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Capacity building
and Awareness creation for women
December 15 – 17,
2010
REPORT
Even after more than
60 years of democratic governance, and the Indian
Constitution granting equal rights to all its citizens
irrespective of gender, among other criteria, it is sad
that the government and the policy makers have shown no
enthusiasm in translating de jure rights of women
into to de facto rights, a necessary condition
for effecting changes in the society. A substantial
portion of Indian women
 remains
illiterate or poorly educated and face discrimination in
more aspects than one. Similarly, women have not been
able to occupy adequate space in the political arena and
even in the political parties as decision-making
partners. Other formal institutions have not validated
or recognised the participation or contribution of
women. Women’s role in the sphere of decision-making has
so far been insignificant to have any kind of multiplier
effect. As statistics reveal, their numbers in formal
decision-making bodies have not increased over the
decades. There has been only a marginal increase in the
last few decades in the number of women candidates
fielded during the elections. The number of women
parliamentarians has never exceeded 15 per cent of all
the seats. In the State Legislatures, their membership
is abysmally low.
If the above position
applies to women in general, Muslim women, particularly,
face additional impediments arising out of their being
members of the minority community. While the Muslim
community in India is socio-economically backward,
Muslim women, entrusted with the responsibility of
upholding the religious identity, are subjected to
several restrictions in a conservative and patriarchal
atmosphere on the one hand and fatwas on the other.
Muslim girls, in general, are restrained from
 taking
up secular education, attending co-educational
institutions and even taking up jobs in the public and
private sectors on the plea that they come into contact
with strangers. The conservatives of the community
perceive that secular education makes Muslim children,
especially girls, stray away from Islam.
The Centre for the
Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai has been
organizing seminars and workshops to create awareness
among women in general and Muslim women in particular,
about their rights, the importance of education,,and the
need to make improve their socio-economic status that
would enable them stand on their own legs.
It is in the above
background that the CSSS organized a 3-day training
programme on capacity building and awareness creation in
Bangalore from 15 to 17 December 2010 in collaboration
with the Institute of Social Studies, Bangalore.
 The
workshop was inaugurated on 15th December at
9.30AM. Ms. Shanthi Sagaya, the coordinator of the
women’s unit of the Institute welcomed the guests.
Dr. Fr. M.K. George,
Director, Institute of Social Studies, Bangalore
presided over the inaugural session. In his presidential
address, Dr. George stressed on the importance of
empowering women, who constitute almost 50 per cent of
the world’s population. He quoted statistics and
instances to say that women were discriminated in
several fields both in the developed world and in the
developing countries.
Mr. Maqbool Ahmed
Siraj, Executive Editor of Bangalore-based Islamic
Voice, the largest circulated Islamic magazine in
English, inaugurated the workshop. Addressing the
gathering, Mr. Siraj said that there were over 200,000
Muslims in Bangalore city and its satellite towns, who
were living in a pathetic condition. The women of such
communities were almost illiterate and were not capable
of earning a decent living. If the status of the
community were to improve, there is an imminent need to
educate the children, both boys and girls, and this is
possible only when the
 mothers
are educated. He also spoke about the various
misconceptions about Muslims and the atrocities against
the Muslims committed by other communities and also the
police. He emphasized that
there was a pressing need to reinterpret many
traditional concepts in the light of the times, on a
wide range of issues, including the status of women,
instead of blindly relying on totally outdated views.
In his keynote
address, Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, Chairman, CSSSspoke
about the rights of Muslims under Quran. He also
explained the various Shariah laws applicable to Muslim
women and the real meaning behind them.
Dr. Vasundhara Mohan,
Executive Director, CSSS presented the vote of thanks.
The afternoon session
saw Ms. Cynthia Stephen, social activist, independent
researcher and gender trainer, spoke about the status of
women in society. She identified patriarchy as the main
cause of atrocities against women. She tried to make
the participants aware of power relationships.
The second session of
the day was devoted to the “implementation of women’s
rights – effectiveness of existing procedures”. Adv.
Fr. Stephen Kulandaisamy SJ, Head, HR Unit, ISI,
Bangalore, spoke about the causes of domestic violence
in families and attributed submissive nature of women as
the main reason as to why women
 tolerate
violence. Although there were laws against domestic
violence, he regretted that the law has failed to stop
domestic violence and enforcement of the law was poor
due to the various procedures..
 On
16th the participants were apprised of the
Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly,
which is often described as an international bill of
rights for women,
by Ms. Shubha Chacko,
Director of Bangalore-based NGO, Aneka,She is
closely involved at the grassroots level policy and
research work in India, particularly focusing on issues
relating to women, gender and sexuality. She also spoke
about mainstreaming gender in the various programmes and
policies formulated by the State and Central
governments. A recognized expert on gender issues,
Ms.Chacko effectively put forth the concept of gender
equity to the participants.
In the afternoon
there was a session on atrocities and also the concept
of microfinance, which was handled by Ms. Brinda Adige
of ANANYA Mahila Okkutta
 and
Director, Global Concerns India,
Bangalore.
She spoke about the atrocities committed against women
which is a major cause of concern. The documentary
“Anamika” was screened. Ms. Brinda also spoke about the
concept of micro finance and discussed as to whether
women were empowered with the concept of micro-finance.
At the next session,
Adv. Balan spoke about the plight of workers in the
unorganized sector, with special reference to the
government policies for unorganized workers, the
problems faced by the workers and also the causes of
migration and atrocities on migrant workers.
The fourth session on
the role of men in empowering women was taken up by
Adv.Fr. Stephen Kulandhaisamy SJ. The topic was
important in as much as a number of men were also
participating in the workshop. It was necessary that the
men also understand the rights and aspirations of women
and help in their achievement.
 The
third day began with a recap of the previous day. Later
Dr. Vasundhara Mohan made a presentation on empowerment
of Muslim women through education. This was followed by
a session on approaches to women’s development by Miss.
Shanthi Sagaya.
In the afternoon, Ms. Geetha Menon
Additional Government Advocate in the office of the
Advocate General, Karnatakaspoke
about women movements and the significance of fighting
against discriminations and atrocities.
The
workshop-cum-training programme concluded with a
valedictory function at which the recipients expressed
their opinion about the training and were given
certificates. The participants had a cultural programme
with games to wind up the day.
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