” This Mother’s Day, help Maitri India support widow mothers in Vrindavan through giving them respect and dignity programs that arm them with the skills and confidence to create a more fulfilling life. Give widow mothers a chance to live life of fulfillment and not of loneliness and destitution. Give them a chance to live with dignity.

Maitri is 501(c) 3a and 80G non profit organization. Visit www.maitriindia.org for more information and online donation or you can make a cheque in the name Maitri, J 92 Anant Ram Diary, RK Puram Sector 13, New Delhi 110066, India. “

Project Samvedna Workshop (Indore Police) – 19th sept to 20th Sept 2011

Workshop on Domestic Violence CMP, Bangalore – 16th to 18th April 2012

 Maitri Sensitization and Education Workshop on Domestic Violence

CMP, Bangalore

16 April – 18 April

Maitri was invited to conduct a three days sensitization and education workshop on Domestic Violence with Military Police (CMP) and the families in Bangalore from 16 April – 18 April 2012. B On Maitri’s request the workshops were organized separately for jawans and JCO’s and separately for the jawans families. The logic for the same was that jawans do not interact in the presence of the officers and jawans wives do not interact in the presence of their husbands as well as officers wives. Methodology adopted was ensuring there was no power equation of Maitri presenters. The presenters were speaking as part of the army family. Also they were assured full confidentiality about the conference that nothing would be reported even to the Commandant. It was explained to them it was only a educational workshop and they could interact and ask questions without fear of being judged.

16April, 2012: The workshop commenced with a welcome note by Brig Ravi Chandran. Intercative presentation was made on Domestic violence and its impact on health of women and existing legal system in India by Ms Winnie Singh, Executive Director, Maitri. The officers posted in CMP, Bangalore and their wives attended the workshop. The aim of the workshop was to sensitize the officers and empower them so that when they have a victim report an incident, they should be able to take appropriate measures and not send her back as a case of a marital discord. Also it was explained in detail to the officers the cost of domestic violence to the organization, and the Nation. Women were given all information about existing legal instruments available and all options women can opt for. It was very well received.

17 April 2012: The workshop on 17 April was attended by about 250 jawans and JCO’s families of CMposted in Bangalore. The workshop was conducted in hindi. Ms Anita Gupta explained the definition of domestic violence and also explained in detail the kinds of domestic violence. It was encouraging for Maitri team to see the curiosity in the women to know ceratin aspects that they wanted answers to their questions before Ms. Piyali De could talk about the health implications of Domestic Violence. Piyali explained in detail through pictures etc about domestic violence and its impact on physical, reproductive and sexual health and mental health of a woman. She also explained Domestic Violence and its relation to HIV /AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infection, its impacts on a woman’s life. In the end Mrs.Winnie Singh made a comprehensive presentation on the existing laws for domestic violence in India. She made the presentation very simple and interactive. Women were involved in the discussion at every step so that they could understand what is abuse/ violence at home and how they can be instrumental in taking steps at the right time to ensure a healthy and happy family and also if they or someone they know is in a situation where they need help, they can guide them. They were also explained the hierarchy in the organization and how can they follow that to find a solution, they were also explained about AWWA counseling centres existing in all stations and the role a Commander’s wife plays in resolving  such issues.

17 April: 400 jawans, JCO’s and recruits training in CMP, Bangalore participated in the afternoon session of the workshop. It was a very alive and exuberant audience who were keen on expressing their views and also about knowing what Maitri team was talking about. The interesting fact about the afternoon session was the participants had an opinion and they were not embarrassed to voice and talk about their beliefs. The workshop had the format where it was interactive from the beginning, they were explained the kinds of domestic violence, the issues involved, the cultural beliefs and traditions, health implications including sexual and reproductive health, STI’s and HIV/AIDS.

18 April: Maitri was happy to get a good feedback from CMP, Bangalore to their counterparts of other arms and services in Bangalore. Commandant, ASC, requested Commadant, CMP if they could facilitate a workshop for the jawans and JCO’s wives at the CMP Centre. More than 350 wives of jawans and JCO’s from ASC Centre participated in the workshop. Energetic and articulating their views and expressing their opinions, it was a great learning and sharing experience for them and Maitri. Some of them  after the workshop have been consulting with Maitri. Some have been counseled and the others have been advised to seek help from the organization.

To sum up: While we would like to keep the promise of confidentiality to the participants, we would like to share the general environment and attitudes prevailing of the participants.

Jawans and JCO’s: In our perception while some of the participants were more than willing to express their views, there was a large number which was not confident of voicing their thoughts. The participants had a very strong, patriarchal, masculine and aggressive stance towards anything to do with women. ( Approximate estimation of numbers has been given)

• 95% men felt it is always the woman’s fault when there is an argument in the house.
• 100% were of the opinion that women should not answer back or the fight will escalate
• 95% felt man is the ‘karta’ of the home hence he has a right to decide how money should be spent
• 100% felt strongly that when a man comes home specially on leave , women should agree to all his demands a) even after he abuses her b) agree to his demand for sex

Families of Jawans and JCO’s: Wives of JCO’s were very reserved. Jawans wives participated enthusiastically with comments and questions. To list some of the findings from  this session:

• 50% women felt that a woman is responsible for a fight in a home
• 100% felt that women should not answer back or the fight will escalate
• 75% felt man is the ‘karta’ of the home hence he has a right to decide how money should be spent
• 25% felt that women should be consulted on how money should be spent
• 25% felt that a woman should subject herself to sexual demands  when a man demands, 40% were silent on the subject while 35 % felt, a woman should give in since he has come home on leave and has aspirations

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National Seminar: Violence Against Women: policy perspectives on domestic violence in India
Unite to end violence against women and girls

Maitri had organised a National Seminar on the 5th April in India International Centre. The topic for the session was Violence against Women: policy perspectives on domestic violence in India Unite to end violence against women and girls. We were very honoured to have Ms.Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters as the key speaker. Miss Winnie Singh gave the introduction. She spoke on Domestic Violence and Advocacy Services learning from Southall Black Sisters (SBS) a UK model – could it work in an Indian context.
The seminar was well-attended with speakers from Lawyers Collective, HRLN, and academic institutions like Jamia Milia University, Amity Law School Delhi.
Monika and Smriti of HRLN spoke on the different acts within Domestic Violence, NRI Women and Legal Recourse. Philarisa from Lawyers Collective spoke on Monitoring and Evaluation of Support Services. Sharmishta Sarkar and Anusha Chandrasekhar of Praxis. After the tea break Nutak Natak had been organised and the play focused on the different dimensions of Domestic Violence.

The second session started with Pragna Patel, Meena and Dr. Ritu Mahendru who spoke on the Importance of individual narratives and emotions in advocacy work. We take the opportunity to thank our supporters, speakers and participating organizations for being a part of this initiative.

Maitri held its National Workshop on 7^th March in Ashok Hotel, New Delhi. The topic for the session was Violence against women: Contemporary issues and challenges: Unite to end violence against women and girls. Dr.Najma Heptullah, Dr.Ulf Kristofferson and Dr.Kathleen Cravero and Ms.Winnie Singh lighted the diya.

The conference was in collaboration with the OAK Foundation. Ms.Winnie Singh was the chair in the first session and the chief guest was Dr. Najma Heptullah. She spoke on Indian Democratic Tradition and Institutions –Should Violence against Women Appear in the Manifesto for National Development.

Dr.Kathleen Cravero President of OAK Foundation spoke on Domestic Violence and its impact of Economic Power – Issues and Challenges and she was also the chair in the morning sessions. We had speakers from diverse fields.

The seminar was well-attended with speakers and delegates from the government, multi-lateral agencies like the UN, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, Lawyers Collective, ICRW, CSR,different NGO’s and academic institutions like Jamia Milia University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Amity Law School, Delhi University and Jadavpur University. The uniformed services were well represented by Indian Army, Navy and Air force officers and their wives apart from representatives from some state DGP’s Offices.

We take the opportunity to thank our supporters, speakers and participating organizations for being a part of this initiative.

On the 13th February Maitri team made a presentation on Domestic Violence in the Indian Coast Guard Noida. We were welcomed by the Women Welfare Association. The program started with an inauguration song and lighting of the diyas. Anita made a presentation on the different forms of violence. Piyali explained about HIV and the effects and stigma one has to go through. Ms.Winnie Singh made an elaborate presentation on the legal system of domestic violence.
The Nukar Natak team performed on the different forms of exploitations and violence a woman faces on a regular basis.

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