Eighteen-year-old Rupa Kumari (name changed), a survivor of human trafficking, fought the age-old tradition of child marriage in her family and also convinced her father against the practice of dowry.
A student of Class 12 in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in backward Burmu block of Ranchi, Rupa was trafficked to Patna when she was nine-year-old and forced to work as a domestic help. Today, not only has she changed the outlook of her family towards child marriage and dowry, but she also spreads awareness against child marriage among hundreds of girls in her village. Rupa has also won the Ashoka Youth Venture award for her efforts.
Similarly, Kavita Kumari Singh, 17, another Class 12 student of the same school in Burmu, fought for the rights of her elder sister to remarry after she was widowed at a young age. Kavita’s efforts to press for her widowed sister’s remarriage made her realise the pitiable condition of widowed and divorced women in her village. She then started a crusade to propagate the idea of widow remarriage in her village.
Girls from KGBV in Burmu block are readily turning into crusaders to spread awareness about child rights and propagating progressive ideas of widow remarriage in the otherwise backward villages, plagued with superstitious beliefs and traditions. Not only have these girls brought a change in their villages, but they have also encouraged other girls of their age raise their voices and fight for their rights, say activists who have played active role in their journey from being oppressed to fighting against oppression.
Save The Children, an international organisation working in the field of child rights for several decades, started imparting Life Skill Education to students of KGBV, under which the girls were given counseling sessions that helped them change their outlook towards life. The sessions were started three years ago in three districts – West Singbhum, Gumla and Ranchi—said Save the Children’s State Programme Director, Mahadev Hansda.
“The idea was not only to make them (girls) aware of child and women rights, but also to give them a platform where they could open up and speak about the various practices in their society. In many cases, girls tend to accept that they are supposed to be treated the way they are in their community and do not find anything wrong in it. Our objective was to make them aware of their rights and help them raise their voice,” said Hansda.
Many of these girls, including Rupa and Kavita, are now discussion leaders in the groups and are helping in the process of making their peers aware of their rights, Hansda added. The process, he said, is continuous and aimed at generating mass awareness.
Rupa, who won the Ashoka Youth Venture award said, “It feels great to be able to help my peers and spread awareness against child marriage. My parents now support me in all my initiatives. I want to join the police service and serve the society.”
At 49 per cent, Jharkhand has the highest proportion of girls aged 15-19 years currently married, says a 2017 report, ‘More than Brides Alliance: A Baseline’ by non-profit organisations Population Council, Save The Children and Oxfam.