leaders to social movements addressing right to food, shelter, basic services and entitlements, implementation of laws and policies on domestic violence and sexual harassment amongst others.

Working with men and adolescent young boys in the community to re-define dominant masculinities and support ending violence against women and girls.

Read about our Action Research Projects here

Campaigns to raise awareness on Violence Against Women (VAW)

Jagori has worked ongoingly with other women’s organisations and activists on numerous campaigns to end
violence against women – including on dowry, Sati, domestic violence, and sexual assault to sensitise the public
and raise awareness on the issue of violence against women, and its systemic and endemic nature; and to
demand for comprehensive gender just law against sexual assault in its many forms.

Jagori has also been part of global campaigns such as the 16 days of activism on VAW (25th Nov-10th Dec), the
Orange Day Campaign, The Anti-Street Sexual Harassment Week, and the One Billion Rising (OBR) Campaign.

The OBR campaign began with a global call from American playwright and activist,Eve Ensler, to people around
the world – men and children included – to root out violence against women and join in a global day of action
on 14 February 2013. In New Delhi a coalition of more than 65 organizations and individuals from all walks of life
worked on the campaign as a collective along with Sangat & Jagori

Short Report on OBR Delhi Campaign
Detailed Report on OBR Delhi Campaign

PROJECTS

The Safer Cities free from Violence against Women and Girls Initiative

A unique Initiative with Department of Women and Child Development, Govt of Delhi, UN Women and Jagori, this project aims to creating cities where girls and women are safe and able to access their rights.

In the year 2009, Jagori in partnership with UN Women and Department of Women and Child Development launched the ‘Safe City Free of Violence Against Women and Girls Initiative’. The goal of the initiative is:“ Cities where women and girls are able to move around freely without the fear of harassment and violence at all times and enjoy what the city has to offer”.

As part of the first phase, a baseline study was undertaken of more than 5000 residents (men and women) in the NCT region. This survey provided exhaustive information related to typologies of harassment, vulnerability of women, ways of dealing harassment etc. The negotiations that a woman undertakes in her day to day life were reflected in this study.

Click here to read the Baseline Survey 2010 report

It is on the basis of this, a Strategic Framework for Safer and Violence Free City for Women and Girls  was  designed. The work on safer city was also replicated in Kerala by Sakhi through research study and intervention plans from 2009-2011.

Click here to read the study

The intensive work of the first phase in Delhi and Kerala, now is a  part of the UN Women Global Programme being implemented in five different cities, Cairo, New Delhi, Kigali, Port Moresby and Quito . The second phase of the programme in Delhi builds on the existing partnership of Jagori, Government of Delhi and UN Women and would focus of city wide advocacy for gender sensitivity and mainstreaming and focused work in municipal wards of south Delhi, Badarpur, Haus Khas, Malviya Nagar, Mehrauli and Molarband.  In Kerala, the work has interestingly been initiated in four cities, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Thrissur and  Ernakulam.

The Gender Equality Project

Through this project, Jagori in partnership with Pradan is building the capacities of rural and tribal women  from endemic poverty regions of four States in India, to access, actualise and sustain provisions on women’s empowerment. This project is supported by UN Women under the Fund for Gender Equality.

Under the project “Facilitating Women in Endemic Poverty Regions of India to Access, Actualize and Sustain Provisions on Women Empowerment”, managed by PRADAN and supported by the UN Fund for Gender Equality, Jagori is partnering with PRADAN and their field offices to support their work with rural and tribal women in nine districts(Balaghat, Dindori, Hazaribagh, Hoshangabad, Karanjia,Kesla, Koderma,Purulia, Raigada) in four states (Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orrisa, West Bengal). Jagori provides conceptual and strategic guidance on gender and rights perspectives on women’s livelihoods, governance, issues of ending violence against women and enhancing women’s leadership. This is undertaken through trainings, leadership camps, workshops, accompaniment, material development and advocacy.

Media support: Women’s Feature Service

Gender Inclusive Cities Programme

The Gender Inclusive Cities Programme is a four city programme emphasizing on understanding safety and inclusion in urban public spaces from the perspective of ‘right to the city’.

The Gender Inclusive Cities Programme (GICP)  is funded by the UN Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women. This programme was implemented by four international project partners in cities across the globe:

  • International Centre and Network for Information on Crime in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • Jagori in Delhi, India
  • Information Centre of the Independent Women’s Forum in Petrozavodsk, Russia
  • Red Mujer y Habitat de America Latina in Rosario, Argentina

The aim of the programme was to create cities that are inclusive and respect the right of all people, including women, to live, work and move around without fear or difficulty. Gender Inclusive Cities sought to identify the factors that cause and perpetuate inequalities and exclusion, as well as the policies and programme approaches that enhance women’s inclusion and “right to the city”. The first stage of this programme consisted of knowledge-generation using the methodological tools of mapping, research and review. Afterwards, WICI, in partnership with local governments and NGOs, used this knowledge to pilot interventions designed to reduce the public vulnerability and exclusion women and girls face. Pilot interventions looked at promoting women’s and girls’ access to and understanding of their rights.

Click here to read the GICP Delhi Research report

Click here to read the final report – Gender Inclusive Cities Programme

Click here to read the GICP Baseline Survey Findings from all four cities