1. Screening of a short video clip (a piece of fiction on a girl resisting underage marriage and enlisting the support of women’s collectives in her village to help her convince her mother about her position. This clip was produced by the Prakriye team a few years ago, and the actors were girls and women from the community.)
2. Discussion (taking off from the video) – what rights do girls have over their own lives? Do women have all rights that men have? (At this point, homework assignments given to the girls at the end of Module 1 were discussed. Participants were asked to reflect on the subordinate status of women – and this was followed by a discussion on women’s rights. Constitutional guarantees under Article 14. Equality before law and Article 15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth were discussed. Statistics and official data about gender differences in education and work-force participation were discussed)
3. Open discussion on whether special benefits for women provided by the state and quotas in representation in local government are a violation of ‘equality between women and men’. The idea of ‘formal and substantive equality’ was introduced.
4. Screening of a film about the activities of a community information centre set up by Prakriye to open up a discussion on schemes and services of the state directed at women (maternal health/ creche and child care facilities at place of work for daily wage laborers/ support services for women facing GBV/ social security schemes for single women).
5. The girls can be asked about the various occupational roles that men and women play in the village.
Note to facilitator- Some of the answers given can include:
Men- complete responsibility of farm operations, harvesting sugar cane, cattle and sheep grazing, lawyer, teacher, doctor, driver (of an auto or tractor) etc.
Women- Tailor, teacher, doctor, accredited social health activist (ASHA)/ nurse, cooking and child rearing, stitching bags, household chores, weeding in farm etc.
Issues to facilitate- Based on the answers given, discussions can be initiated on the point about how it is believed that women are involved in ostensibly ‘lesser activities’, irrespective of the amount of work they do. What are the societal constructs that exist that prevent women from doing the same work as men?
Resource Created By: CCID Mysore