The creation of 'Madhabilata-The Fight For Her Justice' is a logical culmination of a series of events that motivated me and some like-minded persons to start an organization to work on the issue of Women Empowerment. The Inception:
One of the founding members, that is the Secretary of Madhabilata, had seen violence on women in his childhood from very close quarters of life. It was clear that Patr
iarchy was strong in the society and it continues to be strong in our society. Womenkind suffers in many cases not because of any disability or inability, but solely because they are women.This is known as Gender Based Violence and Gender Discrimination!!A resolve was made a few years ago to do something about it in an appropriate time. Later on in his life, he became the CEO of a Kolkata based NGO named Prantakatha. During his career as a professional social worker, he was associated with a campaign called BRAVoW (Boys Responding against Violence on Women) under the Changeloom Project. The Changeloom project was conceived by PRAVAH and ComMutiny the Youth Collective, two of the leading organizations based in Delhi working on Youth Leadership Development. That experience only emphasised the point that there is indeed a lot of gender discrimination and gender-based violence affecting almost every nook and corner of the society. Daily newspaper reporting of different types of violence against women continuously proves the point, too. Nomenclature:
The name of the organization-'Madhabilata-The Fight For Her justice', has been inspired by a famous Benagli literary character of the same name-Madhabilata!!The Novel 'Kalbela' by the famous Bengali writer Shamaresh Majumdar, portrayed how she stood up against the existing social taboos and stereotypes prevailing at that time against women.She withstood the pressure from patriarchy and curved out a path of dignity for her in the face of all odds. Creating a path of dignity for women-this is the exact thing Madhabilata-the organization is trying to do. Institutional Objectives of 'Madhabilata-The Fight For Her Justice' are as follows:
1. End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls.
2. Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
3. Bring Psycho-social change in the mindset of Youth(18-35 years),primarily girls and women,so that they become informed,empowered and enlightened citizens ready to take their own decisions,break societal stereotypes and taboos and make advocacy about the same.
4. Help different communities to recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family.
5. Promote Education for girls from financially marginalized communities.
6. Building up safe spaces for children from red light area and imparting Life Skill Training. Mission Statement of Madhabilata:
To end all forms of discrimination and violence against all women and girls, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation, by means of psycho-social transformation of youth, legal help to victims, building infrastructure for creating safe spaces for women, girls and children, mentoring and educational help for girls belonging to financially or otherwise marginalized families. The Vision Statement
To establish a society where there is no gender based discrimination and no gender based violence of any form and to become the most renowned non-government organization in India working on all aspects of Women Empowerment. The Field:
Madhabilata at present works in 3 districts of West Bengal (Kolkata,North 24 Parghanas and South 24 Parghanas). The Team:
Team Madhabilata ia a blend of youth, experience and maturity. The team collectively has over 25 years of working experience in development sector. Team Madhabilata believes in dreams,determination,hard work and honesty. It also believes that there are no mistakes,only lessons in life.With these understandings, we start our journey in this great profession of Social Work,our heads held high,our guiding star Love and Empathy for all, our dream that of establishing a society where there is no gender based discrimination and no gender based violence of any form.
