Shyamal Balaji Lohar lives in a small village in Osmanabad, central India. The tin shack where the 17-year-old lives with her mother Kamal and her sister is basic. Poverty is evident in every corner. Sitting on the cool stone slabs, smiling, she cuts potatoes for the evening meal. Her mother stands proudly beside her. The two of them are together; it was only a matter of time before they were not.
Shyamal Balaji Lohand her mother, Kamal, are reunited in their home. But it was not to be.
I was sad and angry, but also totally powerless,” recalls Shyamal as she tells her story.
Shyamal is the second daughter of the Balaji family. Disappointed that he did not have a son, her father abandoned his wife, leaving her to support the family through a series of odd jobs. Often ill and raising two daughters alone, she struggled to protect them in a deeply patriarchal society. The eldest was married off while still a minor. Her husband turned out to be violent. To escape, she sought refuge with her mother and is now fighting for custody of her daughter.
When Shyamal was 16, her aunt brought visitors to their tin shack. A man, accompanied by his family, had come to “see” her. “When a man wants to get married, he and his family visit the girl’s home to decide if she would make a good wife,” Shyamal explains. “I felt sad and angry, but above all, completely powerless,” she recalls. Her mother, sick and at the end of her strength, reluctantly agreed to the marriage.
No other country in the world has as many underage marriages as India. According to Unicef, over 220 million girls are involved, 100 million of them under the age of 15. This despite the fact that child marriage has been legally prohibited in India since 1978, and reiterated in 2006 with new provisions.
Distress and poverty are the main causes of these marriages. “It’s a real scourge, with negative consequences for an entire generation,” stresses Sneha Giridhari, Gender Officer at SWISSAID’s office in India.
Shyamal Balaji Lohar refused to give in. She turned to the head of the local girls’ group, who set out to convince her mother. After reminding her that child marriage was illegal, she eventually succeeded in changing her mind. Under pressure, Shyamal’s mother abandoned the idea of marrying off her daughter.
Shyamal is one of the girls that SWISSAID and its partner organization have been able to protect from marriage over the past two years. Thanks to awareness-raising measures, 526 girls at risk were identified last year and 187 protected from the threat of child marriage.
“One of the important pillars of our project lies in peer education, or ‘Peer Educators’”, says Sneha Giridhari. In over 100 villages, SWISSAID, alongside its partner organizations, has trained interested people, networked them with specialists and set up youth centers. “In the villages, the group leaders are close to the girls and victims. They are often like friends. For the young girls concerned, help must be very easily accessible”, stresses the expert.
women and girls take courses dedicated to gender issues.
members from 80 villages took part in awareness-raising campaigns.
girls at risk were identified last year and 187 protected from the threat of child marriage.
Once a month, women who have benefited from the training in turn train the young people. In this context, issues relating to gender consent, domestic violence from the point of view of both perpetrators and victims, and the consequences of child marriage. Through songs, discussions, posters and role-playing, young people learn about the main steps towards an equal society for women and men. At the centers, girls and boys can also borrow books or read them on site. In addition, various training courses, such as computer skills and sewing, help young people to become self-sufficient.
Victims of violence are supported by mobile legal advice services, who provide them with the best possible advice. Female doctors and trained psychologists also accompany them in their rehabilitation. “The help covers a wide range of aspects and therefore has a lasting effect,” adds Sneha Giridhari.
SWISSAID also regularly lobbies public authorities to ensure that child marriage and violence against women are taken seriously in institutions.
Thanks to SWISSAID’s work, Shyamal’s life has changed. In the village girls’ group, she has met like-minded people and gained self-confidence. She goes to school and already has plans for the future: “I want to train as a nurse. That way, I’ll be able to support myself, my mother and my sister!”
This project is cofinanced by the European Union.
Thanks to the work of SWISSAID, the lives of Shyamal and many other young girls have changed. Like here, Pranchi Namdev Gore, a young girl who took part in the youth groups. An entire generation can now dream of a future of its own. And challenge the patriarchal norms still in force in too many regions.
