Second round of Kadam Badhate Chalo initiates programmes in three states

As part of its mission to end violence against women and girls, the Kadam Badhate Chalo programme entered its second round with a series of sports camps and workshops in three Indian states. This has brought boys and girls together through sports to break down barriers and encourage discussion and reflection on gender relations.

In the second round of the Kadam Badhate Chalo (KBC) programme, also known as KBC 2.0, Pro Sport Development (PSD), in partnership with the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and the Martha Farrell Foundation (MFF), conducted a series of sports camps and workshops in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the past two months. The programme brought youth between the ages of 15 and 25 years together in Freedom to Play (F2P) sports camps and Gender through Sports workshops, reaching 410 youth (223 female, 187 male) so far.

The F2P camps have been designed to bring boys and girls to play together, breaking down barriers through sport. The next step, the Gender Through Sports workshop, encourages the youth to discuss and reflect on gender stereotypes, the impact of gender relations on everyday life and violence against women and girls (VAWG). These issues are communicated through various activities, with sports taking centre stage.

The participants at these locations grow up in intensely patriarchal communities, with not just women and girls, but also men and boys cast into oppressive and limited gender roles. The despair felt in the face of such challenges was summed up by Megha Sen, a 15-year-old female participant from Raipur, Chhattisgarh; “People often tell us that even if we go forward in life we still have to be in the kitchen by the end of the day to serve all the family. What is then the point in studying, working hard and achieving things in life?”

The F2P camps brought the youth together through playing games such as Ball Ke Bhooke, Sabke Saath and Aamna Saamna. In the Gender Through Sports workshop, games such as Andar Ka Bahar and Ghar Lao Ball drew out the views of participants on topics such as gender stereotypes, which were then discussed and reflected upon afterwards. The sessions drilled down to the heart of gendered relations and the thoughts of the youth on gender roles, with Komal Sahu, a 16-year-old male participant from Raipur admitting, “That is how we are taught; that is how we are brought up. Boys follow fathers and work outside while girls follow their mothers and do household chores.”

But the camps and workshops have already had an impact on the youth. At the end of the F2P camps, the youth were invited to self-nominate themselves to join KBC and continue on the programme, and invited to share their reasons why. Anand Gujjar, an 18-year-old male from Uljhavan, Madhya Pradesh wrote: “There are many problems in society, and people think that boys and girls can’t play together. But we feel that by working together we can create a better environment. Together we can do something better and different for the country.”

In its first round in 2016, KBC educated 14,686 youth directly on gender issues and women’s rights across 12 locations in 7 seven states, and developed and trained 875 youth leaders who now actively campaign, and train others to campaign, for gender equality and to end VAWG within their own communities.