MFS Study. Bachelor’s thesis. Malmö university.
Klara Levin. Department of Health and Society.
Social work program. Spring 2019.
Photo: Shakthidhama.
TO EMPOWER OR TO STOP
STIGMATISATION?
- THE WORK OF THE SHAKTHIDHAMA
WOMEN’S REHABILITATION AND
DEVELOPMENT CENTER WITHIN INDIAN
SOCIETY.
KLARA LEVIN
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TO EMPOWER OR TO STOP
STIGMATISATION?
- THE WORK OF THE SHAKTHIDHAMA
WOMEN’S REHABILITATION AND
DEVELOPMENT CENTER WITHIN INDIAN
SOCIETY.
KLARA LEVIN
Levin K. To empower or to stop stigmatisation: The work of the Shakthidhama women’s rehabilitation and development center within Indian society. Bachelor’s Thesis in Social Work 15 ECTS. Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society,
department of Social Work, 2019.
This study highlights the social work dilemma of to what extent empowerment work with individuals can make a difference for their opportunities in society, if there is no change in society at large. The aim of the study is to gain a deeper understanding about how and to what extent professionals at the Shakthidhama womens’s rehabilitation and development center, find it possible to fulfil their vision of helping women in need to regain “their dignity and equality in the society”. That is, as long as attitudes in mainstream society are not mirrored in those promoted by the organisation; as long as exposed women get stigmatised in Indian society. This Minor Field Study used qualitative research method; in-dept, open-ended interviews were conducted with keypersons at the NGO
Shakthidhama, in Karnataka, India. Essential for the study are Maton’s (2008) definition of empowerment and Link and Phelan’s (2001) description of stigmatisation. The result shows that the professionals at Shakthidhama experienced societal impact over almost every area of work within the organisation. Power dynamics within processes of empowerment and
stigmatisation get examined, to arrive to a discussion about where to aim social work for change.
Keywords: Empowerment, gender equality, India, Karnataka, Shakthidhama, social work, stigmatisation.
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ATT JOBBA FÖR EMPOWERMENT
ELER EMOT STIGMATISERING?
- SOCIALT ARBETE PÅ SHAKTHIDHAMA
WOMEN’S REHABILITATION AND
DEVELOPMENT CENTER, INDIEN.
KLARA LEVIN
Levin K. Att jobba for empowerment eller emot stigmatisering?: Socialt arbete på Shakthidhama women’s rehabilitation and development center, Indien.
Examensarbete Socionomprogrammet, 15 ECTS. Malmö Universitet: Fakulteten för
hälsa och samhälle, Institutionen för socialt arbete, 2019.
Denna studie undersöker hur pass stor inverkan socialt arbete för empowerment kan ha för individers livsvillkor, om dessa individer samtidigt utsätts för
stigmatisering. Syftet med studien är att få en djupare förståelse för hur och i vilken utsträckning de verksamma på Shakthidhama women’s rehabilitation and development center finner det möjligt att förverkliga deras vision att stödja utsatta kvinnor att återfå sin ”dignitet och jämställdhet i samhället”. Undran springer ur att verksamhetens mål inte återspeglas i samhället i stort; utsatta kvinnor fortsätter att stigmatiseras i Indien generellt. Denna Minor Field Study är gjord med
kvalitativ forskningsmetod; djupgående, löst strukturerade intervjuer utfördes med nyckelpersoner på organisationen Shakthidhama, i Karnataka, Indien. Matons (2008) definition av empowerment samt Link and Phelans (2001)
konceptualisering av stigmatisering är ovärderliga för studien. Resultatet visar att de verksamma på Shakthidhama erfar att i princip varje del av deras arbete påverkas av samhälleliga strukturer. Maktrelationer inom empowerment- och stigmatiseringsprocesser undersöks för att landa i frågan kring vara socialt förändringsarbete ska rikta sitt fokus.
Keywords: Empowerment, gender equality, India, Karnataka, Shakthidhama, social work, stigmatisation.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE 6
BACKGROUND 7
Gender inequality in India and Karnataka 7
Shakthidhama 9
Social work – contradictions between individual- and societal focus 9
PREVIOUS RESEARCH 10
Empowerment-work for women 10
Housing and shelter 11
Involvement of men in equality work 11
Stigmatisation of exposed women 12
Women’s rights and the judiciary 12
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 13
Empowerment 13
Various definitions of empowerment 13
Challenges for empowerment in social work 14
Stigmatisation 15
Various definitions of stigmatisation 15
Stigmatisation and power dynamics 15
METHOD 17
Qualitative method 17
Sampling and limitations 18
Open-ended interviews 18
Transcribing 19
Themes and codes 19
Analysis 20
Ethical considerations and reflections 21
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 22
Shakthidhama’s work and women’s empowerment 23
Counselling 23
Shelter and safety 25
Work and salary 25
Involving the husbands and families 25
Girls’ hostel 26
Gender inequality 27
Sex trade 27
Stigmatisation of exposed women 27
Men 28
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The marriage- and joint family systems 29
Arranged marriages and love stories 29
Domestic violence 30
Strong in society, obedient at home 31
Collectivism 32
The judiciary and the police 32
Progressive laws, stagnant society 32
The police – help or hinder? 33
Poverty and education 34
DISCUSSION 35
REFERENCES 38
APPENDIX 1 – INTERVIEW GUIDE 41
APPENDIX 2 – INFORMATION LETTER 43
APPENDIX 3 – CONCENT FORM 44
APPENDIX 4 – APPLICATION FOR ETCHICAL REVIEW 45
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INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
This study is based on the work of the Shakthidhama Women’s Rehabilitation and Development Centre (in this study called Shakthidhama) which is situated in Karnataka, India. Their aim is to provide shelter and work to empower women who are in different exposed life situations. There are countless reasons to why women in India get in need of shelter. Gender inequality is prominent in Indian society; there are social, economic and legal practices that oppress women. Girls face more obstacles in education, work and life in general as compared to boys (Kethineni et. al. 2016). The gender discrimination starts even before birth; several girls get aborted or killed at birth because families prefer sons. Violence against women is frequent, both in public space as at home, and rape within marriage is not illegal (UD 2017). The patriarchal norms are so strong that abused women often get stigmatised and blamed for bringing violence on themselves. Many women do not report violence they undergo, neither search for help (Kethineni et. al. 2016). Still, there are women who seek shelter, or get into situations where they need shelter. Many of them get a bed at Shakthidhama. Shakthidhama is a well-established NGO which provides support to any woman who risks homelessness. Many of the women who come to Shakthidhama are victims of sexual abuse or some type of domestic violence. The vision of the organisation is to: “accommodate and help women in need, irrespective of their caste, creed and religion, and to support them in regaining their dignity and equality in the society through economic self-reliance”. Numerous women live, work, study, attend counselling sessions, among other things at Shakthidhama. The organization’s aim is to turn an urgent needfor shelter into women’s empowerment (Shakthidhama 2018).
Within the divergence between the situation in Indian society, and the goals of Shakthidhama, lies the root of this study. The aim is to gain a deeper
understanding about how and to what extent professionals at Shakthidhama find it possible to fulfil their vision of helping women in need to regain “their dignity and equality in the society”. That is, as long as attitudes in mainstream society are not mirrored in those promoted by the organization; as long as exposed women get stigmatised in Indian society. The study highlights the social work dilemma of to what extent empowerment work with individuals can make a difference for their opportunities in society, if there is no change in society at large. Power dynamics within processes of empowerment and stigmatisation gets examined, to arrive to questions about where to focus social work for change. Together with professionals at Shakthidhama those themes were discussed and the general questions that I brought into this field study were:
• How do professionals at Shakthidhama describe their work towards the vision of helping exposed women to “regain their dignity and equality in the society”?
• How do professionals at Shakthidhama describe the dynamics between empowerment work for, and stigmatisation of, exposed women?
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BACKGROUND
Below follows research, reports and surveys that outlines the context in which the study is related. You will find an overview of gender inequality in India, with special focus on domestic violence, since that is tightly connected with the work at Shakthidhama. Then the state of Karnataka, where Shakthidhama is seated, will be highlighted. Subsequently the work of Shakthidhama will be described.
Examples of previous discussions according contradictions between social work at individual- and societal level will be given, to illustrate from where this study takes a stand.
Gender inequality in India and Karnataka
India is struggling with extreme gender inequality, with frequent violence against women and not seldom death as the ultimate consequence (Kethineni et. al. 2016). Police records from the last decades even show an escalation of serious crimes against women (Verma 2017). Moreover, the prevalence of domestic violence is particularly high in India compared to most other countries (Krishnan et.al 2012). Studies report that 41% of the women in India have experienced domestic
violence during their lifetime (Kalokhe et. al. 2017). Research shows that
domestic violence is present among all groups of people in India. Although, there are some indicators for higher risk of experiencing domestic violence, those are: poverty, lack of education, being pregnant, living in rural areas and being in the earlier years of the marriage (Krishnan et.al 2012).
According to the researchers Inman and Rao (2018), the first period after marriage often makes the bride extra vulnerable for domestic violence. In India most brides will move to the husband’s family after marriage; she will be the new member in an already set family-constellation. She will be alone if the family gathers against her. The patriarchal system and hierarchal gender relations in India justify
violence against women by blaming them for small “mistakes”. Often the trigger is said to be that she has not made the household chores properly or has not been obedient enough to the parents-in-law. In many cases the bride is made to accept domestic violence (ibid.). 41% of the women in India figure that their husbands have the right to beat them and 35% even believe that a brutal beating is justified if they have neglected household shores (Himabindu et.al. 2015). In India the “joint-family-system” is very common; that the husband lives with his parents, brother’s and their families and unwed sisters. Not seldom the mother in law will be the one that harasses and executes domestic violence against the new wife (Krishnan et.al 2012). The frequent violence by other family members than the husband is kind of unique for India. Even the tools used for domestic violence are different from most other countries; stones, broomsticks and kerosene burnings are commonly used in India (Kalokhe et. al. 2017).
Now a more international problem has entered the Indian arena; the domestic violence has increased with an escalating number of alcoholism among men. It has escalated so quickly that alcohol consumption by husbands and thereon domestic violence has been described as the single most important problem for women in India today (Satyanarayana et. al. 2016). Most women’s organizations don’t deal with drunken husbands and overall there are very few institutions that do so (Inman & Rao 2018, p. 87).
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Another well-known trigger for domestic violence in India is the so-called dowry. That is money and gifts that the bride’s family give to the groom’s family at marriage. Since 1986 dowry is forbidden by law. If a woman is killed because of dowry issues; a so called “dowry death”, the murderer can get imprisoned for life. Anyhow, dowry is still frequently used. The groom’s family’s dissatisfactionwith the dowry commonly develops to domestic violence (Kethineni et. al. 2016). India also suffers from frequent female infanticides; that a foetus is killed because the baby is expected to be a girl (Kalokhe et. al. 2017). It is said that 50 million women are missing in India due to the frequent killings (Mahapatro et. al. 2011). What might seem puzzling is that the socio-economic improvements in India have not reduced the frequency of female infanticide. On the contrary, statistics show that female infanticides enlarge every year (Himabindu et.al. 2015).
There are other surprising facts on how the overall development does not include women. Even though India is a fast-growing economy, women in India are less likely to have a payed job than in any other country in the G20 (except from Saudi Arabia) (Dhar 2018). The female employment-rate is even decreasing and was down to 26% in 2018. Concurrently, Indian women do 90 % of the unpaid
domestic work (The Economist 2018). The researcher Dhar (2018) concludes that it is the deep-rooted gender inequalities that hinder the country’s economic growth from including women. Another great inconsistency is that the higher level of education an Indian woman has, the more unlikely she is to work away from home. One explanation to that is that if she is a highly educated girl, she is probably from a rich family, and will then almost certainly get married into a rich family. The richer an Indian household is, the more likely they are to prefer the women to stay at home. Another factor for the female unemployment is gender discrimination at the labour market and thereby a lack of suitable jobs offered to girls (Chatterjee 2018).
Karnataka, the South West state of India, where Shakthidhama is situated, is known for its historically liberal cultural attitude towards women (Pothukuchi 2001). To have good gender statistics compared to the rest of India does
unfortunately not mean that Karnataka is close to equality. Fewergirl babies get aborted or killed at birth than in India in general. Still, female infanticide is happening and has even increased; now 948 girls get born for every 1000 boys, compared to 960 in 1991. The fraction of women in Karnataka that complete secondary school is higher than the Indian average. Nevertheless, less girls than boys get education and 45% of rural women in Karnataka are illiterate. (World Bank Group 2017).
Notable for Karnataka is also the centuries old tradition of so-called Devadasis, sometimes referred to as “traditional sex workers”. Khan and colleagues (2018) have done research on the devadasi-system. They describe how young girls from “devadasi-families” undergo a marriage-like ritual in a Hindu temple. They then become “dedicated” to the temple and the career as a sex worker starts, within what is labelled as “sacred prostitution”. Though, the researchers show that when girls enter the devadasi system nowadays, it has little connection with temple rituals. Today, the focus is the money; the girls often bear responsibility for supporting their family economically. The girls habitually face severe pressure from their families to “become a devadasi” and they get pushed into it by different forms of structural violence. In Karnataka, various interventions with the aim to
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stop girls from getting dragged into sex work have started. Most of the projects aim to encourage the girls to get an education and thereafter another type of job (ibid.). One of the organisations that do so is Shakthidhama.
Shakthidhama
Shakthidhama Women’s Rehabilitation and Development Centre is an NGO established in 1997. Shakthidhama has the capacity to accommodate one hundred homeless women and it also accommodates hundred schoolgirls. Shakthidhama states that many women in India become homeless every year because of
domestic violence, rape, sexual assault and abuse. According to their website, the organization aims to prevent women from becoming victims of sex trade, which is a common outcome of homelessness (Shakthidhama 2018). Any woman who needs shelter will get a bed at Shakthidhama. Most of the women have some problem that prevent them from living in the husband’s home, as well as in their parents’ home. Fear of “dowry death”, and violence related to dowry are frequent origins to why women seek protection at Shakthidhama (Masthmysore 2018). When a woman arrives atShakthidhama she will get medical care if needed and a private counselling session. Furthermore, she can get group counselling and legal assistance if required. Shakthidhama hold courses to provide the women with skills for future jobs and economic self-reliance. Examples of this are classes in tailoring, IT and cooking. According to descriptions on the website,
Shakthidhama has centres to market products made by the women to encourage their entrepreneurship. The name Shakthidhama is based on two words in Hindi; shakthi which means power and dhama which means house. Hence,
Shakthidhama claims to be a house where women get empowered (Shakthidhama 2018).
Social work – contradictions between individual- and societal focus Already 1959, one of the most influential thinkers within sociology and social work, professor C. Wright Mills, problematised the individualized perspectives within social work. Mills pointed out that people’s socio-economic conditions are consequences of societal structures of opportunity. Hence, Mills argued that social workers must take into account economic and political circumstances in society while working with individuals (Mills 1959). Since Mills launched his famous writings, his thoughts have influenced plenty of thinkers and practitioners, which indicates that there still is a need for his argumentation. The International
Federation of Social Workers, IFSW, has made a global definition of social work which is used by researchers and labour unions worldwide. It states for instance that social work shall promote social change and development and highlights principles of social justice and human rights. Moreover, the definition declares that social work shall lead to empowerment of people (IFSW 2018). Just as Mills, IFSW accentuate that social work shall act at all levels of human life; at
individual-, group- and societal levels. In practise, that is not always achieved. In a Swedish context one can regularly find contradictions between the defined aim of social work and the reality of society. Concerning women’s shelters in specific, there was an alarming report in 2017 by Unizon – one of the Swedish national associations for women’s shelters. The report stated that women must spend an increased number of days in shelters than before. Unizon describes that half of the municipalities don’t provide help to find housing, despite that they by law are obliged to do that. Moreover, half of the Swedish municipalities do not do
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any prevention work to change attitudes to gender and violence. 25% of the Swedish municipalities neither do any efforts at all to change the behaviour of the perpetrators according to the report (Unizon 2018). The women might get shelter, but their obstacles remain.
Instances like the one above are plentiful in the current academic discussion in Sweden. Researches highlight that social work has become a practice more focused on individuals than on preventive work and overall social change. Individuals are considered responsible for their problems, while the roots to the situation might be caused by structural inequality (Herz 2016, Dahlstedt & Lalander 2018, Salonen & Ulmestig 2018). The Swedish system used to be a system that supported those who not got enough of societal resources. The researchers claim that the current system is about controlling individuals and try to correct stated characteristics as laziness and immorality. When the problems are seen as personal, no work for societal change is believed needed. That will be naturally be more convenient for the professionals, but less fruitful for society in the long run (Salonen & Ulmestig 2018).
As a social work student at the university of Malmö, Sweden, I’m deeply affected by the ongoing discussion on the change of focus in social work in Sweden. Therefore, when I got to hear about Shakthidhama my immediate interest revolved around at what levels they focus their social work. The above defined Swedish academic discussion arose a curiousness about if it can be mirrored in Indian circumstances.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Most of the research presented below was conducted in India. I have focused particularly on India since many circumstances and phenomena are unique in comparison to other countries. Some of the articles concern the state of Karnataka specifically as Shakthidhama is situated there. Due to the Swedish academic discussion mentioned above, some research on Sweden will also follow. The research is related to the main themes of this study and corresponds to the research questions. The articles were found by searching the Malmö University Libsearch database, which then took me further to other academic search engines. The databases gave suggestions of related articles, through that I discovered many interesting studies too. Many of the articles were found because they were
referred to in other studies. Words and concepts used for searching were e.g. women’s empowerment, stigmatisation, women’s shelters, domestic violence and gender equality, frequently combined with India.
Empowerment-work for women
In India an “empowerment model” has often been used in social work with women. It has been based on the premise that if a woman is an independent wage-earner, her decision-making power within the household will increase. It is assumed that this will lead to less domestic violence and greater equality.
Different intents to use the model have shown different results. Researchers claim that even though access to income doesn’t automatically lead to empowerment, an
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understanding about the connection between economic resources and autonomy in decision-making for women is needed. Valuations of projects show that a
combination of economic security and improvements in mental health can enable the women to make independent decisions whether to stay in a marriage or not. What repeatedly have shown good results are combinations of mental health interventions and skill development, which not rarely give economic self-sufficiency as a result (Inman & Rao 2018).
There are different opinions about what the mental health support shall contain. Some women’s activist groups have criticised mental health professionals for considering the husband’s and the joint family’s needs in favour of the woman’s well-being. Though, several researchers agree that the work must be multi-layered; that the individuals, families, civil society and government shall be included (Inman & Rao 2018). Many studies suggest that the civil society needs to get support from, and form partnerships with, the national and the local
governments to be able to reach all-around improvements for equality in India (Inman & Rao 2018, Mahapatro et. al. 2011, Dhar S 2018). In that aspect women’s activist groups agree. They have been questioning how it will be possible to reach inclusion, participation and equality if the society remains unequal and excluding for women (Dhar S 2018).
Correspondingly, research in Sweden shows that the support to exposed women has shifted focus from emancipation of the group to treatment of the individual. For example, the researcher Veronica Ekström has seen an increased focus on psychological counselling for women that have suffered under domestic violence. She has noticed a frustration amongst social workers, who often point out lacks in the socio-economic situation as the biggest obstacles for exposed women. The frustration arises when the only support they can offer consist of individual counselling, which not presents solutions to the practical issues. Ekström attach herself to the Indian researchers by stating that the work with exposed women has to act at a structural, political, level parallelly with the individual level to succeed (Ekström 2018). One of the structural problems that women that have suffered domestic violence often are extra vulnerable for is the one of access to
independent housing. Housing and shelter
Conventionally, women in India are expected to get housing and shelter within their family or their family-in-law. Researcher conclude that this allow the families to maintain protection and control. Very few non-family alternatives for housing exist, and the ones that do are rarely socially accepted. The professor in urban planning, Kami Pothukuchi, describes in her research on working women’s hostels in Bangalore (Karnataka, India) that the element most empowering in the working women’s hostels are that they provide a socially acceptable housing away from the family. The women can experience independence and explore new social fields without sacrificing their connection to their family. Yet Pothukuchi argues that autonomous shelters for women never can be successful without planning for long-term social security at the same time, otherwise the shelter will be nothing but a temporal relief from an ongoing stress (Pothukuchi 2001). Involvement of men in equality work
The classic Indian family structure favours men and teaches women to be subjugated, and the same structure is predominant in almost every sphere in
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Indian society. In general, equality work has been focusing on women as the agents of change. Recently researchers have started to claim that change can’t be done without the consent and involvement of men, that patriarchal norms must be deconstructed before equality could be reached (Inman & Rao 2018, Chowdhury & Patnaik 2010). Recent studies suggest that men must be sensitized about gender issues and attitudes must change (Mahapatro et. al. 2011). Researchers conclude that patriarchy remains the root of discrimination against women, it has created social norms that are very tough to change. They describe that Indian society and government need more determined efforts in tackling the patriarchy then what has been seen so far, for example when formulating the laws (Verma 2017, Dhar S 2018). Several of the key- laws and publications in India do not include an
understanding of the part played by men and masculinities, including the National Policy for Empowerment of Women. The Domestic Violence Act mention men as perpetrators but does not mention them as possible agents of change, neither as a target group for prevention work (Chowdhury & Patnaik 2010). Involvement of men in equality work could for example aim to decrease the stigmatisation of women in general and exposed women in particular.
Stigmatisation of exposed women
The greater part of women in India keep silent about domestic violence that they experience. Filing a police report could challenge social traditions and family honour. Moreover, the survivor (i.e. the woman who has suffered violence but survived) herself could be turned to ridicule and stigmatisation, by the family and others in society. Therefore, it is known that there are high numbers of unreported cases (Kethineni et. al. 2016, Inman & Rao 2018). Actually, studies show that 75% of the women in India that experience domestic violence are reluctant to seek any help at all. Different researchers suggest various explanations for that, social stigma is one of the most prominent (Inman & Rao 2018). Women have been suffering in silence for centuries in the patriarchal Indian society. One explanation for that is that they have internalised the systematic discrimination. The women will suffer in silence, but that does not go without consequences. A huge Indian study; National Family Health Survey 2017, revealed that 56% of the women who have experienced violence in their marital life thereupon face poor mental health (Verma 2017). Mental health problem can probably lead to further stigmatisation. Fear of vulnerability and stigmatisation as a single woman also leads to that many women want to stay in the marriage even if they experience severe domestic violence. Marriage has a somewhat sacred position in India and without a husband many women don’t know how to survive economically, since most of the women are housewives (Inman & Rao 2018). Women who do get employed and work outside the house will face a higher threat of violence. Since women in India commonly are expected to be married and work in the husband’s family house, she’ll automatically challenge the patriarchal order by working outside (Verma 2017). That the women in India have the constitutional rights to work in a payed job does not imply that they do so. Those types of gaps between what is legally stated and how the reality looks are plenty in India, more examples follow below. Women’s rights and the judiciary
The Government of India has changed several laws and created new ones to tackle the problems with violence against women. There is a law that bans dowry and another one that forbids the Devadasi-system (Khan et. al. 2018). Another famous example is PWDVA – Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act from
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2005. Still, the presence of dowry, devadasis and domestic violence is palpable. As seen above, countless forms of violence against women remains very common in India (Kethineni et. al. 2016, Verma 2017). Several studies suggest that women continue to suffer because the deeply rooted social prejudices and practises remains the same as earlier; the laws have not changed the fundamental attitudes in society (Himabindu et.al. 2015, Kethineni et. al. 2016, Verma 2017).
Unfortunately, the legal reforms have neither contributed much in changing the institutional practice (Mahapatro et. al. 2011). Researchers identify that the laws often are more progressive than the mindset among the people who shall
implement them. Several cases have been judged in advantage of the perpetrator and the survivor has been further victimized. As a consequence, very few women seek legal help trying to claim their rights. Moreover, the few that actually do so, habitually face obstacles so big that they can’t finalize it (Inman & Rao 2018). A researcher within gender studies, Sunita Dhar, defines that one of the
key-challenges for India is to understand why women’s voices, freedom and dignity continue to be supressed, despite improvements in constitutions and laws (Dhar 2018).
Even though the laws regularly are portrayed as faultless, the laws themselves also get criticised for not supporting women’s rights. One example is The Criminal Law Act from 2013 who does not criminalize rape within marriage (Miranda & Maras 2017). Considering the sexual assaults that actually are illegal, the House Committee on the safety of women and children in Karnataka 2016, found that very few people accused got convicted. They also drew attention to the failure to protect witnesses, which lead to that the cases often fell through. As we have seen in other fields of women’s rights, the committee see the lack of co-operation and coordination between various departments of the government as the root of the problems (Verma 2017).
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
With the aim to gain a deeper level of understanding about the work of Shakthidhama, as well as the gender bias system in Indian society, theories of empowerment and stigmatisation have been chosen as the main theoretical framework for this study. Shakthidhama’s work is under constant impact of the societal gender system, and actions to empower are done in response to
stigmatisation. The theories are crucial for discussing the research questions and for the analyse of the field data. Both the concepts; empowerment and
stigmatisation, have been redefined and developed fordecades. Below follows an overview ofsome of the orientations and, more in dept, the selected definitions that will be used in this study.
Empowerment
Various definitions of empowerment
The concept of empowerment has been widely used in theory and practice for decades and it has been conceptualized in various ways (Maton 2008). Despite its popularity there is a lack of consensus about the actual meaning of
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that people are capable to control and improve their own lives, if the right circumstances are provided or created (Helmersson & Jönson 2015). One of the most well-known researchers in the field of empowerment is psychologist Julian Rappaport. In the 1980’s he formed his vision of a community psychology where empowerment would be the guiding motif to life. Rappaport argued that both preventive work as well as the idea of advocacy are one-sided courses of action that views people in need as children. Rappaport suggested that the empowerment perspective view people as complete human beings and encourage a common social movement, rather than division into “professional” and “clients” (Rappaport 1981). Rappaport was within the psychological field, but
empowerment activities can aim at psychological, social and civic arenas, at individual- and group level (Aber et. al. 2010).
Empowerment has become such a popular method in social work with women that the United Nations has created their own definition of women’s empowerment. The UN describes five elements as the goals for women’s empowerment;
“…women's sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and resources; their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a just social and economic order, nationally and internationally” (POPIN 2018).
These five elements were discussed during some of the interviews at Shakthidhama as inspiration for further conversation.
For the analysis of this thesis a conceptualisation of empowerment made by Kenneth Maton in 2008 will be used. Maton was a student of Julian Rappaport and was deeply interested in the combination of individual- and societal change. Maton’s definition of empowerment is a result of his wish to combine individual- and social change with the concept of empowerment. Mason created the following definition of empowerment:
A group-based, participatory, developmental process through which marginalized or oppressed individuals
and groups gain greater control over their lives and environment, acquire valued resources and basic rights, and achieve important life goals and reduced societal marginalization (Maton 2008, p. 5).
Mason stated that empowerment must include both an empowering- process and outcome and can work at both individual- and group level. He affirmed that a goal shall be to change disempowering and non-empowering circumstances into
empowering ones (Maton 2008). Mason’s definition of empowerment is used in this thesis since it aims both the work with individuals and groups, as well as circumstances in society. That suits this study which treats the work at Shakthidhama as well as stigmatisation in Indian society.
Challenges for empowerment in social work
Empowerment is often associated with grass-root movements and collective work for improvements; political activism run by people in marginalised groups. At the same time, many professional organisations state that they enable empowerment for a certain group; that “experts” empower others in psychological or socio-economic fields. As mentioned above, the International Federation of Social Workers has included the concept of empowerment in their very definition of social work. In different parts of the world, the concept of empowerment has been
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described as vital for organisations that work for exposed women (Helmersson & Jönson 2015). For example, in America empowerment has been used at as tool in work with women who have suffered domestic violence. One has then intended to offer choices to women who have been denied freedom because of the abusive relationship they have been in (Gengler 2012). This can be compared with the strive for economic independence and self-sufficient living that is prioritised in India.
However, the possibility to provide empowerment through social work has been questioned. For example, in their article “Empowerment: The modernist social work concept par excellence” Parker, Fook and Pease (1999) describe that a postmodern perspective views power as something possessed by someone, which means that the power can be reduced or increased. According to this view, to truly empower one group, others need to possess less power; there must be a shift of power. They argue that generally the professionals keep their power while doing empowering projects for others. Consequently, there is no power shifting from the powerful to the group meant to get empowered (Parker et. al. 1999). That
professionals shall empower others can also be risky in the sense that someone with more power defines what is best for someone with less power. What is meant to empower someone can result in controlling her (Gengler 2012).That leads us further to different roots, outcomes and theories of stigmatisation.
Stigmatisation
Various definitions of stigmatisation
The most quoted theorist concerning the concepts of stigma and stigmatisation is Erving Goffman (Dahlgren & Starrin 2004). In his book from 1963; Stigma; Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, he analysed processes that create identities that are considered abnormal. He asserts that it can reduce someone from a whole, ordinary person, to a discounted one. Goffman states that when a person is getting stigmatised, it results in attributes that are deeply discrediting and most probably lead to feelings of shame and guilt (Goffman 1963). Numerous sociologists and psychologists have done extensive research on stigma since Goffman’s theory was published more than 50 years ago. What colligates them are the interest in how and why people construct cognitive categories and then enforce stereotyped believes on them. Beyond that, the stigma concepts have varied enormously. To avoid confusion about the different aspects of stigma, I have chosen to use one specific definition, created together by a psychologist and a sociologist; Link and Phelan in 2001. They developed a distinctly sociological perspective on stigma, which includes factors of society, power, they also give suggestions on how to brake stigma processes. Their definition is suitable for this study since I aim to discover how Shakthidhama’s work is affected by gender inequality; i.e. power dynamics, in society. Commonly Goffman’s definition will be used in academic works on stigma, and of course his work is important; he is the creator of the idea of stigmatisation. Though, I will stick to Link and Phelan’s definition of stigmatisation since it is a development of Goffman’s theory that can contribute with all-embracing perspectives while discovering the empirical data of this study.
Stigmatisation and power dynamics
The essence of Link and Phelan’s (2001) definition of stigmatisation is caught in the following quote:
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“stigma exists when elements of labelling, stereotyping, separating, status loss, and discrimination co-occur in a power situation that allows these processes to unfold” (Link & Phelan 2001, p. 382).
Link and Phelan problematise that stigma has often been connected to the persons exposed to it rather than the people that expose others. In their words: “it takes power to stigmatise” (ibid., p. 375). They argue that being exposed to a
stigmatisation processes have a dramatic, and most often highly underestimated, impact on people’s life chances (ibid). Therefore, it is highly important to learn to identify processes of stigmatisation and how they can be changed.
Hereby we will look deeper into the five elements that form processes of
stigmatisation, as defined by Link and Phelan (2001). By labelling they mean the process of distinguish groups and label differences. They mean this is not a rational process as they state that “substantial oversimplification is required to create groups” (ibid., p.367). Nevertheless, as soon as differences are pointed out they will every so often be taken for granted, as being natural and “just the way things are”. The next step build upon the labelling, when the labelled differences get linked to negative attributes; stereotyping. The groups that get stereotyped differs from place and time, but commonly applied attributes are e.g. immorality, laziness and devilishness. Stereotyping is the most well-known aspect of stigma since it was accentuated in Goffman’s work. The next component in the stigma process is a separation between “us” and “them”. This will help people believe that “the others” are so different to them that they can be treated differently, in the extreme it enables horrific and unhuman treatment. When groups get labelled, stereotyped and separated they will face status loss and discrimination. Then it is like people suddenly find it rationale to exclude people that belong to the
stigmatised group. All over the world, people from those groups face similar types of obstacles in life. They will be disadvantaged in e.g. education, income,
housing, and physical- and psychological well-being. Link and Phelan describe that the status loss will make a person drop drastically in societal hierarchies and that can create base for discrimination. The person will not be attractive to involve in fellowships and might have to tackle both individual- and structural
discrimination. Finally, the stigmatisation will be internalised and will hinder the person in life since she will think that there’s no use in trying things because she will believe that she will not succeed (ibid.).
As mentioned, in Link and Phelans’s definition of stigma, the five elements must be combined with a “power situation that allows these processes to unfold” (2001, p. 382). The researchers emphasise that who is becoming stigmatised is connected to what suits the social, economic and political power. The role of power has often been left out while defining stigma, often because the power relations are so well rooted that they are taken for granted and not pronounced. As said, people tend to pay more attention on what is defined as deviant then what is included in the norm. However, Link and Phelan highlight that power always is an important element in the production of stigma. They write that people in stigmatised groups have been acknowledged for their strength in resisting and opposing stigma. This proves that the power dynamics do exist. Link and Phelan emphasise that
resistance can never fully overcome constraint. The impact and outcome of stigmatisation will always depend on the power inequalities between the groups (ibid.).
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Talking about the outcomes of stigma, Link and Phelan (2001) state that there always will be multiple outcomes combined, such as influence on self-esteem, housing status or access to medical care. Link and Phelan experience that most efforts to eliminate stigma will focus on only one specific outcome. The combat can result in exhaustion and lead to an incapacity of fighting the other aspects. The multiple outcomes of stigmatisation are why a stigmatised group often continue to be vulnerable to stigma over a long time. However fruitful the fight might be, if one outcome of stigma is distinguished, the group in power can always find another mechanism for continued stigmatisation.
If any attempt to change a stigma shall succeed, Link and Phelan (2001) suggest that the work must be multifaceted and multileveled. That is to be able to tackle all the different mechanisms and outcomes of stigma, both at individual and structural level. Moreover, they point out that the most important ingredient for change is that the work has to target the root of the stigmatisation; the groups that stigmatises. Those groups must either change their attitudes and believes that make them stigmatise, or they must change the circumstances so that their power gets limited. According to Link and Phelan, any attempts to delete stigmatisation by pinpointing only one mechanism of stigma will fail, if not the groups in power are approached and changed.
The discussions about whom that should be targeted in social work for change are thus active both in Link and Phelan’s definition of stigma as in Maton’s reasoning on Empowerment. Those discussions will be very valuable while trying to
understand the dynamics of the work at Shakthidhama, within Indian society, as this study aims to do.
METHOD
This field study was made using qualitative research method, conducting open-ended, in-depth, interviews with key actors of Shakthidhama. You will now get insight into how the sampling, the interviews, the transcription and analysis were made. Last in the chapter you find a discussion on ethical considerations.
Qualitative method
As described by the professor of sociology, Jennifer Mason (2018), by doing qualitative research one can get opportunity to:
“get inside how life is experienced, why and how things matter, the meaning of change and […] explain and evoke sensations and narratives of life itself” (Mason 2018, p. iv).
For this thesis, with the focus on the impact of stigmatisation for the
empowerment work at Shakthidhama, I hope to touch at some of those areas described by Mason. This study makes advantage of the possibility to use an explorative approach in qualitative method since it has base in experiences and perspectives of the people that I met at Shakthidhama.
18 Sampling and limitations
Before I arrived to Shakthidhama I did not know whether the board person that I had been in touch with would have any special expectations on the study and a wish to control who I spoke to. Once in place I realized that I was free to talk to anyone how much I wanted and conduct whichever interview I wanted. The research questions aim at “professionals” at Shakthidhama since any employee or board member with experience within the organisation could have thoughts that would contribute to the study. I was eager to gather a wide range of perspectives and did not want to limit the sampling frame on beforehand. I wanted to generate material that would help answering the research questions, and that had to be an organic process. Mason (2018) argues that the idea of pre-decided ready-made sets of sampling methods derives from quantitative research and is mostly not applicable on qualitative research. She means that a qualitative researcher search for a relevant range of material that will provide base for comparison, analysis and well-founded arguments. Hence, sampling within qualitative research is
something which develops throughout the research, in what she calls a strategic and organic sampling process. Coherently, I arrived to Shakthidhama with a curiosity about whom and how many I would interview.
Finally, four professionals at Shakthidhama were interviewed; one social worker, two counsellors and a board-member who is a social worker by profession. To do more interviews at Shakthidhama an interpreter would have been needed since none of the twelve other employees spoke sufficient English. The use of a translator in qualitative interviews imply many risks and even if a lot of precautions are made, it is problematic to assure the quality of the produced material (Temple & Edwards 2002). I wanted to avoid those risks and Mason (2018) means that the sample size shall help to provide insights into the study’s issues rather than representing a population; when enough material is gathered one can stop. All four participants had well developed skills in describing,
explaining, conceptualizing, reflecting and argue what they found important. Each interview was dense in information; all together the four interviews gave steady material for the study and I could consider the data collection completed. Open-ended interviews
Since I was interested in what keypersons at Shakthidhama had to say I deemed in-dept, loosely structured interviews to be the most appropriate tool to get the information required for this study. According to Mason (2018), qualitative interviewing is characterised by an interactional exchange of dialogue, an informal style, a fluid and flexible structure and a thematic centre which the conversation shall circle around. All those elements were suiting my study well since they helped to extract the most information possible from each interviewee. I highly enjoy doing this kind of interviews since I like to indulge the feeling of an intensified, important conversation where thoughts develop which not would have been formulated if not that specific interview took place. Significant for
qualitative perspective on data-sampling is that the knowledge is produced in the situation; the interview creates the knowledge (ibid).
The interviews were loosely structured in that I had some general themes that should be treated in each interview. I had these themes and belonging questions written down in the interview guide (appendix 1) that I took a glance at now and then during the interviews. Mason (2018) claims that all researchers do have epistemological and ontological positions that get activated during the interviews,
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even if one tries to be “neutral”. I did not even try to be neutral. I chose to share my thoughts, opinions and experiences with my interviewees, and did not hide my aim with, and intellectual roots of, the study. I experienced that this honesty created a free and open talking atmosphere where the interviewees did not have to worry about if I had a hidden agenda or if they were giving me the answers that I was looking for. When I put my cards at the table, they had something to bounce off from and the interviews were characterised by curious and straight-forward interaction.
The interviews were recorded by a professional sound recorder. It is important not to underestimate the importance of analysing one’s own role in the research and how one may affect the outcome of it. According to Mason (2018), the researcher cannot be a “neutral data collector”, instead we shall be reflective and conscious about how we affect and contribute to the information created. When I listened to the recorded interviews, I noticed that I enthusiastically encouraged the
interviewee when I thought that what they said was useful for the study. In that way I was controlling the interview. In the moment I was unaware of it, it
happened “automatically” because the research questions were deep rooted in me. It struck me first while doing the transcribes how right Mason is when she says that we never are “neutral”. While doing and using the transcribes I tried to be conscious about what part I had played and rejected some slices where I thought that my questions had been too suggestive.
Transcribing
I was transcribing the interviews within the next few days after completing them. Mason states that just as we cannot be neutral in interview situations, a transcribe is not an “objective record” of the interview (Mason 2018). This can be clearly exemplified by that I ignored transcribing parts where we spoke about things I considered “off topic”. On the contrary, when I transcribed parts which possibly would be base for the analysis, I was very studious and made sure that it was accurate with what had been said. Transcribing is a very time-consuming task and anyone who wants to do it should reflect on if it’s really needed. I chose to
transcribe the interviews for memory-purpose, and to be able to read and derive data from them in literal and reflexive manners.
Themes and codes
When I transcribed the interviews, I found that there were surprisingly few details I would have remembered from the interviews if I would not have transcribed them. I realized that the interviews contained so much information that I needed a well-ordered system to make use of all of it. Therefore, I choose to do a thematic content analyse. As described by Bryman (2011) a thematic content analyse will help the researcher to get to know the data thoroughly and cast light to the most essential patterns and contexts. I was also inspired by the thoughts and methods of Mason (2018) who describes possible steps in the process in dept. In her words, the analysis started off with cross-sectional coding. Cross-sectional coding will help to gather the codes in lucid systems that facilitates comparisons in between them. Moreover, it can help you to get surprises from the data and make
connections, explore patterns and identify themes. In earlier states, the codes that I picked out from the transcribes were based on what interested me in the content of the interviews, affected by the overall ideas of the study and in correspondence to my background knowledge. The further I got in the process, the choices were
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more consciously made to contribute the most to what Mason defines as “the intellectual puzzle” behind the study and the actual research questions. The first step of indexing lead to a list of 36 codes. While creating that list, I picked them in an unprejudiced manner, to not exclude any possibilities at such an early state. I wanted to material to “talk” and show me what was coming out as most important. The next step required more attention, since I needed gather the codes into groups, that would become the themes. Just as Mason (2018) describes, my choices of themes derived from the question “What, from amongst the
materials, might provide insights?” (p. 189); what could contribute the most according the research questions. Eventually I had grouped together the codes and themes to five main themes. Those are the headlines that you will see in the chapter of “results and analysis”.
Analysis
To transfer the gathered field data into arguments can be made in multiple ways. Mason (2018) gives examples on different ways to create arguments, for this thesis two of them have been used. One of the approaches is by Mason called: arguing as an engagement with theory; I have wished to understand the data from Shakthidhama through the glasses of empowerment and stigmatisation. I had thought about those two theories before data collections started, and even brought concepts from them into the interviews. However, I was open for changing them during the process, if I noticed that the interviewees placed focus somewhere else. On the contrary, during the interviews, I got shocked several times about how natural the respondents described many elements from the theories, in their own words. Empowerment and stigmatisation continued to be fit for the study, and I decided to finalize the analysis with their help. That the theories were chosen first, and the data then compared to, and interpreted in the light of the theories, is allied with the concept deductive reasoning; that one move from the general to the particular (ibid.), which is what have been done in this study.
Secondly, some arguments have been made in what Mason (2018) calls reflexive and contemplating manners. That means that I have tried to highlight the range of perspectives, experiences and standpoints that the interviewees possessed. As Mason states: it is important to follow lines that point in different directions, that will give a more full, complex and realistic image of the discussion and
phenomena. As an outsider at Shakthidhama, and a westerner in India, I considered that approach even more important. Cultural differences and
preconceptions affect interpretations and assumptions, that is hard to avoid, what one can do is to try to be aware about it. As Spencer (2001) points out; to describe others requires a high sense of responsibility and reflexivity; a responsibility to recognize complexity and reflect on differences, rather than a wish to generalize. Hence, my intention has been to highlight differences in perspectives and put my own presumptions under test. Furthermore, I found the involvement of previous local research extra important in this study. Even though I have lived in Karnataka and thereby have a lot of prior knowledge about the society, I still lack the in-dept understanding of the circumstances that a local researcher probably would have. Some concepts were totally new to me and I had no own experience to compare them with. Therefore, I was more particular about confirming and comparing my data with previous research than if I would have conducted a study in Sweden.
21 Ethical considerations and reflections
Due to the Swedish research council’s guidelines for ethics in research, one principal rule for ethics within research is that the interest of new knowledge never shall exceed the well-being of individuals. Other main concerns are the aspects of confidentiality; to not spread the data to unauthorized people, and anonymity; that it not will possible to identify who has said what (Vetenskapsrådet 2017). How those aspects were handled in this study will be discussed below. Moreover, the informants shall get well informed of the project before their decision to participate (ibid.). That was made orally by me and by the Information Letter (appendix 2). All of the interviewees signed the Consent Form (appendix 3). An application was sent to the Ethics Committee at Malmö University, which got approved without any objections1
During the whole writing process, caution have been taken to protect the integrity of the respondents. The audio-files, the transcripts and the work-in-progress versions of the study were all kept at two encrypted memory-sticks during the whole study process. That is to be careful with the privacy of the participants and also to not lose any work (Mason 2018). The same respect for the integrity of the participants will be applied in the Result and analysis-part of the essay. Mainly, the interviewees will be described as a group. The exception is when any of them is quoted, then that person will be described as A, B, C or D. That is only to separate them textually, but nothing that can lead to identification will be revealed. That choice is made by considering their security and integrity more important than the eventual advantages of separate them by any characteristics. To do so is valid when marks of identities of the respondents don’t add anything specific to the research, according to the Swedish Council of Science
(Vetenskapsrådet 2017). Though, they warn for a risk with this kind of approach; that the whole group of participants get stigmatised or discriminated out from what one person have uttered. Since this study have interviewed staff at one organisation, and moreover respected persons in status positions, it is unlikely that they as a group would get affected badly of what said. Hence, the protection of integrity and the interviewees individual well-being is considered to carry more authority in this case.
There are no such thing as universal ethical principles; what you plan might have to be reconsidered (Mason 2018, Vetenskapsrådet 2017). I noticed differences in conducting interviews in India to in Sweden, concerning the Information letter and the Consent form. In Sweden I have experienced that interviewees appreciate them. In India I felt that the process with the documents made the interviewees uncomfortable and even risked their trust in me. I had to explain thoroughly and reassure multiple times that they were not signing anything official or that could be seen by anyone else than me. The participants gave me the impression that they wanted to avoid the papers if possible and I had to “repair” the situation before the interviews started. As Mason (2018) writes, a researcher shall not assume that she
1My aim was to interview professionals connected to Shakthidhama, but I did not know if I would
interact a lot with the women staying at Shakthidhama and if any of them would be eager to talk to me. Concerning that, an application was sent to the Ethics Committee at Malmö University (appendix 4). The application was approved without any objections (appendix 5). However, all the interviews were made with professionals. Hence, the approval from the Ethics Committee was not needed, but it was good to feel freedom to consider any opportunity that occurred.
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can control the research environment and know beforehand what’s the best for the participants.
According to Mason (2018) there are neither no over-all ethical guidelines about the limits for relationships between the researcher and the informants. That will vary from project to project and depends on the epistemological position of the researcher. Mason suggests that a self-conscious and self-reflective approach needs to be activated, so that one can make situational decisions, without ethical violations. During earlier stays in Karnataka I have experienced that judged on my look, people consider me interesting; they want to talk to me and often treat me as a very special guest. Even though people are friendly in general, the friendliness towards me takes a different shape because I am European and white. In the earlier stays in Karnataka I had found that time often is needed before people are used to me and not favour me to the same extent anymore. Therefore, I made the decision to spend some days at Shakthidhama before the interviews started, despite eventual ethical risks concerning well-established relationships. Though, the fact that I am an outsider, and a privileged one, cannot be erased. We all are manoeuvring in a post-colonial setting and the system of white European students getting scholarships for doing Minor Field Studies in “developing countries” should indeed be questioned. I try to validate me doing so by the very fact that I, as a student, went to a well-establish organisation to learn and get inspired beyond a Swedish setting. Still, that is a discussion that never shall stagnate.
Link and Phelan (2001) states that a challenge while using stigmatisation as a theory for a study can be that the researcher herself does not belong to the group studied. She will try to describe something that she has not experienced herself, which might lead to a distant and prejudiced analysis. That is an eligible concern for this study since I am a white woman from Sweden, conducting a study relating to women in India, living under circumstances substantially different from mine. Though, the study concerns the work by the staff at Shakthidhama; I have
interviewed professionals about their profession. However, the conversations circled around stigmatisation that exposed women confront, and the interviewees spoke in the name of the women. Since none of the interviewees, neither I, have the lived experience of the exposed women, I have been careful to not state facts about the women’s situation. Similarly, I do not claim to know how the women have experienced the empowerment activities, I write about the professional’s experiences on doing work for empowerment.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
The material is described and analysed using the main- and sub themes that developed during the indexing- and coding process. The five main themes are: Shakthidhama’s work and women’s empowerment, Gender inequality in India, The marriage- and joint family systems, The judiciary and the police and Poverty and housing.
Different expressions will be used to identify whom is alluded. Frequently the three employees described similar experiences, hence they are sometimes bunched together and called “the employees” or “the staff”. Not rarely there are
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member. So, when referred to all the four of them, they are called “the
interviewees”, “the informants”, “the participants” or “the respondents”. When they are quoted, they are named A, B, C and D (see a detailed discussion about this in the chapter Ethical considerations). “The women” refers to the women that have come to Shakthidhama in need of shelter. They are also called “the
survivors” since they have been through difficult situations but still are alive. Shakthidhama’s work and women’s empowerment
Shakthidhama supports and stimulates women’s empowerment and have recently directed activity also towards young girls. Below follow discussions on how the empowerment work functions, and get affected by stigmatisation, for example in aspects of counselling, shelter and the involvement of the families.
Counselling
The employees described how important it is to build a good relationship with each woman so that she feels safe and in position to share her story and her feelings. They also pointed out that time is needed; many women will not open up in the beginning, for some it will take moths. As respondent A portrays:
“Slowly counselling will be done so we will see what is her case and her nature, everything…Some people, very easily they get adjusted here and a very close relationship, like a motherly or sisterly affection, will show. When that happens, she will feel, and I will feel, very happy.”
The employees mean that when the base of a good relationship is created, the work for improved mental health of the women can start. As shown in research, the psychological well-being is important in empowerment work. A combination of improvements in mental health and economic security can enable women to make independent decisions about their lives (Inman & Rao 2018). This is
adopted by Shakthidhama who has social- and psychological counselling as a base in their work with the women.
Concerning the psychological counselling at Shakthidhama the interviewees gave examples that seems to go in two different directions. They often accentuated that the counselling aims to find out what the woman herself wishes to do. They would focus on how she wants to live her life in the future and then encourage and support her to do so. On the other hand, the staff described how they try to get the woman to consider the feelings and future of her husband, kids and both her and the husband’s families. When I asked if the family’s wish is made more important than the women’s wish, the interviewees denied robustly. Though, I got told multiple stories about how the staff at Shakthidhama convinced the women to move back to their husbands. Interviewee D describes how the counsellors think about the counselling:
“We have to focus at two points; one is the life of the woman, the other is that the family has to accept. Because she is married. Her husband is not ready to accept, what can we do? And what about the children? We have to think in multiple tasks, we have to think like that. So we’re trying to convince her husband and make joint together, family only. Like that we’re trying.”
This corresponds to the criticism that women’s activist groups in India have given to mental health professionals. They mean that the husband’s and the joint
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family’s needs often get prioritised over of the woman’s well-being (Inman & Rao 2018).
The employees also described how they during counselling want the woman to think about the gossip and exclusion she might encounter in society if she divorces and leaves her family. Respondent B describes how the staff will talk with the women about the risk of stigmatisation:
“if you end up your marriage, these kinds of things will happen. So, try and compromise, try to live with your husband.”
The staff at Shakthidhama know that the circumstances for exposed women in India are very tough. They try to warn the women against difficulties that they most probably will have to tackle if they break norms. As an outsider, I
interpreted that as a hesitation in the emancipation-work of the women, provoked by the power dynamics in society. As professionals in power, they encourage the women to behave so that they avoid stigma. Does that mean that Shakthidhama accept the unbalanced power situation and even amplify the existing processes of stigmatisation? The researchers on stigmatisation, Link and Phelan (2001), points out that to be able to break down stigma, the work must be multileveled. They even suggest that the most important is to change the groups that stigmatises, the groups in power, as they are the root of the problem. As long as those groups stick to their attitudes and believes, and occupy the same amount of power as before, the stigmatisation will proceed. Does that mean that Shakthidhama shall redirect their activity and approach husbands, parents, and authorities before they work with the exposed women? So far Shakthidhama has prioritized the women in need, but has also reached out to groups in power, as will be seen further on in this chapter.
All interviewees emphasised that many changes for improved gender equality have been done, they said that especially in Karnataka women are on the way towards equality with men. Overall the informants described how women are stepping up, expressing their wills and rights and protest if they do not like
something. Overall, the interviewees agreed that they must encourage the women, make them think more positively and be brave. Interviewee A says:
“whatever she faces she should be brave enough to accept everything. She should be brave and courageous, not step back for anything. So that she can face anything in the world.”
All the interviewees share the image that the women have to be strong and be ready to fight for their space in society. This is not a rare perspective, in general, equality work has been focusing on women as the agents of change. (Inman & Rao 2018, Chowdhury & Patnaik 2010). It is also included in Maton’s definition of empowerment that “marginalized or oppressed individuals and groups gain greater control over their lives” (2008, p. 5). A common way to do so is to support and encourage the individual. But just as with attempts to change stigma, Maton states that a multileveled approach is needed to succeed with empowerment work. According to Maton, a goal shall be to change disempowering and
non-empowering circumstances into non-empowering ones (ibid.). If the organisation alone doesn’t have resources to change the whole society, can a second-best solution be to encourage the woman to be stronger than the structures that works against her? The empowerment theories do not answer that question. In most definitions of
