Elimination of Violence Against Women day
I won’t give my rights to anyone, will fight to protect women from domestic violence and will protect my sisters and my neighbourhood from violence. The voice of women in India has long been muted, particularly when it comes to violence against women. But in November 2009, more than 900 women took a big a step towards changing that. Theni District Women’s Movement held a day of events on the Elimination of...
Rani, Dalit activist
I am from the lowest caste and I work as an activist fighting for better rights for my people. I attend training and regular activists meetings at Arogya Agam (a VST partner) where we discuss our current issues and what we can do about them. For example, a money lender from a higher caste gave a loan to one of my neighbours. The interest rate was very high, over 60%, and when my neighbour couldn’t pay the...
Guruvammal, woman's group leader
I am president of one of the self-help groups in my village. A few years ago a sixteen-year-old girl from my caste was raped by a sixty-year-old man. The girl’s father was upset and angry and beat the man who raped her. The rapist filed a case with the police against the girl's father for beating him. My self-help group went to the police to explain the situation. However, they wouldn’t listen to us...
Muthipetchi, panchayat member
A few years ago the women would never leave my village. Any work outside the village would be done by the men. That is changing now. SRED (a VST partner) came to my village and gave the women all sorts of training on gender and other issues. They told us that we could go anywhere and do anything we wanted. Since then I’ve gained a lot of confidence. I am president of my self-help group and I was asked to...
Velmani's story
"My name is Velmani. I live with my husband Nataraj and 3 children in Mekkilarpatty, a small village near Arogya Agam (one of VST's partners). My husband used to work in a textile mill and we struggled to live off the 800 rupees (£12) a month he earned. We only cooked a meal once in two days, didn't have decent clothes, and when we couldn't afford to repair our hut our family ended up having to stay with my...