Destitute Home for Women


Over the years, the condition of women in rural India has not substantially changed. Women are still considered inferior to men and are discriminated against by the society and their own families as a consequence.

More than half of rural Indian women are illiterate. Social customs like dowry -that has to be provided for daughters in order for them to get married – often lead destitute families to “give priority” to their male children and it is not rare for little girls to be left without nourishment so that they can die of a “natural” death.


Marriage between minors and sexual abuse perpetrated by family members and relatives make the situation worse.Exploitation of poor working women is another major problem which, though largely unreported, is very widespread and contributes to causing women serious mental distress and physical problems.




The idea of starting our social work in a Destitute Home came after visiting the Destitute Home run by a government's agency in Utter Pradesh. in Uttar Pradesh .

We felt we could do something to improve the living conditions of the inmates by providing them access to education and enabling them to develop working skills. With adequate planning and means, they could be rehabilitated to go back to a decent life in the society.

The goals of our Destitute Home for Women Project are:
To help women become self-confident and self-reliant;

To re-integrate them in the society;

To involve them in initiatives such as theater, musical plays and drama that can be performed in rural villages with the aim of increasing the awareness of the local communities of the condition of rural women and the social behaviors towards women.
   
Our female teachers and senior students are in charge of the Destitute Home project. We are currently providing the sixty girls and women interned in the house with clothes, soap and towels. In the long term, we would like to provide medical care (with a female doctor) and better hygiene in the House.

As a third step, we'd like to start a literacy program and vocational training courses for tailoring and sewing.All such initiatives are already underway in the Alice Project School at Sarnath and involve illiterate women living in the poor rural villages of the area.