The aim of the project being supported by the India-Canada Cooperation Office (ICCO) of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), was to create an informed and questioning society through empowerment of rural women and sensitisation of community leaders on social and economic consequences of violence against women, both within the family as well as the community and its impact on the society. The project was implemented in five blocks of Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan.
Specific objectives
- Analyse socio-economic causes and consequences of violence against women and its impact on the society
- Raise awareness among elected women members of Gram Panchayats (village-level self governance institutions) and community leaders on reasons behind violence against women in the society and mechanism to tackle the problem for the benefit of the family, community and the society
- Reduce violence against women in the project area by forming a network of various stakeholders
- Produce a reader-friendly training module for elected women members of Gram Panchayats so that they can act as catalysts towards reducing social malpractices responsible for violence against women, in raising the status of women in the rural society, and to facilitate the replication of interventions in other parts of the state.
Outcomes of the project
(1) Enhanced levels of legal literacy and sensitisation of the community & elected members of Gram Panchayats on issues related to violence against women
(2) Positive change in attitudes of males towards females in the community
(3) Raised status of women in the targeted society
(4) School students and youths sensitised on issues related to violence against female and raised their commitment for the betterment of the society in the long-run
(5) Increase in accountability of law enforcement bodies and persuasion on policy makers to review the existing laws, which are unable to provide low cost, smooth and easily accessible justice to the victims
Evaluation Report on: Awareness Generation on Issues Relating to Violence Against Women