A number of cases related to violence against girls/women have made the headlines in Goa and India in the last year, although gender equality and society's just treatment of girls/women is a worldwide issue and goes beyond the headlines. An issue that begins in the home - girls access to education, equality, upbringing, etc.
Goa Sudharop supported a workshop in North Goa last month (one to follow in South Goa) to train resource persons to go out to their communities and promote gender equality on a broad scale for girls/women. Below is a report on the workshop. Thanks to those who donated in December/January towards this project. Goa Sudharop www.goasudharop.org ----------------------------- REPORT OF TRAINING OF TRAINERS ON GENDER SENSITISATION (NORTH GOA) organized by Saad Aangan with the support of Goa Sudharop A two day Training of Trainers on Gender Sensitisation was organized by Saad Aangan on 24th and 25th August, 2013, at North Goa Legal Services Authority’s Adhoc Mediation Centre, with the support of Goa Sudharop. The North Goa Legal Services Authority made the hall available to Saad Aangan for this endeavour in view of its mission of supporting and sustaining these concerns. The Programme had the participation of the targeted number of 25 interested persons, who have had some prior exposure and are seeking to strengthen their understandings of gender concerns and exploring what interventions can be made. The participants hailed from different parts of North Goa, ranging from Pernem to Tiswadi. Many of the participants were young college students who have the enthusiasm and the drive to make the world better than the one they came into. There were also some professional/lecturers, who doubled up both as participants and as resource persons/making important interventions. These included Vasuda Sawaikar, Karl Pinto de Souza, Esther Roe Torres, Maya Bhatkar and Helena Castro. At the outset, Mr. Ibonio D’Souza representing Goa Sudharop which supported the programme introduced Goa Sudharop and its objectives and activities to the group and referred them to the web-site of Goa Sudharop to better understand what the organization is out to do in its quest for a better Goa. Adv. Albertina Almeida briefly appraised the participants about the purpose and scheme of the Training Programme, and about the objectives and activities of Saad Aangan . The Saad Aangan team members who participated as resource in the Programme were Gemma de Sa and Albertina Almeida. Para legal volunteer Maria Angelica D’Souza also informed the participants about the right to legal aid. The Programme had a mix of substantive content and training skills. Participants were taken through the cycle of beginning from where the trainees are to mapping the expectations and concerns of the trainees and then pitching it at the level where the trainees are located. The difference between sex and gender, the concepts of substantive equality, affirmative action, social visions that go beyond binaries, the status of women in Goa, the laws on violence against women, particularly the new laws that have been enacted, were discussed at the meeting. Participating also articulated various concerns that emerge when a woman speaks up and sought guidance in that respect. They were also taken through an understanding of what constitutes good and bad counseling and the importance of listening in a counseling process. The methodology used was participatory with active assistance of resource persons right through the programme. Participants are being disseminated a resource kit which would assist them with applying the knowledge. At the end of the programme, the participants charted out their respective commitments to apply their knowledge in reaching out and creating an awareness, and also the guidance that they would require from Saad Aangan.
