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| Conflict
Transformation and Peace Processes: |
 Utthan
realizes that Politics of hatred and divisiveness is a
major block to the process of empowerment, justice and
progress of the vulnerable communities. Hence, any efforts
to address these issues would require creating an enabling
environment that would help access justice, peace and
better quality of life.
Post 2002, Utthan initiated the above program on the inter-linkage
of communal relations, gender relations and social justice
using an inclusive approach to both the field activities
as well as to the organisation itself. The program is
following a 'learning approach', meaning it will evolve
the program design as part of the process following the
broad objectives and parameters. The program focuses on
the conflict-ridden districts of Panchmahals and Dahod
where it engages in empowerment of affected groups and
restoring relationships between the communities. In addition,
it works in the districts of Bhavnagar and Amreli where
it aims at preventing the conflict from spreading to new
areas. The strategies that have evolved in Panchmahals
and Dahod are different from those being used in the Saurashtra
region due to the context of the communal violence of
2002 and the resulting vulnerabilities of Muslim women,
both as members of a minority community and as women.
The concept of an institutionalized setup like the Nyay
Samiti to deal with violence cases is slowly evolving
here. Capacity building of leaders through paralegal trainings,
feminist perspective on gender and VAW, strategies of
working with men and youth, dealing with law-giving structures
like the Police and Courts, sharing workshops with other
Nyay Samitis to analyze interventions has been taken up. |
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| Awareness
Campaign for Men's sensitization towards Violence against
Women |
Recently
the work has manifested in the establishment of Nyay Samitis
linked with Women's Federations in Bhavnagar and Rajula,
as
quasi-legal structures providing women a space to talk
about their problems and receive gender-sensitive assistance.
The Nyay Samitis are open for visitors. The members also
make field visits to raise awareness on VAW and the work
of the Samiti, link up with the village women's groups
and provide counselling support to victims and support
them in bringing the issue of gender based violence from
the private sphere of the family/household into the public
domain.
When women bring their issues to the Nyay Samiti, they
fill their registration forms, collect required documents
and maintain the case and counselling registers. They
work with lawyers to bring required cases to the Court.
The Nyay Samitis are also attempting to establish referral
links for victims of violence who need support for short
stays etc. 12 cases in Bhavnagar and 20 cases in Rajula
are being dealt with. |
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| Advocacy
as part of the Saurashtra Kutch network led to a State
level consultation on the new Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005 passed by the Government of
India. Nyay Samiti members were a part of the regional
meetings to understand the implications of the Act and
brainstorm about the issues, which need to be brought
before the Government for the efficient implementation
of the Act. Local collective action is an important tool
while working on the issue of VAW. |
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| Activities
taken up around this issue: |
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16-day
campaign from 25th November 2004 (International
day on Violence against Women) to the 10th December
2004 (International Human Rights Day |
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Sammelan
on Human Rights Day, in Mahuva, Amreli |
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Survey
on skewed sex ratios and Public Sammelan, Khambha |
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Capacity
building with youth |
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| Following
are Utthan's interventions on this aspect: |
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Initiating
and promoting processes to build bridges between the communities
in conflict, through various dialogues and processes;
sharing grief, and understanding the root causes of conflict. |
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Engaging
members from different communities around gender issues
of livelihood security. |
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Strengthening
leadership, especially within Muslim women and youth,
thereby encouraging them to actively & participate in
the public domain. |
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Building
awareness amongst diverse communities about the vulnerabilities
that could lead to division and conflict. |
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Mainstreaming
peace perspective in other programs and institutions in
seemingly communally non-conflict areas from the context
of diversity, responsible citizenship, interfaith dialogue
as well as revisiting common inter-cultural practices
and sacred places of common faith. |
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Campaigning
and mobilising against violence on women. |
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