Article based on communication between Shririn Shabana Khan of PVCHR and Erik Wendt of Dignity: Danish Institute against torture about Model village process for child right and human Rights. Thanks to Shruti Nagvanshi and Anup Srivastava for sharing of their experience.
https://www.saddahaq.com/humaninterest/pvchr/resilience-and-coping-in-model-process-against-torture
The model village against torture and organized violence processes
are based on resilience theory as breaking the culture of silence and positive
conflict resolution in the most marginalized communities of 70 villages of Uttar
Pradesh and Jharkhand which is inculcating self - transformation of the victim – survivor – human
rights defenders.
The targeted communities in this village are at high
risk facing police torture, institutional discrimination, slavery (bonded
labour), and organized violence based on caste system and masculinity and are deprived
and neglected from all government schemes.
The activists in these villages discussed the dynamics
of the abusive intimate relationship and providing them important knowledge
through various acts and guidelines in folk schools and focus group discussions.
Various activities and process at Individual, Family, Society and institutional
level are organized to create physical and psychological resilience of these
communities such as Folk School, Community meeting, High profile campaign ("Meri Pehchan" (My identity), neo -dalit campaign Satyagraha, poster campaign and door to door
campaign), Meta – legal intervention, testimonial therapy, Legal
intervention, Medical support, bringing their voice in the corridor of policy
makers, Public hearing and Interface with different stakeholders. In the
starting the risk of these villages are mapped through individual and group
discussions for stakeholder analysis. Base line survey is one of the base for understand
the socio – economic condition of these villages.
The follows methodologies used in the process are:
1) Identification
of the village, community on the basis of anthropological, cultural, economic
and political context.
2) Evaluation of
the needs
of communities and target groups
3)
Community
based strategy formulation and implementation of the community based
interventions
4)
Monitoring
& evaluation and then re-strategy formation and then again implementation:
These processes inculcate hope,
dignity, honor and capacity among community and its leaders but also
creating opportunities for involvement and the demonstration of competence and increasing involvement, bonding and attachment between
communities and external factors. The Kajari and Sakara festivals are the
few classical examples which facilitate the elimination of the gap among different
castes are able to participate together in said festival.
Changes in the
community behavior are constraint by the meaning they attach to their
experience. As now these understood the purpose and meaning of their dignity of
lives. “It is getting difficult to recognize that they are Musahar as of now,
because their living condition and the knowledge of the improved”. C.O,
Badagaon narrates while making the statement of PVCHR activists in the case of
police torture of Harinath musahar.
Model village process
against torture and organized violence is also creating resilience with the
different institutions such as police department, commissions, district
administration and hospitals. Mutana, a community leaders said ““First time I feel honoured when Bada Sahab (Big official) listen my testimony
very carefully.” She
narrates in front of the two presiding officer in public hearing organized by
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Without any fear these communities are bringing there complain directly
to the concerned authorities such as tehsil, police station and are availing
medical facilities in government hospital and enjoying service of Government
schemes. After many decades now they received their identity card (voter ID
card, ration card and birth registration certificate).
Now the community
leaders increased their ability to identify
problems, establish priorities and act according to that. So, people from the
different communities in villages are coming to most marginalized Musahar[i] for seeking help on the
issues of basic needs (housing scheme and water) etc. In the first phase 230
Aguwas (community leaders) were trained on writing complain, using RTIs and
mapping of the problem in their village. The communities understand the reason
of their suffering and now they improved evaluation of self for creating more
comprehensive understanding about the society (especially about the people from
different caste and attitudes of the institutions towards them) for breaking
the cycle of violence. Ex: In sarai village the people from different caste
were trying to create dispute within the Musahar communities but due to the
continuous process of the organization and the understanding of the community
prevents to do so. It also developed and strengthens the resilience between
the people from different religions too. Ex. in Anei, Varanasi and Tanda,
Ambedkarnagar the place facing the communal violence came forward to help each
other in the dire situation.
The processes also create the resilience of the
community towards the children, youth and the women and strengthen their role
in their family and community with their active role in decision making
process. Women community leaders are playing active role in various forum as a
member of School Management Committee (SMC) under the Right to Education Act.
Children and Youth instead of becoming helping hand for their parents in work
and taking care of their sibling are now going to school.
In child centric model village children create the
resilience towards their parents thought on issues deeply related to them such
as child labour, child marriage and child sexual abuse etc. This process a
created a dynamics of resilience in young people like Mangala, Sandhaya,
Shobhnath and Anand who came from communities and now working for the
upliftment of their own communities.
Resilience is creating more democratic space for
marginalized poor which eliminate poverty too. Sakara and other village are
example for that. Resilience against torture and organized violence is
resilience for poverty alleviation too, which is backbone to stablishing rule
of law in true sense at grass roots.
In the
next phase these community leaders are creating social network of themselves. 'We are
illiterate who belonged to the marginalized communities, it may take time for
things to develop for us, but we can continue with the efforts and activities
that we are doing so far. We look forward to the building of a broader alliance
from among the villages similar to us and like ours'. The whole process creates the close binding and peer
support “One for all and all for one”.
Article based on communication between Shririn Shabana
Khan of PVCHR and Erik Wendt of Dignity: Danish Institute against torture which
is based on Model village process for child right and human Rights under
leadership of Shruti Nagvanshi and Anup Srivastava
