Health for Nomadic Women
Problem
The uncertain legal status of the Van Gujjars due to their nomadic way of life with little recognition of their rights to government state services; 2) their remote location and general isolation from health services making access to sexual and reproductive health highly inconsistent; and 3) increasing inequity in gender relations which are dis-empowering for women.
Goal
To improve the access and awareness of sexual and reproductive health information with rights and services to the Van Gujjar women of Northern India
Strategy
designed on two core deliveries: 1) awareness building through women’s workshops and discussion groups, which are facilitated by health professionals; and 2) rights-based advocacy, which takes place through meetings between Van Gujjar women and hospitals /government agencies.
Impact : SOPHIA has
- successfully brought female health professionals directly to the Van Gujjar communities to facilitate women’s health workshops. These workshops provide information, education, and kits (that can be carried with Van Gujjar families during their migration). The health professionals employed have arrived from local hospitals and health agencies, which have reached exactly a thousand women spread over twenty-five Van Gujjar areas. Each workshop covers one topic which have focused on maternal health, family planning, contraception options, STIs and HIV, sexual assault, and domestic violence. In order to ensure these topics reach each community over the course of one year (a total of 6 topics per community), the workshops have taken place bi-monthly.
- Van Gujjar women are informed about their legal rights to these services and introduced to the governmental departments responsible for their implementation. SOPHIA highly endorses this advocacy as it has improved the capacity of women in the community to discuss and address SRHR challenges, which ultimately prepares them to effectively advocate for themselves and their rights.
- Van Gujjar women are more aware of sexual and reproductive health issues and rights, and this further develops their ability to access SRHR services through government health agencies and private referral health services. SOPHIA provides Van Gujjar women with more information about maternal health, family planning, domestic violence, and sexual assault, as well as the services and resources available to them.
