JHARKHAND MAHILA JAGRITI
Empowering Women
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"Either we all live in a decent world or nobody does."
George Orwell
Jharkhand Mahila Jagriti aspires to achieve the goals of gender equality and women empowerment in the state of Jharkhand. Being one of the poorest states in India, practices like child marriage, dowry, domestic violence are still prevalent. Further, the gender gap labor force participation, education, income and health indicators is huge. Jharkhand Mahila Jagriti intervenes in the areas of promoting self-employment for women, providing education opportunities for girls and women, and awareness related to social issues. With such interventions, Jharkhand Mahila Jagriti aims to ensure empowerment of women and girls especially from poor and marginalized communities.
CHALLENGES
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FEMALE LITERACY
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Thirty-eight percent of women and 18 percent of men age 15-49 have never been to school. Higher education is very limited in Jharkhand. Only 16 percent of women and 25 percent of men age 15-49 have completed 12 or more years of schooling. More than one-third (35%) of men and half (51%) of women are not regularly exposed to print or other forms of media.
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MARRIAGE AND FERTILITY
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Thirty-eight percent of women age 20-24 years got married before the legal minimum age of 18. Among young women age 15-19 in Jharkhand, 12 percent have already begun childbearing, that is, they have already had a live birth or are pregnant with their first child, down from 28 percent in NFHS-3. Teenage childbearing is twice as common in rural areas (14%) as in urban areas (7%). Young women who have no schooling are more than thrice as likely to have begun childbearing as young women with 12 or more years of schooling.
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EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS
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In Jharkhand, 32 percent of all women age 15-49 were employed in the 12 months preceding the survey (NFHS-4).
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GENDER ROLES
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In Jharkhand, 30 percent of women believe it is justifiable for a husband to beat his wife under some circumstances, more so among ever-married women (31%) than never married women (25%).
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
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Among all women age 15-49 in Jharkhand, 30 percent have experienced physical violence since age 15, and 7 percent have ever experienced sexual violence. In all, 31 percent of women have experienced physical or sexual violence.
PROJETCS
HEALTHY NARI
This project is a healthcare initiative which organizes free-health checkup camps at various places in rural Jharkhand. It also organizes awareness campaigns on issues related to female hygiene and sanitation.
PROJECT SAKSHAM
Project Saksham is an education initiative targeted at adult rural females in the state of Jharkhand. Age is never a barrier to education. We seek to provide opportunities to women to educate themselves and engage in the larger society-economic discussions.
PROJECT VIDYA
Project Vidya aims at providing quality education to girls in the state of Jharkhand. It includes providing remedial classes as well as setting up schools at remote areas in the state of Jharkhand.