Smashing Patriarchy in Sahasi way!

Sahasi Girls Program is our flagship program that is aimed to make gender equality a reality in rural India. We have been working with more than 160 girls in Khushipura village for over 4 years engaging on different facets of Education, Health, Sports and livelihood while building their understanding on gender and sexuality. In continuation with our vision of making gender equitable villages, we facilitated a workshop on ‘Gender differences in daily lives’ with the girls.

On the extremely cold Sunday morning, we sat out to reach workshop venue in the village. The visibility on the road was dangerously poor and it became worse as we came closer to the village. I wasn’t sure if the girls would turn up at the designated time because even though mornings in village begin quite early, there were hardly people outside their homes. To our surprise, within 10 mins our first batch of girls turned up on the venue all bundled up in warm clothes, and slowly rest of them followed. After brief introduction, setting intention for the session and reiteration of agreements, the facilitator invited the participants to play energizer to bring warmth and ensure they are more present for the discussion.

The participants were divided into 4 groups and asked to discuss ‘gender differences they see in different spaces’.

Home

‘Girls are not allowed to go outside the home’

‘Girls can’t go anywhere without the permission while the boys do whatever they want to’

‘The girls have to do all the household chores and yet they get nothing. No appreciation. Instead people taunt us, curse us and scold us.’

‘Boys don’t contribute anything in household but no one says anything to them. They freely roam around.’

School

‘The girls are asked to leave earlier than boys so that they can go home safely’

‘There are no toilets for girls in the school, so the girls have to manage while boys can easily go out in the field to do’

‘Boys and girls sit separately in the classroom; they have separate places to play games’

‘Girls when they go back home, they either study or do household chores but boys just loiter around’

‘After the school is over, girls go back home directly while boys have fun, stop anywhere and reach home whenever they feel like.’  

Public spaces

‘If the girls want to go to library to study, the family members constantly question them and say what will you do in the library, what will people say? Many a time’s villagers spread rumors like she doesn’t go to library but goes to the market.’

‘Nobody questions if the boy wants to go to library. They go to library everyday and come home quite late but no one taunts them or even asks if they actually went there or not.’

‘The girls simply don’t have access to mobile phone. We don’t want phone to watch videos or have fun, we need it for studies but if we say that everyone simply says no. It is said that we will talk to boys, do unnecessary things and misuse it but no one gives it for right reason also even if the phone is just lying around. But for boys, they always have phone in their hands’

Leisure

‘In free time, girls do household chores while the boys play games, use phones, go outside, hang out with friends, and sometimes do nothing’

‘Boys can go anywhere but the girls have to remain at home’

Though the girls missed out some points however their discussion focused on various other crucial aspects that highlight lack of access to various resources they need.

Mona, one of the facilitators revised the understanding of gender with the girls facilitated with them over the years. And, how their identity of being a girl is gendered and seen clearly in their daily lives. Once, we have this knowledge, girls can challenge gender barriers they see in everyday life.

Through the wall of patriarchy, the facilitator engaged on how patriarchy is embedded in social spaces leading to gender differences to discrimination and gender based violence. The girls experience the brunt in day to day lives and it is important to understand it and challenge it for them. 

 The workshop concluded with the stories of few Sahasi girls who have smashed the walls of patriarchy by taking a step ahead to study, ensuring she gets tution to pass her exams and someone who led Sahasi girls despite so many challenges. There was a big round of applause for our incredible Sahasi girls.

The workshop with Sahasi Girls closed with New year celebrations, we all enjoyed cake and pipping hot tea.