AWARENESS KEY TO RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT

Programmes that raise awareness and equip the young with guidance and agency to challenge skewed social stereotypes can shake deep-set prejudices, trigger affirmative action, and overturn the status quo

- SOHINI BHATTACHARYA

THE burning desire of an 18-year-old Jyoti for higher education seemed like a distant dream. Literally. The nearest college was 20 unreachable kilometres away from her remote Devipur village in Haryana and in the absence of buses, there was simply no way she could get there. Her parents said a clear NO to the prospect of her commuting 20 km to college daily through unsafe transportation. Get married instead, they told her, in no uncertain terms.

However, Jyoti was made of sterner stuff. As part of an adolescent empowerment programme, she rallied the support of 11 other girls facing a similar dilemma. A signature campaign organised by them garnered the support of 150 peers. Together, they met the local Chief Judicial Magistrate. “Our dreams of higher education are being thwarted simply because we cannot reach the college,” they pleaded. The rest is history.

Moved by their collective resolve, the authorities started a bus service that now connects three panchayats to the college. Result: Jyoti and 18 other girls from her village now attend college, commuting safely and realising their dreams. They are the first generation of girls from the village to do so, and as a virtuous spinoff from their rallying spirit, 11 boys have benefitted, too.

From Awareness to Empowerment

Young people grow up with norms deeply embedded in their societies. Often, such norms can lead to patriarchal behaviours and mindsets, including self-doubts, acceptance of discrimination as a norm and domestic violence, limiting their potential. The pop culture they imbibe from popular media, including films, reinforces such stereotypes and shuts their minds to alternative genderequal norms.