Parivartan for Girls

Home
Projects
Parivartan for Girls

Parivartan for Girls

Themes:

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.”