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As an intrinsic
dimension of the Centre’s commitment to focus on issues of
discrimination and enhancing gender equality, members of the centre have
been active in the fields of advocacy, whether through lobbying with and
against the State and its policies, forming common platforms with other
organizations and civil society institutions, and assisting in campaigns to
bring about changes in public awareness. The Centre has been actively
developing many networks to carry forward these processes. Over the
last year, the faculty of the centre have been members of and initiators
among networks of women’s organizations and women’s studies associations
on a range of issues.
Declining Child Sex Ratio and Preventing Sex Selection
Major initiatives
undertaken by the Centre both by its own faculty and through
collaborations in launching campaigns against the declining child sex
ratio and sex selective abortions have been brought to a successful
conclusion for the time being. The collaborative study on the declining
child sex ratio took this concern forward by focusing on a relatively
neglected dimension of the problem – the dynamic within families in
terms of their “choice” of the number and sex of their children, and the
factors structuring such choices. The findings of this study were
presented at a National Seminar in New Delhi supported by Action Aid
India and IDRC, Canada, December 13-14th 2007. Participants
at the seminar included representatives from the Ministry of Women and
Child Development; the National Commission of Women and the Planning
Commission, and it was well-covered in the national press.
Indian
Association of Women's Studies
[
http://www.iaws.org
]
The Centre is currently
housing the Secretariat of the Indian Association for Women’s Studies
(for the period 2005-08), which had an extremely active year. This
included hosting regional workshops in the Northern Region (in Jammu)
and in the North-Eas tern Region (in Shillong),
locating the IAWS Archive at the Research Centre for Women’s Studies at SNDT University,
arranging an ongoing financial office in CWDS, updating the IAWS
website, and so on. The main event of the year was the Silver Jubilee
XII National Conference, which was co-hosted by the Institute of Women’s
Studies at the University of Lucknow and Isabella Thoburn College. Five
plenaries and 9 sub-themes were organised, which included 260
presentations by participants. About 500 out of station and 300 local
participants registered for the Conference. The Conference focussed on
the theme Feminism, Education and the Transformation of Knowledges:
Institutions and Knowledges. The outreach to students was particularly
noteworthy, and each day’s events were extensively covered in the
newspapers in both English and Hindi. The General Secretary has prepared
a separate detailed Report of the Conference. IAWS membership currently
stands at 1550 members.
FORCES
network [
http://www.cwds.ac.in/forces.htm
]
The CWDS is hosting the network FORCES (Forum for Creche and Child Care
Services) since April 2007. Set up in 1989 in the wake of the Shram
Shakti Report, FORCES is a voluntary network that has spread to sever al
states in the course of its development. The core vision of FORCES
is that every child has the right to early childhood care and
development including crèches and childcare services. It is the state’s
responsibility to ensure such services for all children, especially
those of women working in the unorganized and informal sector. It is an
all India twork with eleven regional chapters in the States of Delhi,
Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Orissa,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. During 2007-08 the CWDS
Secretariat was set up and transfer from the previous secretariat housed
in YWCA was completed. (Dr. Vasanthi Raman is the convenor and Savitri
Ray the coordinator.) The new FORCES Secretariat has initiated the
process of raising funds and planning a fresh set of activities.
During
this
year the National Forces network is engaged in developing an Alternate
Report on the Status
of Young Child for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Three
regional consultations were conducted under this programme and it was
decided to prepare a theme based report focusing on the issues affecting
young child like health, education, budget allocation, programmes/
policies & situation of girl child etc.
Regional
consultations on Status of Young Child:
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Northern
Regional Consultation held on February 18-19, 2008 at Sahbhagi Shikshan
Kendra , Lucknow |
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Eastern
Regional Consultation -March 12-13, 2008 at Social Development Centre,
Ranchi |
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Southern
Regional Consultation- April 11-12, 2008 at Asha Nivas Training Centre,
Chennai |
The Centre continues to be an active member of the National network of
women’s organisations,
composed of 9 member organizations, including two mass-based
organizations. The recently
held March 8 International Women’s day celebrations brought together
about 200 women and
girls for a public rally in the city of Delhi, where common demands were
raised such as the need for a comprehensive PDS, basic public amenities,
against violence against women, and for reservations for women in
Parliament. Special meetings and lobbying efforts included meetings
with the Finance Minister before the 2008-09 budget, demanding greater
outlays from the Centre in major schemes including ICDS.
Other Networks
Faculty have been part of ongoing discussions around various aspects of
disability such as implementation of the United Nations Convention on
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, amendments to the Persons with
Disabilities (Equal Opportunities and Full Participation) Act 1995,
sexuality education for young persons with disabilities, incorporating
disability studies in education etc. Most of these issues are discussed
in public fora between government officials, particularly from the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and networks of NGOs in the
disability sector. Recently, efforts were made to persuade government to
enhance allocation of funds for the disability sector in the Eleventh
Plan.
CWDS has
been involved in the process of lobbying for the Domestic Violence Act
as well as to push for drawing up rules for its implementation.
Subsequent to its implementation, however, there have been attempts to
undermine some of the advances made by those opposed to the law and the
concerns it addresses. Our Faculty continue to be a part of the
discussions around the issue so as to also resist attempts to reverse
the gains made over the years.
In the
context of a phenomenal increase in the number of female domestic
workers and their growing exploitation, the need for regulating domestic
work has acquired importance. One issue which has become central to
these discussions is the mechanism for regulating placement agencies and
regulating the working conditions of domestic workers. The National
Commission for Women is in the process of bringing out legislation to
regulate domestic work. A series of consultations and campaigns were
held by NCW and various organisations to discuss the issues of domestic
workers and the broad contours of the bill. Some members of the faculty
are actively involved in these discussions and campaigns on regulating
domestic work.
The
Government of India is in the process of signing a Memorandum with the
Malaysian Government on recruiting women for employment as domestic
workers in Malaysia. To discuss the issue and to campaign for defined
conditions of work and protection of these women emigrants, YWCA
organised a meeting under the auspices of ‘seven sisters’ and a campaign
towards this has been initiated.
Several
members of the faculty are involved in discussions and campaigns on the
issue of Social Security for the Unorganised Sector, with specific
reference also to women workers. As a part of this process Prof. K.P.
Kannan, member of the National Commission on Enterprises in the
Unorganised Sector was invited to present the Draft bill on Social
Security proposed by the Commission. Members of the Commission were also
invited to share their views in the National Seminar on Women and
Migration organised by the Centre.
The
director was a member of the Group of Feminist Economists set up by the
Planning Commission, at the initiative of one of its members Dr. Syeda
Hameed. In the course of several meetings the group undertook an
extensive critique of the 11th Plan from a gender
perspective, including sector-wise critiques. A consolidated statement
from the Group has been put up on the Planning Commission’s website.
Networking among women’s studies and gender and development centres in
the Asian region
was taken forward by participating in the establishing of an Asian
Association for Women’s Studies housed in the centre for women’s
studies, Ewha women’s university, Seoul, Korea.
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