scorecardresearch
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
Advertisement
Premium

Gujarat: Once victims, they fight gender crimes in tribal villages

Area Networking and Development Initiatives (ANANDI), an NGO working in the tribal districts of Gujarat, helped train these women in understanding constitutional laws and rights of women vis-a-vis customary rights.

gujarat tribal women, gujarat tribe women, tribal women gujarat, gujarat tribes, anandi ngo, ngo anandi, india news, Indian Express Women in Sagtala village of Devgadh Baria at a session of the Baria Mahila Mandal. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)

At the age of 13, Fooliben Nayak was married to a boy five years older. Her parents received Rs 900 as bride price. Beaten, starved and made to believe it was all part of married life, today Fooliben who is in her early 50s is fighting to discard the patriarchal notions of male dominance and help empower women.

“Back then, before marriage, we were told that once married and once the family takes the money, I have to do everything that my in-laws say,” Fooliben said. “I was too young to understand that what was happening was not fair on me. I was beaten, bruised, left without food for days and made to do all the household chores. My parents told me I should return home once married, so I never did.”

Life took a turn when NGOs working in the field of health and sanitation visited these villages and also educated women about their rights. “It was the first time I was told that being beaten and starved is not right. It is a form of violence and not an accepted norm in marriage,” said Fooliben. “I eventually started participating in small activities with these NGOs and met many other women who had similar stories. In each other we found our voices and we wanted to make others hear them too.”

Advertisement

When she approached the Panchayat for justice 10 years after her troublesome marriage and having given birth to two children, she was blamed for her broken marriage. While she was allowed to keep her daughter, her son was given away to the husband. She then moved back to her parent’s house after having severed all ties with her husband and his family. She then began working as a contractual and farm labourer and migrating to cities to fund her daughter’s education.

Amidst all this, she became part of a movement that was taking shape in the remote villages of Devgadh Baria of Dahod district. Fooliben, along with 20 other women who had faced oppression, came together to spread awareness about violence against women. With the help of NGOs, the women got together in groups called ‘natak mandali’ to perform street plays and acts in various villages to communicate the idea of justice to other women. This helped women mobilise and eventually organise into an informal group of their own called the ‘Baria Mahila Mandal’. The group, which started with 20 members way back in 2000, has today grown to 5,000 women from across the tribal belt of Dahod, Panchmahals and even Mahisagar.

Festive offer

Area Networking and Development Initiatives (ANANDI), an NGO working in the tribal districts of Gujarat, helped train these women in understanding constitutional laws and rights of women vis-a-vis customary rights. These women incorporate customary laws that are pro-women’s equality with the constitutional law, in order to enhance women’s rights. In cases where they feel the need to call a panchayat, they also appoint a panch and hold nyay samitis to arbitrate cases.

“Every year, we deal with over 200 cases related to violence against women,” Gooliben Nayak, who is the ‘pradhan’ of the group, and in her late 40s, said. “Not all women are willing to report the cases. If it is a criminal case, we put pressure on the police for the woman to get her rights within the constitutional framework. But we cannot force a woman to file a complaint, we try and convince them. Many cases are settled at the panchayat level but many major cases of violence against women still go unreported.”

Advertisement

Gooliben was just 11 when she was married. When she ran away to her parents’ house, they refused to let her stay, and she was dragged back for 2 kms by her in-laws. She was confined in a dark room and given no food as a punishment for trying to run away.

In the past one year, the group has helped file 117 case of violence against women, which include cases of domestic violence, rape, and suicide as well as branding women as witches and hunting them down.

Apart from criminal cases, the Baria Mahila Mandal also raises issues concerning the women in villages, such as the need for toilets and better wages as well as addressing the issue of girl children dropping out of school. According to NCRB data, crimes against women saw a jump between 2015 and 2016. While Gujarat reported 7,777 cases of crimes against women in 2015, 8,532 such cases were reported in 2016.

Among the criminal cases, those pertaining to witch

hunting, a prevalent criminal practice in tribal and rural areas, are the most difficult to tackle due to lack of proper laws prohibiting such practices. Many of these cases are dismissed at the panchayat levels due to the collective belief among villagers that witches exist and that it is okay to hunt them down. According to the last NCRB data (2016), 14 witch-hunt murders were reported in Gujarat. The state stood fifth nationally, marginally behind Jharkhand (27), Odisha (24), Madhya Pradesh (19) and Chhattisgarh (17).

Advertisement

“In Goghamba, a widow was branded a witch,” Gooliben said. “For one year, she was ostracised, not given food or water, called names, and abused in public. One day, she was attacked by the villagers after a man died, as they blamed her for his death.”

Gooliben said the woman managed to escape unhurt “She came to us. Until and unless there is no severe case of assault or death in such cases, women or their relatives refrain from approaching the police, fearing the consequences,” she said

Based on case studies of various cases over the past year, programme coordinator of ANANDI in Devgadh Baria, Seema Shah says, “Women are often thrown out of homes, chased out of the village and even refused entry into the village.” She added, “Women labeled witches often do not file complaints, despite repeated violence. They are not invited to any social function. Women themselves avoid going as they are afraid of threats and insults. In some cases, their husband decides to get married again. Children also face difficulties and insults, more so if it is a girl. No one wants to marry them.”

Strong women usually got branded witches, Shah pointed out. “They were either women whose husbands had died and they got the property or women who stood up for themselves.Or they were women who had refused the sexual advances of men. In order to suppress these women, such false beliefs are being spread. Property disputes are another major reason why women are branded witches.”

Advertisement

The struggle still continues for these women as they go from village to village campaigning undeterred. “We came together after leaving our homes, when we were on our own. But is not easy for everyone,” Gooliben said. “Women are still influenced and dominated by other members of the family.”

First uploaded on: 23-06-2019 at 01:40 IST
Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
close