Engaging men and boys to be more gender equal, the pioneering Samajdar Jodidar programme emerged from long term involvement of working with men and boys to address violence against women. Its main focus was to work with men on gender issues including addressing women’s subordinate status in society and issues that women and men face with respect to sexual and reproductive health.
It was implemented in five locations covering 100 villages in Beed, Pune and Solapur districts of Maharashtra with local implementing partners Yuvagram, Savitribai Phule Mahila Mandal, Nari Samata Manch, Astitva Sanstha and Halo Medical Foundation.
Samajdar Jodidar was driven by belief in the assumption that in spite of the unequal gender relations in society there are always some men in the community who do not agree to violent patriarchal norms and will participate in social change. The programme’s hypothesis was that participatory training within an intersectional framework of gender, power and privilege allows such men to examine their own beliefs and behaviour and commit to personal change and social action. Men’s groups are needed for men to reflect on their own behaviour and for community-based action.
With some mentoring support men in the target areas emerged as community activists and alternative male role models. Community education and campaigns using interactive participatory media were used as platforms for action by the men’s groups, and for transformation of existing social norms. Social transformation was supported by a range of interactions by the men’s groups including with government functionaries at the local level.
The project had several significant impacts: the men’s groups started raising the issue of domestic violence and addressed it in their own homes and in many families; they campaigned against gender-biased sex selection, for girls’ education and its relation with early marriages, for equal property rights, for making public places safer for women, for women’s SRHR and involvement of men in family planning, and for men’s role in bringing equality including supporting women in decision making roles.
Men started examining issues of gender, masculinity and sexuality, which they earlier considered either normal or taboo, on caste and cultural sanctions and their impact on women’s position in society. The programme resulted in ending the norm of underage marriage of girls in the area, in men sharing household work, taking care of children and demonstrating more affection, analysing their role in domestic violence, and becoming involved in improving women’s sexual and reproductive health as well as their own sexual health and responsibilities.
For more on the impact pathways of Samajdar Jodidar and its lessons for gender programming see here:
