"Grassroots Experience of Implementing the Principle of Gender Justice: Case Study of Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Madhya Pradesh"
Presentationfor
Consultation for a National Plan for India’s Children.
Organised by
India Alliance for Child Rights
New Delhi 17-18 July 2002
By Janak P. McGilligan
Brief and broad issues of gender justice:
The regions in which we are working are mainly the tribal areas of Dhar, Khargone, Badwani, Jhabua, Dewas, Shajapur, Khargone in Madhya Pradesh (M.P).
Education
Lower Enrollment
There are government schools established in the area where we are working, but girls are kept at home to help the family with the work at the farm, to look after the cattle and to collect fuel and water. They also have to look after their baby sisters and brothers. They are not seen as important as boys because they will get married and leave the home of their fathers; this is one of the reasons they are not sent to school.
Higher Drop out from School
The girls have no choices of subjects or type of education.
Environment
The girls are victims of their environment and its degradation. Because of the scarcity of wells and other forms of water supply, they have to walk for miles to get some water and sometimes they are even sexually abused on the way. While cooking in their houses, they breathe large amounts of hazardous smoke every day from the fire.
Harmful social and cultural traditional practices
Because of the widespread patriarchal society, forced child marriage and infanticide is common, although infanticide is not so high in rural areas because of the bride value. The girls have practically no role in decision-making and the image of the girl is very undervalued which brings about early abortions.
In this area of M. P. we see the following harmful traditional practices:
a) Differential access to food and medical care for girls compared to boys.
b) Early marriage (10 to 15 years of age)
c) Young tribal girls get a lot of sexual harassment.
d) Tribal society laws do not forbid men to have more than one wife.
Health
The girl child is very often less well nourished than the boys; this has caused a higher mortality rate among girls.
Other consequences have been a diminished health and poor physical and personal development. The girl also suffers from all aspects of problems with reproductive health such as:
* Repeated pregnancies at shorter intervals. Because of the shorter intervals, the period young women can breast feed their newborn becomes very short.
* Girls among the scheduled castes and Khatis are married at a very young age (10 - 15 years). They are mentally and physically not fully grown. The problems these girls face in pregnancy and labour are numerous (i.e., malnutrition during the pregnancy and problems during labour because of they are not fully grown).
*Health services are not available to have young women receive pre-natal and post-natal checkups and to have young girls immunised against tetanus.
Sexual abuse and violence against girls
Girl children in the state of M.P suffer from more crimes than in any other state. According to the National Crime Records Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs, for the last ten years, rape of minors below 16 years equals more than 25% of the total rape cases. The rape of children under 10 years of age increased by nearly 27%.
Girl's labour
In the area in which we are working, the rural and tribal girls start working in their early childhood with their mothers in the home and on the farm. They look after the younger brothers and sisters, prepare food and bring water from the well or hand pump. They hardly get an opportunity to go to school. (See the part about education and environment.)
When girls are working as farm labourers they will be paid less than a boy for doing the same work.
The issue of gender justice reflected by UNGASS
The issue of gender justice is reflected by UNGASS in the principles and objectives of its declaration; paragraphs 3, 5 and 12. It must be added that this declaration calls on all members of society to join the UN in a global movement that will help build a world fit for children through upholding their commitments to the principles and objectives stated in the declaration.
Paragraph 3 states:
"Leave no child behind. Each girl and boy is born free and equal in dignity and rights; therefore, all forms of discrimination affecting children must end".
Paragraph 5 states:
"Educate every child. All girls and boys must have access to and complete primary education that is free, compulsory and of good quality as a cornerstone of an inclusive basic education. Gender disparities in primary and secondary education must be eliminated".
Paragraph 12 states:
"...Critical challenges remain: more than 10 million children die each year although most of those deaths could be prevented; 100 million children are still out of school, 60 per cent of them girls; 150 million children suffer from malnutrition; and HIV/AIDS is spreading with catastrophic speed. There is persistent poverty, exclusion and discrimination, and adequate investment in social services".
Further, the issue of gender justice is reflected by UNGASS in its plan of action in:
Creating a world fit for children: paragraphs 20 and 23
Paragraph 20 states:
"Discrimination gives rise to a self-perpetuating cycle of social and economic exclusion and undermines children’s ability to develop to the fullest. We will make every effort to eliminate discrimination against children, whether rooted in the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status".
Paragraph 23 states:
"The achievement of goals for children, particularly for girls, will be advanced if young girls fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, are empowered to participate fully and equally in all spheres of society and are protected and free from all forms of violence, abuse and discrimination. We are determined to eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child throughout her life cycle and to provide special attention to her needs in order to promote and protect all her human rights, including the right to be free from coercion and from harmful practices and sexual exploitation. We will promote gender equality and equal access to basic social services, such as education, nutrition, health care, including sexual and reproductive health care, vaccinations, and protection from diseases representing the major causes of mortality, and will mainstream a gender perspective in all development policies and programmes".
Goals, strategies and actions
Promoting healthy lives: paragraphs 1, 5, 6 and 13.
Paragraph 1 states:
"Ensure that the reduction of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality is a health sector priority and that women, in particular adolescent expectant mothers, have ready and affordable access to essential obstetric care, well-equipped and adequately staffed maternal health-care services, skilled attendance at delivery, emergency obstetric care, effective referral and transport to higher levels of care when necessary, post-partum care and family planning in order to, inter alia, promote safe motherhood".
Paragraph 5 states:
"Protect, promote and support exclusive breast feeding of infants for six months and continued breast feeding with safe, appropriate and adequate complementary feeding up to two years of age or beyond. Provide infant-feeding informed choices".
Paragraph 6 states:
"Special emphasis must be placed on pre-natal and post-natal care, essential obstetric care and care for newborns, particularly for those living in areas without access to services".
Paragraph 13 states:
"Improve the nutrition of mothers and children, including adolescents, through household food security, access to basic social services and adequate caring practices".
Providing quality education: paragraphs 2, 3, 7, 10 and 13.
Paragraph 2 states:
"Promote innovative programmes that encourage schools and communities to search more actively for children who have dropped out or are excluded from school and from learning, especially girls and working children, children with special needs and children with disabilities, and help them enroll, attend, and successfully complete their education, involving governments as well as families, communities and non-governmental organizations as partners in the educational process. Special measures should be put in place to prevent and reduce drop out due to, inter alia, entry into employment".
Paragraph 3 states:
"Bridge the divide between formal and non-formal education, taking into account the need to ensure good quality of the educational services, including the competence of providers, and acknowledging that non-formal education and alternative approaches provide beneficial experiences. In addition, develop complementarity between the two delivery systems".
Paragraph 7 states:
"Create, with children, a child-friendly learning environment, in which they feel safe, are protected from abuse, violence and discrimination, and are healthy and encouraged to learn. Ensure that education programmes and materials fully reflect the promotion and protection of human rights and the values of peace, tolerance and gender equality, using every opportunity presented by the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010)".
Paragraph 10 states:
"Design, where appropriate, and implement programmes that enable pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers to continue to complete their education".
Paragraph 13 states:
"Develop and implement programmes that specifically aim to eliminate gender disparities in enrolment and gender-based bias and stereotypes in education systems, curricula and materials, whether derived from any discriminatory practices, social or cultural attitudes or legal and economic circumstances".
Protecting against abuse, exploitation and violence: paragraphs 3, 9, 30, 32, 33 and 36.
Paragraph 3 states:
"Adopt special measures to eliminate discrimination against children on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status and ensure their equal access to education, health and basic social services".
Paragraph 9 states:
"End harmful traditional or customary practices, such as early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, which violate the rights of children and women".
Paragraph 30 states:
"Assess and monitor regularly the impact of sanctions on children and take urgent and effective measures in accordance with international law with a view to alleviating the negative impact of economic sanctions on young girls and children".
Paragraph 32 states:
"Develop specific strategies to protect and provide for the special needs and particular vulnerabilities of girls affected by armed conflict".
Paragraph 33 states:
"Take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. Provide for the rehabilitation and social integration of children removed from the worst forms of child labour through inter alia ensuring access to free basic education and, whenever possible and appropriate, vocational training".
Paragraph 36 states:
"In this context, protect children from all forms of economic exploitation by mobilizing national partnerships and international cooperation, and improve the conditions of children through, inter alia, providing working children with free basic education and with vocational training and their integration into the education system in every way possible and encourage support for social and economic policies aimed at poverty eradication and at providing families, particularly women, with employment and income-generating opportunities".
Recommendations
It is important to note that first of all, when policies are made, it is crucial that NGOs as well as the government and relevant institutions deliver qualitative and quantitative follow-ups. This should improve the accountability of both governmental and non-governmental institutions and organisations. Secondly, there should be a wider dissemination of information on such policies to the communities concerned. Additionally, this information should be made accessible for everyone, on one hand, in its comprehensibility and, on the other, in its availability.
Education
Separate schools and hostels for children of tribal and scheduled castes should be eliminated and reevaluated. This system isolates these children from the mainstream education and facilities. New integrative programmes should be created and should be run by NGOs. The curriculum of the new programmes should be of a holistic nature. It should be both area and person specific and should be gender sensitive. Funds should be allocated to the organisations that will be running such programmes. Finally, children should be listened to more and their opinions taken into account. They should be given choices.
Harmful social and cultural traditional practices
Boys and girls from early childhood should be educated and raised with equal gender justice. They should be treated by the family, institutions and society as a whole with gender justice and given equal opportunities and equal children's rights.
Girls are often subjected to social pressure to become good wives and good daughters-in-law. It is for this reason that there is a need for a stronger emphasis on male children to become good fathers and sons-in-law. They should be directed to become good human beings who finally grow up respecting girls and women. Parents should be trained for the achievement of the above. These values should be emphasised in schools during parents' meetings as well as during social and religious forums as higher members of society and religious leaders have influence and credibility. NGOs should also get involved. Exemplary fathers and husbands should be reflected and projected in society as role models. The media should reflect this as well.
Health
There should be complete and frequent health check-ups and monitoring should be made in the schools and hostels. Basic health services and infrastructure should be introduced where they are not yet established, and where they are, well functioning and proper maintenance should be sustained.
Violence
In regards to violence against girls, there is a need to attack the root of violence by:
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Janak P. McGilligan © July 2002
-Empowering girls to develop skills, self-confidence and self-defense
-Teaching children moral values
-Making violence against children a political issue
-Educating and sensitising police
-Raising the awareness regarding human rights and values
-Proposing new adequate laws
-Creating counseling centers for victims of violence
-Sensitizing doctors and judges
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Janak P. McGilligan © July 2002
The linkages between the implementations of the National Policy for Women and that for Children?
The linkages between these two documents are as follows:
The National Policy for Women states:
Goals of Policy: Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6: "Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, girl children and adolescent girls".
What the policy shall ensure: Paragraphs 1(a), 2, 7, 12, 14 and 17
Paragraph 1 (a): "Equal access to full employment, literacy, nutrition and all aspects of health-care.
Paragraph 2: "That women and men benefit equally from all development efforts".
Paragraph 7: "That women's groups and collectives at the grassroots level are promoted and strengthened".
Paragraph 12: "Elimination of all forms of violence and atrocities against women, girl-children and adolescent girls in public and private spheres…."
Paragraph 14: "That the realisation of the full potential of girl-children, adolescent girls and women is facilitated and that a sense of their self-esteem and self-worth is developed through all sectoral programmes, public and private.
Paragraph 17: "That research and technology development aim to remove drudgery from the lives of girl-children and women".
Strategies for Action: Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1: "The existing machinery for women's advancement, development and empowerment at the National and State levels shall be suitably strengthened and appropriate structures created at Parliament/State Legislatures to review that all policies and programmes contribute to improvement of the status of women".
Grassroots Experience of Implementing the Principle of Gender Justice: Case Study of Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Madhya Pradesh
The grassroots experience of the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in implementing the principle of gender justice sets a foundation for further expansion of the issue of gender justice mentioned throughout this paper.