education
Since 1998, Street Suvivors India has been working out of a village called Katna in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, attempting meaningful linkages between education & women’s development in order to strengthen a school initiative called Jagriti.
Jagriti Gramin Libraries is a program that extends the philosophy of Jagriti into a broader area. Ten small village-based libraries have been established as spaces where children can come to borrow books, study, draw pictures, and access a local librarian. A sense of community is established through the libraries, as they hold inter-library drawing competitions, sports days and cultural programs.
justice
Our first breakthrough was the creation of Streeshakti, a community-based arbitration programme seeks to provide women victims of crime with access to justice. This hugely popular forum now conducts hearings three times weekly, issues summons that are almost universally respected, and has handled over 500 cases since 2003.
radio netherlands : durga's court | shabnam sets you straight
livelihood
The success of Streeshakti forms the basis of Swayamshakti, a project that harnesses women’s craft skills to generate economic and social empowerment.
The label Katna's Kantha represents the collective effort of 250 women - members of a growing network from over 22 villages in the Burwan & Khargram Blocks of Murshidabad’s Kandi subdivision.
