Curbing Violence In India By Gender-Sensitising Kids From An Early Age: Enfold

Enfold has worked with over a lakh children on gender, safety and self-empowerment. Their involvement with children brought forward several biases and prejudices that young children in our country live with, and they’ve uncovered several cases of abuse among both boys and girls. They shared a few of their insights with Jaago Re, explaining the gravity of the situation in India, and how gender sensitisation can play a crucial role in freeing our children from these biases.

Challenging power equations

The idea of power equations emerges from one’s own idea of gender. For example, here’s what a boy witnesses throughout his formative years – a working father who brings home the money and therefore assumes the role of power over the entire family, whereas, the mother is subservient to the rest of the family and the father - thereby making her look weaker and submissive.

When this boys grows up and sees this gender dynamic being threatened, he tries to challenge it. Many a times, it’s challenged through aggression, violence, bullying, or even blackmail. Of late, the most gruesome assault cases we have seen are all about one gender enforcing power over the other.

How does gender bias affect the upbringing of young boys?

It is a common misconception that only girls face identity problems when growing up. Today, young boys are being exposed to ideas such as “it’s okay for a man to cry”, “It's okay for a man to be a stay-at-home dad”, etc. These ideas challenge age-old gender notions. Boys are also going through a hoard of hormonal changes, conflicts about their identity, etc., which are often left unaddressed. Therefore, it is imperative to counsel young boys on gender sensitization along with girls.

On shifting rigid beliefs and attitudes through gender sensitisation

We held a before-and-after quiz among the kids, asking them a set of questions relating to gender and behaviour. Some of the questions asked were:

“Would you cook or ask your sister to cook?”

“Is a girl a family's responsibility or is she a burden until she's married?”

We noticed a clear shift in attitudes post training sessions because of the positive responses we received. It only proves that if we start young, we can create a healthier, safer, and a more respectful society for everyone. Gender sensitisation is the understated need of the hour.

On gender biases that lead to abuse & crime

All kinds of abuse starts from gender bias and gender disparity. The immediate need is to implement gender sensitisation so as to help curb violence and abuse. Therefore, it is important to remove all forms of gender discrimination, gender bias. We teach kids to acknowledge and respect the differences between both genders and that feelings, qualities, emotions, and intelligence are not gender specific. We emphasize that both boys and girls have a right to cry or do things that one usually associates with just one gender. Without gender sensitisation, our children will not be able to cope with the changing gender dynamics, and this will probably lead to more instances of gender violence.

The clock is ticking. Are you ready to be a part of the solution? Join our movement to make gender sensitisation accessible to all school children in India:

Be a part of Tata Tea’s initiative and sign the petition today! Visit Alternatively, you can also dial 7815966666 toll free.

Alarm Bajne Se Pehle Jaago Re!