Advocacy workshop on Pre-Birth Sex Selective Elimination of Female Foetus

South Delhi - 10th August 2005

As part of the outreach program for school teachers of Delhi, intensive advocacy workshops were held in the South and the West zones of Delhi. These workshops were organized and hosted by Datamation Foundation, in support from the Population Foundation of India. The purpose was to bring the issue of Pre-birth Elimination of Females (PBEF) and Sex Selective abortion of female foetus in sharper focus and initiate intensive sensitizing of teachers and students, so that they act as a catalyst for bringing about change, spreading awareness and helping in bringing about attitudinal changes towards girls and gender discrimination. The rationale to target school teachers and students was that teachers are always looked up on as one of the main source of information by the students, and constitute big stake in building society. Some objectives we thought that schools could meet up are suggested below:

The second workshop was held for public schools of South Delhi at Guru Harkrishan Public school (Vasant Vihar). The workshop saw the participation of eight teachers and sixteen students from five schools of the area (Annex 1). The workshop was conducted by Brig. Y R Maindiratta, Mrs. Sarita Sharma and Ms. Divya Jain. The workshop was developed into six sessions, the entire curriculum, and procedure being participatory and interactive, with simulated exercises, presentations, and group discussions. The participants were given rich background material to be able to get familiar with the issue. (Annex 2 – Concept paper) Consequently an advocacy kit containing the following was developed.

Learning from the first workshop made us start this workshop at 9:00 a.m so that we start early and are able to wind up early. This was because both the teachers and students were willing to stay only till the school hours.

Session 1 – Registration and inaugural session
At 9:00 a.m the workshop was inaugurated by Mr. H.S Minhas (Principal, Guru Harkrishan Public school) by lighting the lamp followed by a brief speech on the criticality of the issue. It was very encouraging to hear and know that Principal of the host school was well versed about the issue. Brid. Maindiratta took over from here and briefed the participants about the campaign itself and the work Datamation Foundation is doing. A brief on the workshop goals and objectives was also spelt out via a brief presentation (Annex 3). Prior to the commencement of the workshop, pre-workshop evaluation forms were distributed among the participants to gauge their understanding of the issue and their expectations from the workshop. The participants spent about 20 minutes in filling up the forms, after which a round of formal introductions of the participants began.

Session 2 – Current scenario
This activity was followed by a presentation by Brig. Maindiratta on the status report of the child sex ratio, followed by description of the child sex-ratio in the states of India in both high and low prosperity areas (state/town). Here he also went on to discuss the scenario in India prevailing for the last five years, in terms of drop in the sex ratio. He then moved on to discuss the Delhi specific pattern and elaborated the effects of this decrease in CSR and its impact on the society, especially on the Girl Child. Some newspaper clippings and case studies were shared with the participants, which got them interested to share their own examples and instances. This session thus became a very interactive and experience sharing platform.

Session 3 – Simulation Activities – Exercise “Aap ke Vichar” and “Soch Vichaar”
A brief simulation activity was introduced here. This was a participatory exercise and each participant had to be an active player. It was also an energizer for the group and even worked as an ice-breaker. The purpose of this activity was to generate interest about the issue, and help the participants know each other, develop confidence, and become a trustful team member of the group. What was required under this activity was that all participants had to write their views and stereo types on the issue of gender inequality on the chart paper and present it with a brief explanation to the group. This exercise was followed by another simulation activity – Soch Vichaar (Annex 4), and a simultaneous tea break. For this activity the participants were divided into four groups (each having both teachers and students). Each group was provided a chart paper to write up on CSR, Pre-birth elimination of female foetus and share their experiences of sex selective abortions either in their families or around them.

The activity resulted in bringing about the main reasons and cause responsible for decline in CSR, its emergence and consequences, in sharper focus. The groups suggested ways about how they will spread awareness about campaign against pre-birth elimination of females and sex selective abortions.

Session 4 – Factors and solutions to the problem
Brig. Y R Maindiratta presented the various factors and solutions to the problem and explained the phenomenon of sex preferential (Annex 5). The presentation covered the following issues:
a) Gender discrimination
b) Child Sex Ratio of 10 most populous countries
c) Government policies and systems
This was a detailed presentation, a participatory one that led to discussions, generated a concerned interest among the participants, and helped in understanding the causes and consequences that leads to sex selective abortions, the policies made by the Government, its implication and the current CSR of India in respect to 10 most populous countries. In terms of remedies and implications of the problems, excellent responses came from both the teachers and students. This was also a group activity whereby the participants were divided into four groups and were involved in noting down the causes and solutions to this menace. The participants also shared with us some real life case studies. Some of the causes that the participants came up with:
a) Illiteracy
b) Family name
c) Male child brings financial stability and status to family
d) Last rites at the time of death to be performed by male/son
e) Dowry demand and low status of daughter
f) Ownership of property
g) Patriarchal society
h) Inferior status accorded to women

Some solutions were also suggested by the groups. These were:
1. Greater awareness generation on the issue of female foeticide specifically and gender inequality broadly
2. Enforcement of strict laws
3. Award for people reporting / informing about such cases
4. Rise in the level of education
5. School syllabus to be more gender sensitive
6. Work atmosphere to be not based on gender discrimination

At 11:45 a.m the group was departed for brunch that was organized in the school canteen. An early lunch was thought of so that the teachers and students can get free earlier and leave for their homes on time. Also due to this reason the content of the workshop was shortened and made more crisp.

Session 5 – Website demo
After the brunch break the participants gathered back for a demonstration on the website www.indiafemalefoeticide.org by Mrs. Sarita Sharma and Ms. Divya Jain. During this the participants were enriched with the various features of the portal and the content carried on in each page. The participants were given a chance to surf the website and its various features. Discussions revealed that the participants were interested and happy to know about such a website where they could cases against erring doctors.

Session 6 – Medico-legal aspects
At 12:30 p.m a 15 minutes session on the medico-legal aspects of the issue was conducted by Ms. Divya Jain. She laid out the most critical points of the PCPNDT Act, brining to light the do’s and don’ts under the act.

Final wrapping up was done by asking the participants to put down their thoughts on how they plan to take this message forward. Each of the four groups which were formed were given 10 minutes to compile their thoughts and action plan and share it with other groups. This was followed by gauging feedback from the participants via post-workshop evaluation forms. After the collection of the forms the workshop was brought to a close at about 1:30 p.m with a brief lecture by Brid. Maindiratta on Pre-birth Elimination of Females and how the participants can be active members of the campaign against pre-birth elimination of females.

Conclusion / Analysis
As per the Pre-workshop responses gathered from eight teachers, it was found the teachers had some prior expectations from the workshop. They expected the workshop to be a platform for knowledge sharing on the issue, for knowing ways to check this menace and to know about the scale and extent of the problem. Prior to the workshop we gauged that the teachers were not well informed about the issue. While only four were able to explain female foeticide, only two knew about the practice of female infanticide. None of the teachers were able to explain CSR and could not tell the district of Delhi with least CSR. Five teachers could tell the full form of PNDT, and almost all knew about the techniques used for Pre-Natal sex determination. Three of the participant teachers thought that abortion was not legal in India. These teachers had little idea of where to report cases of female foetiide and which are the organizations working on this issue. Sixteen students who filled up the pre-workshop evaluation forms, strongly put forward their desire to check this menace. It was very encouraging to note that all these students knew about female foeticide and infanticide, and knew the full form of PNDT. Most were also aware of the commonly used technique for Pre-birth sex determination. On the other hand however, it is disheartening to note that 12 out of 16 students thought that abortion was not legal in India.

Post-workshop analysis revealed that both the participant teachers and students were of the view that the workshop content and coverage was very good, and the time management and administrative arrangements were good. After the workshop, all the participants sounded more confident and well educated about this problem, and were more vocal and bold in extending their hand towards eradicating this menace. Each participant came up with their own unique ideas to carry forward this message within their own means and strata. Most pledged that they would report cases of this heinous crime to the organization whenever they come across any. Teachers pledged to spread this message to their students and help them lead a morally and ethical healthy life, some suggested that they would hold similar workshops in their schools. Teachers and students also promised that they would ensure that this crime does not take place among their own family, relatives, and friends.