Appeal

SAK is presently involved in following programs and need programmatic support to reach out to women victims of violence effectively and efficiently and advocate their issues at state and national level. A comprehensive support is welcome to work holistically on gender and advocacy issues concerning violence against women and their empowerment:

• 1) Family Counseling and legal aid:

  SAK through its counseling services provide social and legal counseling services to more than 100 women in distress and affected due to various forms of violence and ensure her complete rehabilitation. We have counseling centers at Pune, Mumbai, Baramati, Latur, Umerga (Osmanabad), Solapur, Aurangabad. The support required for counseling centers, family and legal counselors.



• 2) Anti trafficking awareness, networking and advocacy:

  SAK has been involved closely in addressing the trafficking amongst women and girls at its source, transit and destination points and also works in coordination with local communities, railway police and department of women and child development in potential areas in Maharashtra. A regular dialogue is held with law enforcement agencies in the state to combat trafficking and strictly enforcement of legal provisions against peeps, agents and traffickers. There is no let up in the issue as traffickers are using modern technology in trafficking girls and women. By one estimate over 1 lakh girls go missing or forced into prostitution every year from Maharashtra and Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh boarders alone due to acute poverty, luring and false promises or marriage or employment and are sold in the brothels. There is need of working at source, transit and destination places. SAK also wants to work international cross borders as many girls from India, Nepal and Bangladesh are trafficked to middle east, Africa and Europe illegally who end up found in brothels. There is need of working with empbasies and local NGOs in those countries.



• 3) Gender Responsive budgeting with urban and rural areas

  SAK has worked with metropolitan authorities of Mumbai, Aurangabad, Solapur and Pune and have successfully increased GRB budget of these authorities to address women's issues of health, education and other needs. SAK has also established Swaymsidha Forums in villages of Aurangabad, Solapur and Pune providing women elected to self governing bodies at 3 tier of village, block and district and discuss the ways and means of increasing budgets of local bodies to meet women's gender justice needs within the purview of the self governing bodies. There is need of training of elected representatives to metropolitans and also in rural areas especially women on GRB concept and also advocate for mainstreaming GRB in the budget of all self governing bodies and state ministries.



• 4) Women's political empowerment:

  Although 33% reservations are given to women in local self governing bodies women are not able to enjoy their rights in true sense due to gender discrimination and too much men domination at these governance bodies. SAK has been working with elected women representatives in urban and rural areas building their capacities to help them exercise their own rights in true letter and spirit of law under PRI Act 1993 which provides for 33% reservations for women. By one estimate there are over 125,000 elected women to village, block and district councils who need comprehensive capacity building inputs to participate in decision making processes and contribute in the development processes.



• 5) Training and capacity building of civil society, government, law enforcement agencies and law practitioners in gender issues and their sensitization on viewing all their work from gender justice perspectives:

  This is the basic aim with which SAK works. There is need of sensitizing similar minded organizations (who although willing but lack information and skills to address gender issues), police, development departments concerning women and girls and also counselors and legal practitioners with progressive laws and their role and responsibilities in giving gender justice to women in distress. SAK organizes series of workshop for these important stakeholders and need to continue in the lights of increase spate of VAW despite progressive polices, acts and programs. On this background sensitization of all concerned is expected from experienced NGOs such as SAK.



• 6) Mobilisation of government programs and schemes meant for women:

  SAK is directly operational in some of the rural and urabn areas in Latur, Osmanabad, Solapur and Pune district which are mainly drought prone and backward in terms of human and development indices. There is need of equipping our teams and women's CBOs with public services meant for poor households in general and women in particular. There is also need of sensitizing government development departments and activate them to work to their potential and reach the development schemes to poor women households with respect to agriculture, housing, bank credits for self employment, child education, health, Public Distribution System, employment guarantee, etc.



• 7) Contribute in policy analysis and drafting, commenting and suggesting appropriate gender just policies:

  SAK is actively involved not only in demanding the progressive and gender just policies but also anlyses and give suggestions to state to incorporate gender approach in drafting the policies. The founder chairperson of SAK has contributed in drafting Maharashtra State Policies in 1994, 2001 and now 2013. SAK also anlayse the budgets of state government and suggest and demand increase in budget for women's cause. SAK also assist other networks working for rights of poor and marginalsied, especially indigenous communities and contribute in their demands too for the appropriate policies. We now plan to set up a full-fledged Public Policy Analysis Wing and work closely with government and grassroots CSOs to bring in grassroots perspectives to government policies and anhual budgets to address root cause of poverty and impotently the gender discrimination.



• 8) Advocacy for appropriate legal framework for gender justice and women's empowerment:

  This is an ongoing program of SAK and is one of the leading organizations in demanding progressive and gender just policies of the state aimed at women's empowerment to help them enjoy equal status with men in the society. As referred in sections under previous fields of this website SAK was and has effectively contributed in demanding and ensuring gender just policies. The work need to be continued ensure appropriate implementation of policies and also demand more progressive policies to protect strategic gender needs of women and immediate relief in the case of distressful conditions of women.



• 9) Research and study on gender issues:

  This has been one of the strengths of SAK from the beginning and has published a number of books, booklets, posters and dossiers highlighting women's issues, concept of gender justice, policies and practices and importantly international and UN processes and played a resource organization's role for grassroots women's groups appraising them with progressive decisions taken by UN system in empowerment of women. SAK need support to write and publish information in books and booklets forms on present issues affecting rights of women and appraise all concerned about gender discrimination and need of making policies gender just

Partnership Appeal: Associate with us

SAK is presently working on above programs in rural and urban Maharashtra and need ongoing long term support to executive these programs and related advocacy and is looking out for partnerships with national, international, bilateral organization, foundations and individual donors for its initiatives amongst women for their empowerment and facilitating self help development processes. SAK is adequately equipped legally to accept foreign donations from these agencies and individuals.

There are number of processes of evolved from execution of above cited programs and need to be taken to their logical end especially advocating for mainstreaming and incorporation of Gender Responsive Budgeting, political empowerment of women and demand full proof policies to end all forms of violence against women and gender including trafficking. We appeal and invite donor agencies to support these ventures. We do not merely believe on funding but a true partnership to address the age old issues of gender discrimination.

SAK is also looking out for support for direct help to victims of various forms of violence, who approach SAK for support, to help them come out of trauma and live a life of dignity, confidence and an economic self sufficient life. Individuals, agencies and corporate may like to help women in distress who are victims of domestic and other forms of violence by contributing your financial support to our work. Full-fledged proposals will be submitted once program and partnership means are discussed.

Support to Individual sisters who are victims of violence:



• Sister Support Fund Rs. 2000.00: This support will be used for a victim of domestic violence which would include registration of case, social and psychological counseling meetings, legal guidance, need based home visits and compromise documents when case is settled.


• Sister legal aid Fund Rs. 4000.00: In case the victim of domestic violence still needs further support if she do not get relief from family counseling services as above and if she continues to suffer due to domestic violence then she will be given legal aid to file a case in court of law for divorce and Maintenance. This amount is to be used for this purpose.


• Sister Development Fund Rs. 10,000.00: Service to such cases where woman in distress need immediate financial support for her and her family members for legal procedures, short stay facility (Home), education or skill development training