General Context

Sangat is a feminist network housed under JAGORI, New Delhi which connects feminist individuals and organizations across South Asia. Sangat was created in the year 1988 April at a workshop of gender trainers, held in Bangladesh and organized by FAO-NGO Programme. Sangat is the product of realization of the fact of steady declination of transformatory gender work. Sangat’s work is focused on bringing about a large cultural shift in large scale. They are driven by the motto to dismantle the patriarchy and building a gender just world.

They start off by working on an individual and focus on bringing women from diverse background together at one place and hold feminist capacity building courses. The major idea to do so is to make the individuals who are not able to express pliably realize that there are several others who are facing the issues and problems of patriarchal concerns. By bringing the individuals together, Sangat brings together individuals who are not vocal and intends to change their perception. The courses designed by Sangat brings the people in contact with resource person and experts who talks about gender and patriarchal construction and its impact on the people. They believe that development, democracy ad peace are possible with the development of identity and perspective. Hence,  there they are surrounded by others also and then they realize that these problems problems/issues faced by women the patriarchal concerns , even though they are not able to express it , that what has been plaguing them is a larger systematic patriarchal society, they spend their life thinking  something is wrong with them , which the courses designed by Sangat intends to change , by bringing together these people and bringing them in touch with resource person, experts who talks about how gender and patriarchy is constructed and its impact hoping that the networks will be able to bring a larger change.

Advocacy Agenda Setting

Agenda

Major things that Sangat have been focused on is VAW which is the issue that they have been working on, since 2013 and have really picked up campaigning. For instance in 2017 they have campaigned for property for her and in 2019 campaign against unpaid care work only for women. They are not advocating with state, they have a very cultural approach, it is about connecting people and trying to bring about a change in their thinking. Cultural advocacy, they are not seeking for any legal changes or policy level change, they believe in bringing change in the culture. Sangat holds cultural events, recently they just concluded a 4 month long film festival and which was on the issue of environmental activism. And for the entire 4 months they were engaging with the people on how to build alternatives to capitalist patriarchal paradigm. So they are a network that promotes ideas rather than other form of activism.

Participation and Representation

Sangat work has a specific pedagogy that they follow and as for their courses it has been there for 20 years which is really focused on bringing people together and immersing them in an environment that makes them comfortable and not just unidirectional flow of information from resource person to the participants but rather it is about a community being there for a month and learning from each other by sharing experience and not a monotonous classroom like setting where the resource person would share their information and it’s a very specific pedagogy. From the seating arrangement and training methods they prefer the learning to be multidirectional. With time the passage of time the agenda of the course has also changed, they  have included contents that are more relevant to the current context such as on digital activism and feminism and building a feminist internet. There are 3 member secretariat and apart from the secretariat there is a core group which is essentially 24 feminist leaders across south asia in who are representation from all over south asia are engaged in the agenda setting. Burning issues and the voice of marginalized are taken into consideration during the agenda setting.

Strategies for mobilizing and collectivizing

Strategies

they mostly utilize art, art based activism, song , dance, theatre.

In terms of participants , who will come to the course We have a specific criteria: geography, ethnicity, minority groups, non-binary gender and then in a way majority population of the country , power equation shift is also taken into account balance is ensured to set a comfortable environment,  Commitment to social justice is proven. The course varies according to the target group, Impromptu Session, refreshment session.

Sangats have various courses and campaign programs. They are a network of more than 800 individuals and organization and these network take initiatives to hold campaigns. They have campaigns like VAW, property for her, people join their campaigns and it is how they function.

Their work is on building an individual’s conceptual understanding. And then providing such individuals with the support systems which they might not have in their personal and professional. Some might have no idea where to go with such problems, where to even find such people who would understand them, shared common issues who would understand what they are going through. That is why Sangat first of all builds and strengthen a conceptual understanding make them understand that there is a problem and to acknowledge the existence of the problem in the society, they are the part of the society and how can they change it. That is a journey that a person has to go through, then Sangat provides women engaged with a support system which is essentially within their networks, they have a really strong groups and they are always there with each other in different capacities, every course comes with their alumni group and which has become more stronger with the time due to the advancement of the technology. When the person comes to their course they not only get connected to their peers who are working in various CSOs but also will come into contact with the feminist experts who have to the course and will come into contact with the campaigns and this link with the feminist becomes the support system.

Case Study  : BLAST

General Context

BLAST, a legal service organization situated in Bangladesh not only raises its voice against the discrimination against women but also combats liberally against all kind of irregularities that exists in the society.  BLAST has gained proven expertise in providing legal aid to the disadvantaged and marginalized people. The organization regularly undertakes awareness programs, on various legal issues for the members of its community. The organization which has been working for access to justice uses practice frameworks such as Public Interest Litigation which are women-centered and situates women’s experiences within a broader context of gender and power.

The vision of the organization clearly illustrates the transformation they seek through their work such as activism and advocacy which challenges the social, political, economic and legal structures that oppress women and other diverse gender. They have various projects such as Legal Reform for ending corporal punishment, access to justice for realization of human rights and advocacy of the poor, increasing participation of women in establishing their rights, legal empowerment of gender diverse communities, expanding participation of people with disabilities, their diverse nature of work reflects their dedication in making an impact on the life of diverse target groups. Through seminars, issue based meetings with NGO representatives, judges, lawyers and the media, awareness session with the community and target group, training, conducting public interest litigation, collaboration with the government and other non-government organizations BLAST works to redress fundamental differences in power or structural inequities that exist on the basis of gender.

Advocacy Agenda Setting

Agenda

The main advocacy agenda carried by BLAST is to address discriminatory laws and practices, activate existing laws and judgments,  seek law and policy reforms and institutional changes. They strongly believe that their agenda works for the transformation of the discriminatory social norms/ behavior/ practice. As per their agenda they are certain that they address majority of the gender discriminatory laws, acts, rules and regulations and propose to amend/reform/omit those discriminatory provisions. Through seminar, training and awareness session BLAST tries to raise awareness of the target group regarding both of their constitutional rights and fundamental rights. While some of their advocacy agendas strategies are planned beforehand, around core issues of concern that are specific to their local context, they themselves appreciate that the contexts are always changing. They recognize the ways in which injustices and inequalities might be different in certain communities, and might also intersect for girls, women, gender-non-conforming individuals and any other person across marginalized communities. They understand that holistic advocacy for the protection of human rights through promoting equality, access to justice and non-discrimination must be aligned with global advocacy efforts, global feminist agendas and international human rights practices. BLAST takes all of the aforementioned into account when designing and reviewing their advocacy agenda, to reflect shifting global strategies and perceptions, but also to ensure that their advocacy initiatives are able to best support their community members to exercise their rights. Hence, they believe to have seen a clear reflection of the multiple and shifting conditions of their advocacy agenda to their society and impact of global feminist agendas.

Participation and Representation

In terms of setting the agenda for advocacy, the advocacy and communication team designs the overall the agenda through a participatory way sharing with research and legal cell. During the time of setting the agenda they put importance upon the consultation with women and marginalized communities and proper incorporation of their views and experiences which BLAST derives from those consultations. To ensure the participation of women and marginalized communities in setting the agenda, they conduct issue-raising meetings and consultations with community members at local level, including representatives of various Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), to listen to their lived experiences and identify the key areas of concern and opportunities for advocacy. They also conduct FGDs and direct interviews with women and members of other marginalised communities subjected to rights violations, and have also conducted fact-finding missions. Likewise they hold consultations with government departments on key areas of law, policy and institutional reforms, and involve NGOs, civil society representatives and community representatives in the consultations to ensure concerns are raised with the appropriate stakeholders and the issues can be addressed. 

Rather than just a physical participation, BLAST provides a platform of sharing their opinion which is taken into consideration at the time of formulating the agenda. They believe that a motivated and efficient leadership is the pre-requisite to leading the process of agenda setting. They conduct interaction with the women and other marginalized and non-binary genders as well as issue based seminar, training, awareness session, disseminate information through radio show, booklet, facebook, media coverage, official website for ensuring their participation. According to BLAST the meetings usually take place on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly basis, in their official meeting room/ community’s preferred area/ rented auditorium, and taking the pandemic context into consideration through online video-conferencing platforms. They believe to have ensured the engagement of women from disadvantaged groups, like Dalit, ethnic communities, gender minorities through building networks and collaborating with NGOs and right based organisations directly working to eliminate exclusion of and discrimination against these communities and advocate for their rights. They have observed a positive change or transformation in power relation between and among diverse groups due to the encouragement of their participation. Due to which participation the diverse groups became aware about their constitutional and fundamental rights for which they are entitled as a citizen and also as a human being.

Strategies for mobilizing and collectivizing

Strategies

• Issue based seminars, meetings, capacity building trainings, sharing of lessons/experiences/challenges/best practices, media advocacy awareness sessions (including through radio shows), are some of the major strategies that have been taken to build the added strength. Yes, we think these strategies have entirely supported mobilizing women and marginalized communities for advocacy activities. All of our strategies – issue based seminar, meeting, training, lesson/experience sharing meeting, awareness session are properly worked for mobilizing and collectivizing. We, through our website, media coverage, issue based radio show and Facebook try to adequately informed women about the processes and opportunities related to advocacy, its strategies and impact on their lives.  Lack of awareness, non-secured environment, illiteracy, poverty, reluctance, family and social barrier curtails them to be part of advocacy and its process. Yes, we have been adopted the strategies for organizing and collectivizing   able to bring new condition in society and in the communities. These strategies aid to bring a positive transformation in the perspective of the society towards women. Yes, all the strategies adopted were non-violent and peaceful.

Role of Different actors

BLAST ensures that new coalition/network have been formed, such as: Right Here Right Now (RHRN: Gender Diversity), Rape Law Reform Coalition (RLRC)” 2020, Empowering left behind minority communities to effectively participate in the development process of Bangladesh (ELM) etc. They believe that all of the formed coalition are effective as the main object of the projects are to ensure equality and eliminate discrimination in marginalized community of their country. Lawyers, academics, researchers, trainers, legal facilitators, paralegals, advocacy officers and other expert staff are involved in advocacy activities. The whole advocacy team works together to achieve organisational goals and advocacy agendas. The advocacy team is responsible, firstly, for identifying emerging and contemporary advocacy issues, areas of discrimination (in law/policy/practice and within other social structures), and any incidents of human rights violations – this is done by the team through communication and engagement with various organisational partners and networks, reports and findings from other relevant teams within the organisation (e.g. Legal, Research, and project teams), review of offline and online media reports, and through follow-up on updates of previous or ongoing advocacy initiatives. The team then builds awareness on the above amongst marginalised communities and relevant stakeholders  through seminars, capacity building trainings (e.g. on feminist legal theory and practice - in organizing these, the advocacy team collaborates with the Training team and other relevant departments), radio shows, and awareness-raising meetings. The team also works with the Legal Team to ensure legal interventions with regard to human rights violations and to bring the issues to the attention of the courts, and disseminates court rulings, directions and guidelines through press releases / publications (e.g. information booklets), Facebook posts / radio show episodes / messaging on the organisation’s official website. The team also liaises with relevant govt. authorities and non-govt organisations on core advocacy issues by sharing recommendations for reforms, findings of research, and working together to design better policies, and also advocates with these organisations for the proper implementation of laws and court judgments. BLAST clarifies that the actors involved were highly interested in the transformation and change by eliminating oppressive patriarchal structure and practice that devalue girls and women in all their diverse identities as born or by choice. The actors rigorously and extensively engaged in the advocacy through their experience and expert knowledge, training try to raise awareness among the challenges and obstacles in the way of enjoying the fundamental rights. 

Gender Roles

The trend of women’s engagement in the collectivizing and organizing is emphasized upon the freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience and of speech, right to health, freedom of movement, right to choice, equal opportunity in the service sector, enjoy all the fundamental and constitutional rights without any discrimination. With the acquired strategies significant and successful changes in the condition and position of women in the society was observed. The men of Bangladesh has not been seen so progressive towards women’s engagement in the advocacy, however gradual positive change in perception could be observed of everyone towards the women engagement in the advocacy. The advocacy strategies have been very helpful in improving women’s mobility outside the house in the community.

Leadership

Leadership in BLAST is observed as an art and practice of motivating a group of people in order to achieve a common goal. Yes, they stood for inclusive, equitable governance structure of network/ coalitions that foster fair and equal treatment of girls, women and other disenfranchised groups in their diverse identities. When BLAST identifies any specific areas of injustice, or incidents of rights violations – where girls, women and individuals in other marginalized groups are facing injustice, inequality, irregularities and discrimination in every sphere of their lives, they protest these unlawful and unconstitutional activities, and at the same time, they design advocacy campaigns or initiatives to raise awareness against such rights violations, promote inclusion and equality, and build dialogue around the need non-discriminatory access to information and services to be able to exercise rights, and we also empower members of these marginalised communities to speak up against the violations and seek justice and remedies, through educating them on their legal, Constitutional and fundamental rights as citizens and as human beings, setting up spaces for them to raise concerns with stakeholders, and connecting them to services. Well-organized optimistic leadership has played a positive role in creating spaces that can inspire feminist organizations and their roles in the women’s advocacy activities. BLAST  is committed to building the capacity of other feminist organisations through networking and collaboration and they have always created a preeminent place for new generation who are fascinated and determined to take leadership. The young feminists are usually invited to attend in most of their events and are encouraged to share their view, experience, interest so that everyone can realize exact what young generation’s thought regarding their rights and what obstacle they face in enjoying their rights.

General Context

Muslim Personal Law Reform Action Group (MPLRAG) is a group of Muslim women who are primarily rights advocates, lawyers, researchers and writers. They are collectively driven by their personal experiences, their accountability to those whose stories they represent, and their commitment to a positive Muslim family law framework in Sri Lanka. The work of MPLRAG members is on a fully voluntary basis. MPLRAG major motivation is reform of discriminatory laws and practices that applies to every Muslim whom they regard as their very own in Sri Lanka.  It is their conviction that all Muslims in Sri Lanka, women and men, should have equal access to legal rights, justice and redress on matters of marriage and family.

MPLRAG follows various approach to their work to ensure justice, dignity and equality for all Srilankan Muslims, such as recognition of the diverse roles of the Srilankan Muslim women. They strongly believe that the action framework which they follow are women centric and situates the experiences of women within the broader context of gender and power. MPLRAG’s advocacy and lobby is based on in-depth and continual study of how the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) currently applies to Sri Lankan Muslims, of the inherent discriminations and injustices in the text of the legal provisions and of the practical difficulties in the Quazi court system and structure. Their advocacy and activism activity challenges the social and political legal structure that oppresses women and they have been rigorously working to bring a reform in the current existing structure which demands women’s experiences of the law, its implementation procedure and their just expectations must inform and shape the reform agenda. While the substantive law must ensure equality and justice for all, procedural law must be sensitive to needs of all members of the community including women.

Advocacy Agenda Setting

Agenda

MPLRAG, initially came together on bringing about reform to Muslim personal law, marriage and they had a very specific objective that “The MMDA must be reformed to guarantee justice and fairness as promoted by the spirit of Islam, to address ongoing grievances of Muslims and in relation to contemporary and diverse contexts of Sri Lankan Muslims”.  The MMDA was a well-recognized issue and group of determined volunteers willing to bring a transformation in the MMDA laid out a set of demands which was the agenda setting moment for them. MPLRAG believed that the demands were more than what any other Muslim group had been asking for. The document was a collective voice of all. The demands covered the issue of age of marriage, women in Quazi court positions, regarding MMDA application, capacity to enter the marriage, dowry, polygamy, and provisions related to divorce, due to which MPLRAG action was considered as the radical voice. Hyshyama said that acknowledgement of the document by the government itself and being called to the committee to

represent the community and push the agenda further has been one of the major achievement and a step towards transformation.

MPLRAG’s action created a space for other groups for the reform. MPLRAG took a very complex issue and simplified them for public consumption due to which it made a huge impact over the young muslim women women, and non-muslim women because a wave of awareness was created and allies were created. Speaking of the engagement of diverse women group, space for non-binary gender identity has not been recognized by the law in general in Srilanka due to which their engagement in the agenda has not been seen.

Participation and Representation

In terms of agenda setting, there is no formal structure in MPLRAG, initially the demands were set by the core team and during the process the voice of the marginalized, underprivileged, the lived realities were brought up in the conversation were taken into account through consultation and collaborative approach with every groups. The participation of the stakeholders pre-pandemic had always been active and physical however post pandemic the participation has been mostly online. The response to indication has always been positive due to the sense of solidarity among all. The policy makers and decision makers are also involved in the meetings. The participation of all the stakeholders are ensured by MPLRAG through constant communication and the venue for the meetings and consultation workshop are always considered and accessible to all. Mutual leadership has been observed, the networks have played a very supportive role. Many community groups take initiatives to set agendas and carry out campaigns as MPLRAG have provided a space for all. MPLRAG has taken a leadership to respond to the state to preempt certain things, democratizing the information and keeping the networks well informed.

In terms of transformation of power relation among the diverse groups, there have been power sharing and power within among the groups. In terms of raising the issue nationally and media engagement due to the geographical setting the one who have access at center level are engaged and the ones working at the community level provide their support to the networks in the center by informing them about the issue at ground level and carrying out advocacy activities taking all the groups further and leaving no one behind,

Strategies for mobilizing and collectivizing

Strategies

Various strategies have been attained by MPLRAG in collaboration with their networks to address the muslim women issues. Some of the strategies have been demonstrated in the figure below:

The strategies acquired have been supported and reinforced by the work of many ground level activists and community based organizations. The organizations, activists working in common issues, shared understanding and similar experiences ere crucial aspects in building solidarity and cause to fight for justice. Likewise through various publications, case study, demand document, reports, position paper, stories about lived realities and online campaigns have contributed in creating awareness about the gendered issues affecting the community and dismiss myths about Islamic law. MPLRAG with their networks have meticulously been working on strengthening the existing quazi court system. Various women organizations linked with MPLRAG have undertaken legal literacy programs, capacitating and mobilizing community women to provide legal advice on the MMDA which has built a level of confidence in the muslim women. The advocacy and activism towards reforming the MMDA has primarily been led by muslim women however alliance with non-muslim women and men has been seen effective only while  they made an attempt to engage and understand the issue. The strategies adopted have always been non-violent and peaceful.

Role of Different actors

Several new networks are formed from time to time. The community activists, various network at the central region, community based organizations and MPLRAG have their own role to play in furthering the agenda(MMDA reform). The organizations at the center are responsible for communicating with the policy makers and communicate the networks at community and keep them well informed about the progress and ongoing situation. Likewise the community based networks are responsible for strengthening the relation at community level and sharing the issues of the ground level. Collaborative approach and solidarity has seen to be very effective in bringing transformation to some extent. Involvement of every actors have contributed

Gender Roles

The issue of MMDA is a common issue realized by all and the women engagement with MPLRAG in the MMDA reform have seen to be remarkable. Awareness can be observed through increase of participation in activism. However it was found out that the perception men regarding the women’s engagement in the advocacy is not taken positively. The strategies used to encourage the participation of women in the advocacy have brought some changes in the conditions of women in the society and have been helpful in improving the mobility of the women in their community.

Leadership

The women involved in the advocacy can be seen taking initiatives to shed light to the issue and spreading awareness. The women group have stood up for equitable governance structure of networks that fosters fair and equal treatment however in regards to the inclusiveness of the gender minorities , due to the conservative law their identity has not been recognized at all. The feminist organizations are committed in creating a space for women of every generation and have been determined to promote the voices of all.

Challenge Dominant Epistemology

Activists noted that the shared context of the issue faced by women have been seen crucial in building solidarity and a common cause for seeking justice and building a base for the future generation to help them stand for same and other agendas in the future.