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As an intrinsic dimension of the Centre’s commitment to focus on issues of discrimination and enhancing gender equality, members of the centre have been active in the fields of advocacy, whether through lobbying with and against the State and its policies, forming common platforms with other organizations and civil society institutions, and assisting in campaigns to bring about changes in public awareness.  The Centre has been actively developing many networks to carry forward these processes.  Over the last year, the faculty of the centre have been members of and initiators among networks of women’s organizations and women’s studies associations on a range of issues.  
 

	Declining Child Sex Ratio and Preventing Sex Selection ... read more...
	Indian Association of Women's Studies ... read more...
	FORCES Network ... read more...
	Other Network ... read more...

Declining Child Sex Ratio and Preventing Sex Selection

Major initiatives undertaken by the Centre both by its own faculty and through collaborations in launching campaigns against the declining child sex ratio and sex selective abortions have been brought to a successful conclusion for the time being. The collaborative study on the declining child sex ratio took this concern forward by focusing on a relatively neglected dimension of the problem – the dynamic within families in terms of their “choice” of the number and sex of their children, and the factors structuring such choices.  The findings of this study were presented at a National Seminar in New Delhi supported by Action Aid India and IDRC, Canada, December 13-14^th 2007.  Participants at the seminar included representatives from the Ministry of Women and Child Development; the National Commission of Women and the Planning Commission, and it was well-covered in the national press.

Indian Association of Women's Studies [ http://www.iaws.org ]

The CWDS and its faculty continue to be active members of the Indian Association for Women’s Studies, the country’s premier association with over 1500 members who are drawn from diverse fields – scholars and teachers, activists, policy makers and professionals. As a follow-up to the well attended Silver Jubilee Conference of the IAWS held in Lucknow in February 2008, one of the plenary panels of the Conference on Fields of Knowledge was brought out in the form of a Special Issue of the Economic and Political Weekly, (Women’s Studies Special) in October 2008.  It contained feminist engagements with the fields of history, development, literature, science and the law.

While the term of the previous Secretariat (located in CWDS since 2005) of the Indian Association for Women’s Studies came to an end in October 2008, the CWDS will be housing the financial base of the IAWS as a long term arrangement, as was ratified in the last General Body Meeting held in Lucknow in February 2008. The CWDS will continue to be actively involved in the future outreach and expansion of the IAWS, especially in the northern region, will help the IAWS in its efforts to build a Corpus Fund for future financial sustainability, and assist in its efforts to expand its membership among youth and students.  As ex officio member of the newly elected Executive Committee for the period 2008-11, the director will be participating in the evolving agendas of the IAWS in the coming years.

FORCES network [ for more information visit: http://www.forces.org.in ]

The Centre is a founder member of the Forum for Creches and Child Care Services (FORCES) network.  The core vision of FORCES is that every child has the right to early childhood care and development including crèches and childcare services and that it is the state’s responsibility to ensure such services for all children, especially those of women working in the unorganized and informal sector. Since April 2007 it is housed at CWDS. The present coordinator is Savitri Ray and convenor Vasanthi Raman.

Today FORCES is an All India network comprising 50 member organizations (Trade unions, women’s organizations, NGOs and academics, lawyers, medical doctors, etc), individual members and eleven regional networks with their own membership. Its activities include grassroots mobilization, campaigns, policy intervention and research.

Regional Networks:

Regional networks are actively engaged in advocating the rights of the young child through the convening organization and its members.

Critical Issues identified by FORCES

    Commitment to address the four basic rights (survival, protection, development and
participation) through ECCD services.

    Declining sex ratio in the context of high infant mortality of the girl child and discrimination  
against her.

    Provision of services like creches and ICDS/day care centres, maternity benefits, etc.

    Policies affecting nutritional status leading to high infant/child mortality rates.

    Implementation of universalisation of ICDS.

    Education for the under sixes.

    Development of a database 

    Empowering PRIs to participate effectively in decision making processes.

    Capacity building of regional networks for research and monitoring.

Stakeholders with whom FORCES engages in advocacy and campaigning:

    GOI – Dept. of Women & Child development

    State level and district level government officials involved in direct and indirect decision making of ECCD services involving food security, nutrition, health, education, day care and legal protection

    Unicef, PLAN, India Alliance for Child Rights, etc

    Members of PRIs and Mahila Mandal

    Anganwadi workers

    Primary Health Centre functionaries

    Government and Private day care centre functionaries

    Family members of the beneficiaries receiving public and privatized ECCD Services with representation from remote locations and nomadic tribes

    Protectors of PNDT Act

The Centre continues to be an active member of the National network of women’s organisations composed of nine member organisations.  The recently held March 8 International Women’s Day celebrations were conducted in the Old City with a march and rally of about 200 women.  Common demands raised found an echo among the public, including basic public amenities, education and ICDS facilities for children, against multiple forms of violence against women, and for reservations for women in Parliament.  Special meetings and lobbying included a Women’s Charter to all political parties in the run up to the Lok Sabha Elections in 2009.

Issues related to the sex ratio continue to be a critical area for policy related advocacy and networking.  The Report Planning Families, Planning Gender is envisaged as a means to raise public awareness around the issues involved, including the limitations of existing government policies and the need for further interventions by the state.  The Report can be freely accessed from the CWDS website, while hard copies can be requested from the IDRC South Asia office in New Delhi.  Issues arising from the study have been presented on several occasions, including with the Ministry for Women and Child Development, on civil society platforms such as that of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan and the Centre for Gender and Budget Allocations, in advising new research initiatives such as the Study on Policies related to the Girl Child in India and China being undertaken by the International Centre for Research on Women; and in initiatives to take forward concerns around women’s access to safe abortion.

The field of disability is as much an area of research as it is one of advocacy. The concerned faculty member is currently involved in several initiatives.  These include joining the protest of the Disability Rights Group against the assimilation of children with disabilities within the broad rubric of disadvantaged children, rather than giving them a distinct place as a separate group in the Right to Education Bill. She is also a member of a 17 member core group to develop a model curriculum for disability studies as an academic discipline initiated by the Society for Disability Studies for the University Grants Commission for Central Universities.

Along with these, faculty members are further involved in a range of other campaigns:  In creating public awareness around adoption rights for members of minority communities, on the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, discussions on the proposed Sexual Assault Bill, the campaign to decriminalise same sex relationships in IPC Section 377, ongoing discussions on Social Security for the Unorganised Sector, lobbying with the Planning Commission on engendering the 11^th Plan, and so on.

Other Networks

Faculty have been part of ongoing discussions around various aspects of disability such as implementation of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, amendments to the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities and Full Participation) Act 1995, sexuality education for young persons with disabilities, incorporating disability studies in education etc. Most of these issues are discussed in public fora between government officials, particularly from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and networks of NGOs in the disability sector. Recently, efforts were made to persuade government to enhance allocation of funds for the disability sector in the Eleventh Plan.

CWDS has been involved in the process of lobbying for the Domestic Violence Act as well as to push for drawing up rules for its implementation. Subsequent to its implementation, however, there have been attempts to undermine some of the advances made by those opposed to the law and the concerns it addresses. Our Faculty continue to be a part of the discussions around the issue so as to also resist attempts to reverse the gains made over the years.

In the context of a phenomenal increase in the number of female domestic workers and their growing exploitation, the need for regulating domestic work has acquired importance. One issue which has become central to these discussions is the mechanism for regulating placement agencies and regulating the working conditions of domestic workers. The National Commission for Women is in the process of bringing out legislation to regulate domestic work. A series of consultations and campaigns were held by NCW and various organisations to discuss the issues of domestic workers and the broad contours of the bill. Some members of the faculty are actively involved in these discussions and campaigns on regulating domestic work.

The Government of India is in the process of signing a Memorandum with the Malaysian Government on recruiting women for employment as domestic workers in Malaysia. To discuss the issue and to campaign for defined conditions of work and protection of these women emigrants, YWCA organised a meeting under the auspices of ‘seven sisters’ and a campaign towards this has been initiated.

Several members of the faculty are involved in discussions and campaigns on the issue of Social Security for the Unorganised Sector, with specific reference also to women workers. As a part of this process Prof. K.P. Kannan, member of the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector was invited to present the Draft bill on Social Security proposed by the Commission. Members of the Commission were also invited to share their views in the National Seminar on Women and Migration organised by the Centre.   

The director was a member of the Group of Feminist Economists set up by the Planning Commission, at the initiative of one of its members Dr. Syeda Hameed.  In the course of several meetings the group undertook an extensive critique of the 11^th Plan from a gender perspective, including sector-wise critiques.  A consolidated statement from the Group has been put up on the Planning Commission’s website.

Networking among women’s studies and gender and development centres in the Asian region was taken forward by participating in the establishing of an Asian Association for Women’s Studies housed in the centre for women’s studies, Ewha women’s university, Seoul, Korea.