Articles

Resourcing Social Justice: Understanding Philanthropy in India

By:- Tulika Srivastava, ED South Asia Women's Fund

Resourcing Social Justice: Understanding Philanthropy in India was written as a response to Philanthropy in India by Caroline Hartnell. The author highlights the need for a larger discussion on philanthropy and social justice. She recognises Philanthropy in India as a necessary first step in mapping social justice philanthropy in India, but calls for developing this work further. She also discusses various types of giving and challenges the notion that all types of giving are the same. She discusses the idea of arms-length philanthropy and how it allows for a partnership for long term social transformation. Finally, she emphasizes the role of the state in ensuring that social justice work is adequately funded, either by directly allocating resources or by creating an environment that promotes and enables social justice initiatives to access required funds. 

The Right to Work: Women, Men and Gendered Labour

By:- Tehani Ariyaratne, South Asia Women’s Fund

It is no secret that the Sri Lankan economy is being carried on the backs of women, not just those who engage in low paid, insecure, informal sector work, but those who create the enabling environment for others to work – the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, unmarried daughters who do the bulk of the care work – the cooking, cleaning, child care, elder care – only to be classified as “unemployed” in the labour force statistics. This gender division of labour and larger gender discrimination runs deep through our society, propped up by the archaic notions that women are biologically more suited to bring up children, more capable of house work, and better at managing household finances. It also leads to an instrumental view of a woman – a tool which nurtures and protects children, provides direct access to sex for the husband, and maintains the harmony of the household. Within this pretty picture, the woman as an individual with rights, dignity, ambition, dreams and needs of her own, is ignored.

A New Milestone in Our Journey

By:- Tulika Srivastava, ED South Asia Women's Fund

With the first edition of our newsletter, I am extremely excited to share South Asia Women’s Fund’s (SAWF) expansion to South East Asia and Mongolia! Founded in 2004, South Asia Women’s Fund’s focus has been on ensuring resources for women’s rights organisations in the region to enable the realisation of women’s rights agendas. After 12 years of work in South Asia, we had before us a critical opportunity to expand our work and reach out to 18 countries in Asia – which we seized, with full knowledge of the added responsibilities that will entail!

The expansion brings with it larger grant-making, our strengthened ability to link our partners to different ideas, strategies and challenges- therefore, building stronger networks, amplifying feminist voices and ensuring grassroots mobilisation for rights in Asia.

National Sex Workers' Rights Consortium, India

By:- South Asia Women's Fund

The conflation of trafficking and sexual exploitation with sex work distorts the discourse on sex workers’ rights. South Asia Women’s Fund has been focused on challenging the traditional anti-trafficking discourse by supporting rights based interventions that amplify the voices and decisions of women in sex work. One such intervention is the consortium of the National Network of Sex Workers (NNSW) that involves sex worker collectives, networks and federation members in seven states of India (Gujrat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka). NNSW, in partnership with Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM) is strengthening sex worker-led interventions, building cross movement alliances for secure livelihoods and accessing affirmative action and justice.

A Feminist Football Club for Equality and Peace in Thailand

By:- Anticha Sangchai, Co-Founder Buku Classroom

This is the story of a group of people who kick the ball to promote gender equality and SOGIE rights in an area of armed conflict. Buku Classroom or Buku’s Gender, Sexuality and Human Rights Classroom, a grassroots organisation based in Pattani, started to raise social awareness on gender, sexuality and human rights for gender equality and justice in 2013. The organisation began as a small classroom in a bookshop - Buku Books & More (Buku is a Malay word meaning book) - where people came to discuss and learn about gender, sexual diversity and human rights issues. The classroom moved to the football pitch in 2015 as a part of the national campaign to stop violence against women and girls. In August 2016, Buku Football Club was founded officially with the slogan “Football for Peace and Equality”. Buku Classroom's co-founder writes about working in a difficult context and how they are promoting equality and feminism through football!