Building for a better future

New Age
Xtra
October 8, 2010

Syed Tashfin Chowdhury visits the month-long workshop titled 'The 15th South Asian Feminist Capacity Building Course' by the South Asian Network of Gender Activists and Trainers (SANGAT) and talks to gender activists about the future of gender inequality in South Asia

Promoting gender equality and raising awareness about the rights of women and children in a country like Iran has been quite a challenge for Non Government Organisation (NGO) activist, Mita sadeki. The twenty-something Iranian faces serious challenges as, according to the Iranian constitution, men and women are not equal.

Although she probably felt pangs of hopelessness while doing her job over the years, she felt at home while exchanging experiences with women from professions like development workers, lawyers, teachers, politicians, journalists and others from some South Asian countries. 'I realised that women from other countries are facing more or less the same kind of problems despite differences in culture, traditions and laws. The belief that there are more women out there like me battling for similar causes will definitely be a huge motivation and encouragement for my future in this field,'she says.

Besides sharing experiences, these women are also learning the issues severely affecting gender equality in the region, through a month-long workshop titled 'The 15th South Asian Feminist Capacity Building Course' to conclude on October 15. Around 39 participants from nine different countries, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Iran and Afghanistan are attending the ongoing workshop, which is being organised by the South Asian Network of Gender Activists and Trainers (SANGAT), an informal network that recently celebrated its 12th anniversary.

'Although Sangat was officially formed in April, 1998 during a workshop in Koitta at Manikganj of Bangladesh, its core activities were initiated over 35 years back,'says Kamla Bhasin, adviser and main resource person of Sangat, to Xtra at the BRAC Centre for Development Management (CDM) at Rajendrapur on September 28.

Kamla's journey, as a gender activist, began in 1975 while working for an NGO in Rajasthan, India. 'While living in India, I always had a wish to train and work with people from neighbouring South Asian countries,'she shares with Xtra. Part of her dream came to fruition when she accepted the offer to work for FAO-NGO South Asia Programme, based in Bangkok.

'I still felt the need to contribute to the alleviation of such issues in India and adjoining countries,' she says. Kamla moved back to the United Nations (UN) building of Delhi in 1979, still serving as a co-ordinator of the programme responsible for educating personnel of various organisations based in India and neighbouring countries.

'It was during one such workshop in 1998 that it was felt by the trainers that transformative gender work in South Asia is declining steadily. The need of a network of South Asian gender activists and trainers were felt and Sangat was born,' says Kamla. She resigned from her FAO position in 2002 after deciding to dedicate her efforts toward Sangat.

'The network presently has about 600 members, including 150 in Bangladesh. However, the core group comprises of 18 people from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Fawzia Khondker Eva, Khushi Kabir and Selina Kamal are the core group members from Bangladesh,' says Kamla.

She explains that Sangat is opposed to patriarchal systems, traditions and practices; any and all kinds of discrimination and oppression; violence; right-wing erosion of domestic values and the present form of liberalisation, privatisation and economic globalisation.

'We are all for solidarity between like minded people of South Asian countries; aspiration for democracy and democratic values and culture; secularism; pluralism; peace with justice, equality, dignity and human rights for all along with the perspective that dialogue and persuasion can solve any issue,' she says.

She says that till now, Sangat has organised around 26 capacity building courses for women. 'Though initially the courses were focussed on gender and women issues, with time, the relationship of these issues with concerns like poverty, sustainable development, fundamentalism, militarism and others came up,' she shares.

Sangat currently holds regional and national level workshops on specific themes related to gender issues. 'We have annual month-long feminist capacity building courses, like this particular one. We also organise thematic two or three country courses in local languages for building feminist perspectives and conferences of South Asian feminists. We also organise South Asian events which are attended by Asian and global activists while also supporting networks between such professionals,' says Kamla.

Kamla points out that the workshop comprises of courses on enhanced communication skills, self-awareness, gender issues, conceptual clarity of patriarchy, feminism, masculinity issues, caste issues, power and empowerment, religious fundamentalism, minority rights, terrorism and counter-terrorism, gender and human rights, gender issues in media, violence against women and laws and international conventions like CEDAW and others. The workshop also includes events like music sessions and field visits to local NGO sites.

'In any university, the same amount of courses, through one-and-a-half hours classes, would have been completed in a year. However, we are able to complete it within a month as the workshop starts from early morning and continues till evening. Besides these, through yoga, dance classes and others, we help the participants feel more at ease with themselves,'she says. Besides relaxing the participants, such extracurricular activities help the women to realise that there is nothing to be ashamed of with their body, according to Kamla.

'The patriarchal attitude prevalent in most of their culture and societies has bred the idea in them that they always need to keep to themselves, never be adamant like men and so on. However, such a perspective does not help in their emotional and mental growth,'she explains.

Furthermore, Sangat members believe that through these workshops the wall of differences is being demolished. 'The courses are designed in such a way that it helps participants to realise how most issues including violation of minority rights, is creating undesirable problems in most of their countries,' says Kamla.

She points out that the network seeks the participation of women who are minorities in their particular countries and share their experiences with the rest. This current workshop has a Hindu woman from Bangladesh, a Christian woman from Pakistan, a Muslim woman from India and so on, she says.

The participants are gleeful about the new things that they are learning about themselves, their society and the embedded attitude behind their cultures. 'The course is great as it is helping to break a prevalent confusion that most of us had regarding feminism and patriarchy,' says Farida Yasmin, a member of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST).

'In our society, feminism has been stereotyped. When we think about a feminist, usually we picture a rebellious woman who does not want to abide by the rules of the male-dominated society. However, in this workshop, we were taught that mutual respect is the key. For example, a housewife, who dominates her husband and children, needs to learn to respect the husband and the children. The husband should also try to help out the wife as much as possible while also tending to the children,' says Farida.

'I never realised the patriarchal influence in our culture before attending this workshop,' says Ambika Neopaney, a teacher from Bhutan. 'After the workshop, I am now able to identify this due to the alarming number of incidents of domestic violence occurring at homes,' she adds.

'In order to attend our workshop, NGO activists, journalists, lawyers, politicians or other interested professionals with around four to five years of work experience can contact us through our website. The participants from larger organisations and NGOs would need to pay for their travel costs and accommodations. However, we raise funds for those who are willing to attend but cannot do so due to the lack of funds,' says Kamla.

'Furthermore, an NGO based in the country, where we will organise our workshop, needs to support us. This workshop is being supported by Nijera Kori, who helped us in acquiring the accommodation and the venue for the training,' she says.

Nijera Kori also organised the Meeto Memorial Awards on October 1 at the National Theatre hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, where Akeela Naz, from Panjab of Pakistan was handed the second Meeto Memorial award by last year's Meeto Memorial award winner, musician Anusheh Anadil from Bangladesh. The award was instituted in memory of Kamla's daughter, Meeto, a young scholar, dancer and human rights activist, who passed away in 2006.

'Sangat belongs to all of us and every one of its members believes in it. We do not plan on becoming a big NGO, generating a great flow of income over time like most of the NGOs in South Asia. This will reduce the solidarity and networking on which we thrive,' says Kamla.

And how does Sangat want to see South Asia in the near future? 'We want a South Asia where women can decide for themselves and be equal to men. A South Asia where no girl would need to suffer dowry deaths, honour killings or acid violence. We would also want a region where the people of one country can easily travel to the other. The region should also be profit free. Unlike Samuel P Huntington's theory about the current world undergoing a clash of civilisations, we believe the clash is actually between two Ps: People versus Profit,' she says.

'We are confident about such changes as these participants would be returning home as changed individuals who would understand their own roles and rights at home, workplaces and in the society,' she mentions while gesturing to the class of participants engrossed in a communication session. 'They will also feel that they have good friends living across the border, alongside whom they have learnt new things, danced, laughed, shared sorrows and realised that feminism can be embraced for their betterment,' she concludes.

Surviving inequality


Syed Tashfin Chowdhury asks the participants from different countries, at the 15th south asian feminist capacity building course organised by Sangat, whether men and women are treated equally in their countries


Farukh Leqa
Women's rights activist for Faryab Province, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Afghanistan
'According to the constitution, men and women are equal in Afghanistan. However, the situation was very different during the Taliban rule when women could not go outdoors without a male companion. They were also not allowed to travel long distances without a male companion. They were barred from education and kept indoors.
However, the situation is much better at the moment in areas, free from Taliban rule. Around 80 to 90 per cent girls are now attending the schools.'

Farida Yasmin
Member, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Bangladesh
'As per constitution, they are. However, some laws are still discriminatory. While muslim women have rights, hindu and Christian communities still have discriminatory laws.
Fundamentalists always had problems with gender equality. While this government is coming up with new laws, their proper implementation is required to ensure gender equality.'

Nayzar Htwe
NGO-Gender equality activist, Myanmar
'The religious laws are the hindrances to gender equality. Furthermore, although there are women parliamentarians, they have little role in the important decision-making process for the country. There also never were any women at the Prime Minister level.'

Champa Tigga
State Director, Centre for World Solidarity, Patna, India
'There is still a huge gap between the men and women as far as education, health and the parliamentary decision-making aspects are concerned.
Women are not holding the important positions in most public and private institutions.
We are currently demanding for a 33 per cent reserved seats for women in the parliament. We are hopeful that this might come about as already women are being represented by 50 per cent in the Panchayets. Women in villages are growing more curious about their rights and this is a very positive sign.'

Abida Banu
Professor, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
'Culturally, men and women are not considered equal. There is a quota system prevalent under which organisations are supposed to provide employment to a certain number of women in their firms. However, if they were considered equal, there would have been no need for such quotas. The problem is basically the disparity.
Our women are still very brave. Despite all kinds of problems, political and social, we hardly give up.
The situation of gender equality is gradually getting better after Pakistan signed an international convention.'


Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
Journalist, Sri Lanka
'Women are not treated equally by men. Men still dominate women in most professions including journalism, where the men feel threatened by the dedication of the opposite sex.
In Sri Lanka, women are hardly given the chance to enter professions which go beyond the 9:00am to 5:00pm time slot.
Moreover, in journalism most women are not provided the chance to cover prestigious and challenging arenas. Despite 30 years of war in the country, only a few women journalists had the chance of covering the war.'

Jwala Kumari Sah
Constitution Assembly member from the UCPN Maoist Party, Nepal
'The condition in Nepal is improving now as women are finally stepping forward.
We are urging the government for a 33 per cent seat for women in parliament and all government sectors. Hopefully, this will also be achieved soon.'

Ambika Neopaney
Teacher, Bhutan
'I used to think men and women are equal, before coming here to this workshop.
However, after attending the workshop, I understand how much the patriarchal attitude is barring the women from contributing more to the society and practicing their own rights. Domestic violence is still high in my country.
We are currently working to ensure that citizenship right is provided to children from a single parent.'

Read the original article at the New Age website