Challenge
Gender inequality, traditional mindsets of the community
Strategy
Galvanizing masses towards collective action & conducting skill-training for women
Outreach
111,000+ women trained in vocational training
Overview
Like in many developing countries, change at the grassroots is slow while the challenges abound. A girl child is seen as a liability, giving an impetus to practices such as selective gender abortion and marriage of the girl child. Educating a girl child is given a lower priority as she is considered to take on the role of a homemaker after marriage. Those women who want to engage in economic activities face further roadblocks in learning a skill or getting funding to start their micro-venture.
Nevertheless, the relentless efforts of agencies, individuals, and progressive thinkers have resulted in several changes. When seen together, these little drops of progress is changing the socio-economic landscape of thousands of women across India.
The Art of Living is passionate about empowering women and making them self-reliant. Our approach to empowerment is driven by several parameters:
- A change in mindset: Our awareness and sensitization campaigns have positively changed mindsets and have brought 1 million to pledge to protect the girl child in the past.
- Better access to health: We’ve organized medical camps for disadvantaged women both in rural and urban areas.
- Provision of training: Our central approach to women empowerment is providing life-skill, trauma-relief, knowledge and skill development training.
- Providing a support system: A strong sense of community that develops with our training programs works as a support system throughout a woman’s journey towards self-dependence and after.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Help women rise
You can help secure livelihood for disadvantaged women
Frankly speaking, I never thought I could start my own parlor. This training enabled me to do so and get financial independence. I am really glad I took this training.”
- Swati Sherkhane, a mother of a two-year-old, graduate of beautician training center, Dharavi, Mumbai
Strategy
Our strategy includes:
Strengthening the individual: Providing tools and techniques to reduce individual stress, strengthen them from within and helping them build self-confidence.
Tapping into the community: Creating a sense of community spirit to face similar challenges as a team rather than individually. Building platforms to exchange thoughts and collaborate and give women a more powerful voice.
Helping women become self-reliant: Encouraging women to find practical solutions to their challenges, become selfdependent. We are training rural women in different skills like stitching, cutting, embroidery, beadwork, for jute bags and Agarbatti i.e. incense stick rolling
Increasing awareness against malpractices: Educating people against the practice of sex selection and female foeticide in India, through campaigns like The Girl Child Campaign 2013 and The Act Now Campaign 2014.
Our strategy includes:
Strengthening the individual
Strengthening the individual
with special tools and techniques
Tapping into the community
Making women self-reliant
Making women self-reliant
by providing training in different skills
Female foeticide awareness
Empowering women - a talk by Gurudev
Impact
Over 1 million pledged
to protect the girl child
100,000+ people sensitized
against gender tests
150,000 people sensitized
against child marriage in Bihar
111,000 rural women
trained in vocational skills
71,051+ adolescent girls
trained in menstrual health and hygiene
623 Self-Help Groups
(SHGs) formed
110,000+ smokeless chulhas
distributed by 62 women entrepreneurs
Regular medical camps
for sex workers in Sonagachi, Asia’s largest red-light area
Inspiration from the community
STORIES
Chemistry post-grad educates about menstrual health
I find it very satisfying, teaching the young girls about managing their physical and emotional health during menstruation. I know I have gone through it and I am glad these young girls are better equipped to handle their situation.
Paying off loans was now easy
“From burdensome debts to now being able to pay off loans and save some money, from feeling lonely and waiting for situations to change, the vishalakshi project has changed my life.”
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Contact Us
info@projects.artofliving.org+91 80 67433684
