RDMA and Maitri Network

1. RDMA
AND
MAÎTRI NETWORK
25 November - 10 December 2012

2. An Initiative – Rashtriya Dalit Mahila
Andolan

3. Violence against Women
 In the last MCC meeting in 2011 it was decided that two
weeks campaign will take place all over India to sensitize the
society on Violence against Dalit women
 RDMA took the responsibility of North India esp. Hindi Belt-
 Jharkhand
 Bihar
 Uttar Pradesh
 Haryana
 MP
 Rajasthan
 Delhi

4. Objectives
 To claim equal Right, Freedom, Opportunity
and Dignity
 Awareness generation
 Sensitization
 To reduce Violence against Dalit women:
 Social discrimination
 Economical inequality
 Cultural stigmatization

5. Strategy
 Signature campaign
 Corner Meetings
 Slum area meetings
 Workshop
 Public meeting
 Press meeting
 Leaflet distribution
 Poster distribution
 Folk Songs

6. Delhi
Date:25- 26 Nov., 2012
District: South Delhi:
Sangam Vihar, Janta Jivan
Camp (Tigri) Okhla Phase
II, and Jaitpur.
North Delhi: Trilok Puri: Block-13, 32,
33,
Kalyan Puri: Block-4, Chand Cinema
and
Sarai Kale Khan
Activity: Awareness Meeting
Persons Concerned/Organisations:
Ms.
Sumedha Bodh and Ms. Jyoti Tomar,
Rashtriya Dalit Mahila Andolan

7. Delhi continued…

8. Uttar Pradesh
Date: 25 Nov. 2012
District: UttarPradesh:
Saharanpur
Activity: Public Meeting
and Press
Meeting
Persons
Concerned/Organisatio
ns:
Ms. Saroj Rani, Aman
Samajik Sangathan,
Saharanpur

9. Uttar Pradesh
Date:28 Nov. 2012
District: UttarPradesh:
Allahabad
Activity: Workshop
Persons
Concerned/Organisation
s:
Ms. Sarita Rani, Mehak

10. Bihar
Date:13 Dec. 2012
District: Nawada
Activity: Workshop
and Press Note was
submitted
PersonsConcerned/
Organisations:
Ms. Vandana Devi,
Mahamaya Vikas

11. Jharkhand
Date: 28 Nov. 2012
District: Bokaro
Activity: Workshop and Awareness
Meeting
Persons Concerned/Organisations:
Ms. Manju Raj, Mahila Jagruk Trust
Date:25 Nov. 2012
District: Hazari Bagh
Activity: Public Meeting
Persons Concerned/Organisations:
Ms. Neelam Besra, Jharkhand Mahila
Utthan

12. Haryana
Date:29 Nov. 2012
District: Kaithal
Activity: Workshop
Persons Concerned/
Organisations: Ms.
Shakuntla Balmiki,
Rashtriya Dalit
Mahila Andolan

13. Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh
Date:25 Nov. 2012
District: Jaipur
Activity: Awareness
through Campaign
Material
Persons Concerned/
Organisations:Ms. Sunita
Rawat, Dalit Adivasi
Vikas Sansthan
Date:30 Nov. 2012
District: Rewa
Activity: Public Meeting
Persons Concerned/
Organisations: Ms. Gayatri
Devi and Ms. Munni
Devi, NACDOR

14. Pamphlets for the campaign

15. Signature Campaign

16. Poster for the Campaign

17. Findings
Campaign witnessed several issues overa period of two weeks. Some of the
findings that came out in the campaigns held are as follows:
 Lack of clean drinking water and toilet facilities in the slums due to which
people are forced to defecate in open areas. This often results into
harassment of girls and women especially in the night.
 FIR of caste-based atrocities faced is not registered by the police.
 Children from these slum-clusters often do not get admission in schools
due to lack of residential proofs.
 Women working as Domestic Help are not treated respectfully in their
workplaces.
 Due to government policy of putting a restriction on Ration Card (an
identification proof) people find difficulties even in admitting their children in
schools
 In Bihar and Jharkhand severe problem of witch hunting, domestic
violence, low paid wages, migration, sexual harassment, rape and violence
against Dalit and Adivasi single women

18. Challenges
 Time duration was very short
 Difficulty in postage of IEC materials like
posters, pamphlets, DV act, etc in interior
villages
 Lack of resources and equipments
 Communication hurdle with grassroots
activists

19. Major Interventions
Interventions were carried out to strengthen the workof RDMA :
 Ms. Rajni Tilak, Convenor of Rashtriya Dalit Mahila Andolan was invited as
a panel
guest for a discussion on the documentary film ‘Shit’, based on a true story of
a
manual scavenging in a Film Festival OUR LIVES...TO LIVE - NO! to gender
violence, an
initiative of SANGAT South Asia as part of their regional coordination of the
international One Billion Rising campaign. The festival was organized by
IAWRT (The
International Association of Women in Radio and Television) in collaboration
with
many NGOs, universities, colleges and cultural institutions all over the country
on
dates 23-25 November, 2012 at Max Muller Bhawan, New Delhi.

20. Continued….
 RDMA National Convenor was invited as a panelist for a public hearing on
Violence against Dalit Women, on December 10, 2012. It was conducted by
Dynamic Action Group (DAG) and Savitri Bai Phule Mahila Sangharsh
Samiti, Jaunpur Collectorate, Uttar Pradesh
 The National Commission for Women (NCW) called for a meeting on
Violence against Women on 27 November, 2012 at New Delhi. During the
meeting, a memorandum was submitted to NCW demanding a separate cell
for Dalit Women to investigate cases of caste-based violence
 A Signature Campaign was organized by Rashtriya Dalit Mahila Andolan 4-6
December, 2012 in collaboration with National Confederation of Dalit
Organisation (NACDOR). The campaign was conducted in a 3rd
National
Conference of Dalit Organisations organized by NACDOR in V. P. House,
Parliament Street, FICCI Auditorium and Ram Lila Maidan, New Delhi

21. Dialogue in National
Conference

22. Maîtri Network

23. Continued…….

24. Way Forward
 Planning for an intensive campaign this year
 Meeting in August for the preparation of the
Violence against Dalit Women campaign
 Spread the campaign in states like Orissa and
Gujarat
 Need for a National Study on Violence against
Dalit Women with the help of Karuna Trust

25. Thank You!!!