10 NGOs Helping Women to Fight for Their Rights in India

What are NGOs for women’s rights?

Even though the constitution of India guarantees women and men equal rights, often women in our country are deprived of their rights. This might be because of unawareness, or because of a lot of other socio-cultural factors. Women are often disadvantaged in the decision-making process and in obtaining economic and social resources wherever gender disparity prevails.

Things worsened after Covid-19. It undid decades of progress in India toward gender equality and exacerbated existing imbalances for women and girls in sectors like education, healthcare, social and financial security, and others. It also resulted in an uptick in domestic violence against women and girls.

The NGOs working for the benefit of women, help women overcome these challenges in the country. 

Top 10 NGOs for women’s rights in India

Here are 10 NGOs working for women’s right in India:

1. Gramin Vikas Evam Chetna Sansthan

Women are excluded or disadvantaged in the decision-making process and in obtaining economic and social resources wherever gender disparity prevails.

It undid decades of progress in India toward gender equality and exacerbated existing imbalances for women and girls in sectors like as education, healthcare, social and financial security, and others. It also resulted in an uptick in domestic violence against women and girls.

2. Aarti for Girls

Aarti for Girls has been on a silent struggle against injustice against women and children in Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa area since 1992. This women’s NGO has risen from strength to strength in a region rife with poverty and inequality, affecting over 100,000 women and children across the district.

3. Rajasthan Samgrah Kalyan Sansthan

Rajasthan Samgrah Kalyan Sansthan (RSKS) is a grassroots nonprofit organisation dedicated to assisting marginalised women and girls. It was founded in 1992. Women’s empowerment, sustainable livelihood, girls’ education, gender equality, child rights, and the welfare of the marginalised and underprivileged elements of the society are all promoted by the NGO for women.

4. The Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)

Ela Bhatt founded the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in Gujarat in 1972. SEWA, which began as a labour union, is today a worldwide known organisation. Their major goal is to empower women by providing them a sense of identity as part-time employees. Aside from that, they aim to focus for the rights of women workers and adopt nonviolent protest techniques. SEWA bank, SEWA movement, and SEWA Bharat are just a handful of the entities that make up the SEWA network. They currently have 1.9 million female members who openly advocate their rights.

5. Azad Foundation

The Azad Foundation helps disadvantaged women in urban India who are subjected to various forms of abuse. Its goal is to give them with a dignified living and to help them become self-sufficient. Women at the Foundation go through a six-month programme that involves self-awareness, communication skills, and other topics such as defence trainings, sexuality and reproductive rights and more.

6. Vimochana

Vimochana is a Bangalore-based non-governmental organisation that was created in 1979. It was a feminist organisation that gave a platform for women’s rights. Angala, a Vimochana-based centre, assists women seeking employment. Furthermore, they arrange orphanages for their children if their mother is unable to care for them, and they offer medical treatment to ladies in need.

7. Swaniti

Rwitwika Banerjee founded Swaniti to bridge the gap between local reality and democratic systems. They work with rural India, and particularly rural women, to develop ideas and strategies for elected officials, as well as organise government programmes. Their on-the-ground study includes spending time with rural Indians and learning about their problems.

8. Makam

The Mahila Kissan Adhikar Manch advocates for landless women farmers’ rights. It has spread over 24 states in the United States. MAKAM’s objective includes empowering women by providing them the rights to sustainable livelihood resources such as land.

9. Janodaya

In 2017, Janodaya celebrated its 30th anniversary. It strives to ameliorate the situations of poor women and former convicts through working for women’s socioeconomic development. They attain their goal by teaching women various life skills and facilitating equitable and lawful solutions via mutual understanding.

10. Vipla Foundation

Vipla Foundation, formerly known as Save The Children India, is a 33-year-old non-profit dedicated to ending exploitation and prejudice against children and vulnerable women.

Health, education, gender equality, minority populations, the differently-abled, child and youth development, skills development, and arts and culture are among the topics covered. This women’s and children’s NGO has been striving to enable the less fortunate to live lives of dignity, self-respect, and self-sufficiency.

What Organization Works For Women’s Rights?

Many NGOs across the country work especially to deliver and ensure that women’s rights in the country are protected. In India, gender discrimination and violence against women are widespread. According to the National Health and Family Survey, one out of every three women in India has experienced domestic or sexual abuse since the age of 15. Domestic violence is considered typical by 54.4 per cent of rural women and 46.8% of urban women, according to the same poll.

Hence many NGOs work in the sector.

What Role Have NGOs Played In Changing Women’s Rights?

We are taking a modest step toward ending gender discrimination when we assist women in obtaining legal justice against their abusers. These women’s NGOs offer them with freedom and financial independence as well as counselling and legal assistance, giving them a fresh start.

What Organizations Support Women’s Empowerment?

Domestic violence and uneven rights affect women in many developing nations. Women are frequently seen as second-class citizens in comparison to their male counterparts. Women are still expected to submit to their husbands and run the household, while males bring food to the table and provide financial assistance. Although many women have been significantly empowered, many more remain silent, prompting groups to recognise the need to address this issue. Organizations that help women who are silenced have taken the initiative to set up funding expressly for them. Here are some of the groups that have been working to empower women throughout the world.

Despite the provisions for women, there has been a lot of injustice that women have to deal with. In such a scenario, NGOs really help women in dealing with problems faced by them. Hence, NGOs become essential to the society.