SETU celebrates International Women’s Day

Workshop on ‘Role of women in development’

Venue: Barmer, Rajasthan
(March 8, 2013)

Women are the sustaining force behind development, be it of their family, or society or their nation. But many women, especially in the marginalized societies, do not realize their importance and under- estimate their contribution. Lack of education, lack of confidence, male dominance, social stigma & pressures force them to lead a life dependency & submission. SETU strives for women empowerment & so to address these issues, SETU organized a workshop with our partner artisans at SF, Barmer on the occasion of International Women’s Day. These women do embroidery; stitching & appliqué work in their homes.

The aims of the session were-

• Discussing the various roles a woman can play in the development of all around her.

• Boosting their self-confidence.

• Encourage women to participate in decision making

• Making them aware of their rights

• Suggesting Self employment options

• Motivate women for educating their children

• Identifying gender gaps present in the society and suggesting appropriate courses of action

• Promoting Gender equality

• Coping up with domestic violence

SETU team discussed the various issues being faced by the women. It was found that a lot of the participant women were suffering from domestic violence. The team discussed on how women can contribute in the positive development of their society & what they can do to change their status. They also emphasized on girl child education, savings for safe and secure future of their family, contributing to family’s income, self employment opportunities, the legal rights of women etc.

The women eagerly asked for the schemes beneficial for them as well as the application procedures for ration card and other government schemes. The participants were asked to share their thoughts on current issues like educating a girl, marriage, balancing family life with work etc. They were updated on the benefits of forming Self-Help groups (SHGs) & the procedures of forming the same.

Prizes were distributed to the women who had motivated others around them to introduce some positive changes for self development, and those with radical thoughts on general yet burning issues.

About 42 women participated in the workshop.