Defying taboos for empowerment

Recalls Bano: ‘‘Even after I had convinced my father, my neighbours were shocked to know that I wanted to work. They pressurised my father into getting me married, but I firmly said ‘No’.’’ But what prompted her to refuse marriage? ‘‘I knew my body was not ready for marriage. Besides, I want to be financially independent first.’’

Bano is no ordinary girl. When aanganwadi workers from Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) took the Kishori project to Dharavi slums in 2001, she was one of the 1,600 girls who enrolled. After interactive sessions on ‘‘body mapping’’, sexual and reproductive health and a tailoring course at the Kishori project centre, Bano is taking empowerment to other girls of Dharavi by her home-based tailoring classes, she informs.

Today, the four-year-old Kishori project, an initiative of FOGSI (The Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India), and supported by the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (LTMGH), Sion, UNICEF, ICDS, Government of Maharashtra, and SNEHA, has enabled many girls like Bano to go beyond the confines of their Dharavi homes and make a living.

Says Dr Duru Shah, Convenor, Kishori: ‘‘Empowerment begins with knowledge. The girls, acutely conscious of their bodies and sex before, have now become aware of their social and economic rights.’’

However, the beginning was not smooth. The first year was spent in working on the logistics. Sixty aanganwadi workers from ICDS were first trained by doctors from FOGSI and Sion hospital, who would go to Dharavi homes to enroll the girls in the programme. ‘‘ICDS workers were our means to approaching the girls of conservative poor Muslim families,’’ says Suchitra Pandit, Secretary, Kishori, and a FOGSI member.

Later, the girls were trained by ICDS workers in groups of 30, out of which girls with leadership qualities were picked up as ‘‘peer educators’’ for the project. Bano was one of the 22 peer educators selected, doing the job without any reenumeration.

Explains coordinator, Kishori, Leena Vaidya: ‘‘The idea is to let the girls replace the aanganwadi workers. A peer educator from among them would help the girls relate better.’’

So peer educators Bano educates girls about the human body without inhibitions. The girls also have access to the services of senior doctors from FOGSI and LTMG. Besides, there are vocational classes on tailoring, henna drawing, beautician and nurse assistant courses to help the girls earn. All the skills are home-based and much in demand. Currently, there are 630 girls enrolled in these classes.

This multi-pronged approach towards empowerment forms the core of Kishori, explains Dr Shah. The targeted age group is 15-19 from the urban slums of Dharavi where most girls are condemned to an early marriage and subsequent motherhood. ‘‘FOGSI is aware of the grim reality that every 6th mother in India is an adolescent. Information alone can tackle unsafe abortions, HIV/AIDS and sexual abuse,’’ says Shah.

Enthused by the success of the project, the core committee of Kishori that meets once in two months, is mooting extension of the project to include adolescent boys. Citing Kishori as a model, a proposal has also been made by FOGSI to the Union health ministry in February this year to open ‘‘youth friendly centres’’ nationwide. Says Shah, ‘‘It will bring a revolution.’’

True. A beginning has already been made.

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