A Single Women’s Agenda for Just Futures
ActionAid Association has been working with single women for over two decades to build collectives to enable them to claim their rights and entitlements. AAA’s understanding of the vulnerabilities and issues faced by single women came from the humanitarian work conducted during the Super Cyclone in Jagatsinghpur, Odisha in 1999 and the Gujarat earthquake in 2001. AAA interventions in Gujarat saw for the first time a focussed effort to protect the rights of single women as one of the most vulnerable groups during such calamities. This happened through the efforts of the disaster response team, Sneh Samuday, whose continuing work with single women led to the creation of the Ekal Nari Shakti Manch, which played a critical role in the formation of the National Forum for Single Women’s Rights, which has been working to influence policy. Recognising the wide-ranging vulnerabilities of single women, ActionAid Association since then has been actively working towards enabling them their rights and a life of dignity in diverse contexts. Over the years, it has been in solidarity with the wives of farmers who committed suicide in Maharashtra, the wives of men who have disappeared in Kashmir, the landless single women in Odisha, the single fisherwomen in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the women branded as “witches” in Madhya Pradesh and several other states.
A Single Women’s Agenda for Just Futures emerges from a series of fresh conversations amongst communities, with the active participation of community leaders and also informed by ActionAid Association’s long engagement with the community and the issues they face.
