Asmita Collective
Asmita was set up in the Andhra Pradesh state in 1991 as a resource center for women. Asmita’s primary constituency is women, Dalits, Tribals, and all sectors of marginalized and poor people. Asmita's main goals are:
- To create a space for women to come together,
- To provide a context for critical dialogue,
- To facilitate feminist analysis and action on critical issues, and
- To provide resources to women in need.
Asmita set up the Collective Action Network as an informal network to bring together groups that work to empower women politically and economically. For example, Asmita/CAN works to provide women's access to land and to educate the public and enforcement agencies on the existence of laws and policies for the prevention of violence against women.
The objectives of the current project that aims to end violence against women are:
- To increase legal literacy on violence against women,
- To create pressure groups that will work to implement laws and policy on violence against women,
- To create an appreciable level of awareness of the gravity and legal implication of violations against women,
- To ensure that cases of violence against women are registered and tried with recognition of the seriousness of the offense,
- Implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, and
- Prevention of untouchability.
The activities envisaged are:
- A series of workshops to build capacity on legal literacy and increase awareness of laws and policies to stop violence against women,
- Organizing youth (college students and rural youth) of communities on legal entitlements and against human rights violations,
- Training of cluster leaders, alliance members, college and rural youth on Domestic Violence Act,
- A state-level meeting on advocacy,
- A campaign on the implementation of the Employment Guarantee Scheme through rallies, public meetings etc.,
- Strengthening the implementation of the Right To Information Act
- Mobilization on land rights.
The expected outcomes are:
- To bring a change in attitudes towards women and introduce a discourse of rights,
- The formation of district-level federations (both men & women) to fight against domestic violence,
- To protect rural livelihoods and reduce migration,
- Immovable property rights such as land and house permits, given to at least 300 families.
Please visit the Asmita Collective website for additional information.
Last updated on Thursday, October 9, 2008.
