Web resource:	http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2006events/UNIFEMNov06.asp
Type:	Conference Paper
Title:	No single path: many ways of dealing with domestic violence
Other Titles:	No single path : cultural perspectives in overcoming domestic violence, 23[cut]
Authors:	Poonacha, Veena
Keywords:	Regional rural and remote areas;Personal stories;Community development;Cross-cultural
Year:	2006
Publisher:	University of South Australia
Notes:	Overview:This paper is the transcript of a presentation made by the author regarding gender violence in India and strategies that have been utilised by NGOs and other groups to address this issue in a culturally diverse country of one billion people with very limited resources. In particular, the paper discusses the potential of the “Self Help Movement” and then describes in detail the experiences of a community of tribal women in the Dandakaranya Forest and the development workers attempting to assist them. The author makes the point that in general, in India, women want violence to stop but do not want their marriages to end and that domestic violence in the Indian context commonly includes violence perpetrated by other members of the marital family, including other women in the extended family. Discussion:The Self Help Groups (SHGs) Movement discussed in this paper is an initiative promoted by the Indian Government and international agencies such as the World Bank and International Fund for Agriculture Development. The movement aims to move beyond supplying basic needs to a process of empowering on individual and group scales. By promoting a woman’s active participation in the socio-economic and political life of her community, it is expected that existing gender relationships will change. The process, facilitated by fieldworkers, organises the women into groups, encourages financial savings and internal borrowing, provides training and assists in upgrading skills and helps to start and market new enterprises. The program aims to reduce women’s reproductive/productive drudgery, build their capacities and functional literacy and develop their leadership capacity and, therefore, their participation in the decision making process. The increased empowerment and development of support networks among the women will also address issues of domestic violence in the home and community. The paper goes on to narrate the story of a group of women in a forest community, Gadchiroli, in rural India and their struggle to overcome some of their cultural and economic subordination. The indigenous norms of control over women in this community are described within the broader context of socio-economic and political changes, violent police repression and prolonged economic deprivation. With the assistance of development workers and inspired by the life and suicide of a woman who attempted to stand up against repressive cultural mores regarding menstruation and the role of women, the village women have persisted in forming and operating SHGs with some success.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/21113
Physical description:	14 p.
Appears in Collections:	Conference Papers

Items in ANROWS library are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.