From despair to hope, this Stree shows the way

BENGALURU: In times of adversity, one can find great strength when they choose to help themselves. And collectively, this strength can be channelised to change many lives. Vidya Gaekwad (28) rose against all odds and today not only has a successful career and life, but is also helping other women fight their battles through Stree, a self-help group.

The journey has been a long one. After walking out of an abusive marriage, Vidya, a native of T Narsipur in Mysuru taluk, shifted to Jayanthi Nagar in Bengaluru and began teaching the children in her neighbourhood. At the same time, she enrolled for a correspondence MA course in English from Bangalore University. After completing MA, she started working as an assistant English lecturer at Bidadi First Grade College. She also began teaching some domestic helps of the area in the evening. It was during this time that she discovered that many of them go through domestic violence of many forms.

“This was when I decided to not let these women suffer like I had, and made up my mind to fight against the abuse they go through. I believe a strong woman stands up for herself, but a stronger woman stands up for others,” Vidya asserts.

Apart from teaching them how to read and write, she also began educating them about their rights and making them aware of the different forms of domestic violence. With the help of a few of these women, she began a self-help group (SHG) to lend a hand to abused women. Thus, Stree was born in June 2015.

Vidya’s efforts found solid support in  Dr Shubha H K, a psychologist working with Hope Foundation. There are sixteen members in the group apart from Vidya and Dr Shubha who are all domestic helps and have faced domestic violence in one form or the other. Stree works to rescue women from unsafe or violent environments and rehabilitate them at a safe temporary shelter. It also provides vulnerable women with financial support or vocational training.

When a woman is in trouble and reports her issue to Stree, the members assist her in seeking legal advice to help her understand her rights and initiate judicial process where required. Dr Shubha also helps these women with counselling and psychological rehabilitation.

Stree also focuses on women who continue in abusive relationships, either due to their financial dependence on their husbands, or, in some cases, because of children. It facilitates women get trained in vocations traditionally close to them and helps them achieve financial independence.

Stree also holds weekly awareness programmes where topics such as self-defence, women’s rights including sexuality and reproductive rights, effective communication and grooming are discussed. Each case, apart from the counselling and direct intervention, is followed up regularly and thoroughly till the ends of justice are met.

Stree is a result of Vidya’s struggles in life. She was born in T Narasipur to Gajanan Gaekwad and Vinodha Gaekwad. Vidya lost her mother when she was eleven months old. Her father owned a small tea shop. Poverty was part of her life.

She studied in a government school and excelled in academics as well as athletics  At 21, she wanted to pursue MA, but her ageing father coaxed her to get married to a man much older than her. After her marriage, Vidya moved to her in-laws’ house in Periyapatna. Soon, harassment for dowry began and her husband and in-laws would abuse her both physically and mentally.

After one year, Vidya conceived but the abuse did not stop. In the process, she suffered a miscarriage. This was when she decided to walk out of the abusive marriage. With no support from her father and siblings, she divorced her husband and moved to Bengaluru to fulfill her dreams. Little did she know then that one day she would become a voice for the voiceless.