CORDI (Community Organization and Resource Development India) Trust

Gender Issues in India

Domestic violence remains one of the most pervasive social issues in India, though unrecognized in cultural, political, and legal institutions. This is exemplified in the narrow definitions and provisions in the Protection from Domestic Violence Act, 2002, which, in its current form, does not adequately protect women in their natal or marital home, and even justifies occasional beatings of the wife.

Domestic violence is predominantly viewed in India as an extension and continuum of beliefs that men have the right to control women’s behaviour and life. Culturally, domestic violence is not seen as a crime, an issue of abuse, or an act of cultural oppression of women, but rather as an internal family issue which should be internally resolved. As such, laws alone will not change the situation. What is required are appropriate behavioural and social changes so as to step away from this centuries-old female oppression. Imperatively, the community and family need to be sensitized to gender equality issues so that they can create a more receptive and supportive environment in which an abused woman can seek recourse.

Domestic Abuse Factors:

• Women lack and are denied access to economic, political, and social resources
• Women are vulnerable to indigenous oppressive institutions of caste, religion, traditional family structures, and non-democratic political structures
• Dowry-related disputes

Dowries

The practice of dowry, referred to in India as streedhan (women’s wealth), is a reflection of women’s secondary status and the leading cause of death among young brides in India.

Marriage dowries and their effects:

• A dowry refers to the sum of money or valued goods associated with a potential bride, paid to the husband upon marriage by the father of the bride
• The deteriorating status of rural women, coupled with rising unemployment and consumerism, has led to an increase in the amount of dowry that is demanded
• A new bride’s worth is determined by the size of her dowry, and if the amount is inadequate, it is seen as justifiable grounds for violence against her
• Female children are looked upon as a burden because of the impending dowry which will have to be paid, and this has led to a disproportionate incidence of female foeticide and infanticide

Despite the enactment of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, which criminalized the practice of offering or accepting dowries as a precondition for marriage, statistics show that a young bride is being beaten, burnt to death, or pushed to commit suicide every 6 hours in response to dowry disputes, legally referred to as ‘dowry deaths’ (Department of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India).

CORDI Women’s Centre and Shelter

Chennai, India

Since 1991, World Accord has been in partnership with CORDI Women’s Centre and Shelter in Chennai, India, helping to empower women with the skills and confidence they need to create alternatives for themselves and their children.
CORDI’s mandate is to provide five services:

• Shelter for battered and abused women and their children
• Counselling for abused women, their husbands, and family
• Skills training (e.g. typing, sewing, craftwork) to increase women’s employment opportunities
• Community awareness programs that use education as a catalyst for social change
• Empowering women by fostering greater participation in local government

Between April, 2005, and March, 2006, the CORDI Women’s Centre and Shelter in Chennai has:

• Safely sheltered 64 women and 39 children
• Provided counselling to 82 couples, of which 49 were reconciled
• Legally assisted 28 women
• Promoted greater economic autonomy through skills training: 61 women were trained in tailoring and experienced a post-training placement rate of 90%, and 57 women were trained in handicrafts (e.g. glass painting, pot designing)
• Provided a nurturing environment and counselling for children from abusive homes through the Children’s Programme
• Initiated a community-based awareness training program, performing street theatre in 11 locations for audiences of up to 90 people, with 12 follow-up support group meetings promoting women’s rights and gender issues
• Facilitated 5 leadership training workshops on issues such as ‘Legal issues connected to domestic violence’, intervention strategies, and the various forms of domestic violence, etc.

The CORDI program has overcome many difficulties including police harassment, violent husbands, physical attacks on the shelter and lawsuits brought on by fraudulent organizations and individuals. The program’s continued existence is a testament to the courage of the founder and Executive Director, Rupavathy Kumar.

CORDI’s New Women’s Centre and Hostel

Madurai, India

Given the success of the Women’s Centre and Shelter in Chennai, India, CORDI and World Accord have ambitiously begun planning and fundraising for a second women’s facility in the city of Madurai, in the province of Tamil Nadu, India.

The Madurai women’s facility will be comprised of 3 new buildings:

• A shelter providing emergency accommodation for women and children from domestic violence and abusive situations
• A regional training centre that will offer skills training for women, benefiting an expected 100 women per year
• A women’s hostel for rural migrants searching for work in the city

Additional services:

• Individual, group, and family counselling for an estimated 300 families
• Legal assistance for abused women
• Financial assistance through a MicroCredit Programme which will link over 1000 women to 50 Self Help Groups, which help women to gain access to, and manage, microcredit
• Community based awareness campaigns in the form of street theatre

The objective of this program is to assist in the social and economic upliftment of women in the Tamil Nadu Province, and to empower women to have increased control over their own lives. As such, the CORDI women’s facility in Madurai will promote attitude changes in the community with the goal of preventing future cases of abuse from occurring. The approximate cost of building these facilities is close to $1 million.