Support us for our New Project on Establishing a Gender Resource Center.

We at New Life with networking NGOs in Tamilnadu have been working on various rights based issues in empowering women. The women in Tamilnadu are vulnerable and voiceless, with a low literacy level, suffer from malnutrition and discrimination and are victims of violence at various stages. They need education on every aspect and support in terms of health, nutrition, legal and medical support at times particularly, when they are victims of violence. They are poor and exploited, hence, need intensive livelihood support. We have carried out a situation analysis in most backward districts in Tamilnadu and have visualized setting up a Gender Resource Center to reach out to the women in distress.A concept of Gender Resource Center (GRC) has been developed for a place which offers support facilities to women in distress, as victims of Domestic Violence, Trafficking, need shelter, health support including counseling on HIV/AIDS, human rights, legal literacy on their rights, education on Banking services and agricultural improvements, food, child support, economic and social rehabilitation. The reasons being the Government’s shelter homes are much less in number, the support mechanism with Protection Officers is not adequate to reach out to large masses of women in the remote rural areas. It is imperative that the civil society takes up the issue and have a synergy with the Government in implementing the Domestic Violence Act.A Gender Resource Center would be a single window operation that would enable women to have a ready support base at times of distress, have all information and support at one center and get collective support of the Panchayats, the Self-help Groups and the core committee of New Life. The objectives of GRC will be:To provide a platform to women;To provide a Single Window of facilities ( Legal, Medical, Nutritional support besides shelter, child and livelihood support) to women victims of violence in rural areas;To offer advice and services to women in distress;To support women on the rights based issues;We need the knowledge base and support of the members of the gender community in providing us with insights of:Successful examples of Institutional mechanisms of similar Gender Resource Centers;Provide insight into sustainability aspects in terms of participation, resource mobilization and management issues in running the GRC successfully;Please suggest ways of establishing a participatory mechanism in working with the Department of Women and Child Development in implementing DV Act through the GRC.Your innovative ideas and models would help us to design our Gender Resource Center. Your inputs will help us in framing up our strategies and launch the Gender Resource Center. We shall give due credit to the Gender Community’s contributions.