A sports and mentoring programme, Parivartan for Girls is designed to increase adolescent girls’ self-esteem, self-confidence and educational aspirations.

In the Shivaji Nagar slum area of Mumbai, STRIVE partner International Center for Research on Women - Asia Regional Office (ICRW-ARO) engages young women to coach the traditional Indian contact sport of Kabaddi. The coaches are trained to mentor groups of girls aged between 12 and 16.

The programme empowers adolescent girls to be active in ways that have not previously been considered ‘appropriate’ for them. The programme supports girls to:

• improve their physical fitness
• occupy public space safely
• discuss topics ranging from life skills and health, to gender, violence and sexual harassment

Partners

ICRW-ARO implements Parivartan for Girls in collaboration with a well-established community organising group, Apnalaya. Over a 15-month period, the programme is coaching a total of 150 girls.

To evaluate the approach, ICRW works with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to:

• conduct a process evaluation of changes in the attitudes and behaviours of girls, their families, the mentors and the community
• document implementation challenges, such as backlash
• analyse social and gender norms and any perceived shifts

Background

This programme for girls is based on ICRW’s original Parivartan programme. Using cricket and other sports to address violence against women proved effective in “coaching boys into men.”

Resources

Publications

• Contesting restrictive mobility norms among female mentors implementing a sports based programme for young girls in a Mumbai slum
• Practice-based insights in developing and implementing a sport-based programme for girls

Evidence brief

• Parivartan for Girls: Addressing restrictive gender norms

Impact case study

• Engaging adolescent girls in a sports-based programme to challenge norms in their communities

Webinar

• Creating space for girls to aspire, negotiate and grow - Shweta Bankar and Martine Collumbien

News

• Girls' right to play sport
• North-South learning on sports-based prevention
• Sport to empower Indian schoolgirls 
• Launch of a sports-based programme for girls
• Parivartan for Girls programme launched in Mumbai 

Blogs

• ICRW Programs Give Girls in Mumbai Slum the Chance to Claim Public Spaces
• Wrestling for Equality
• Beyond Project Boundaries
• A Coach Inspires

Programme tools

• Parivartan for Girls programme tools

Media Coverage

• Citizen Journalist: Breaking Stereotypes - CNN IBN video
• India's girls, not just boys, deserve a sporting chance - Thomson Reuters Foundation
• Go Kabbadi, girls - The Hindu
• Defying gender tabbos with a game of Kabaddi - Times of India
• Girls just want to play sports - The Hindu