On the International Day for elimination of violence against women, I am reminded of Kirti, the domestic worker who took care of my home and children. When her husband hit her, she chose to not go back home that night and said she wanted to stay with me. She also chose not to inform him. “He will learn his lesson if he has to manage on his own” is what she said. Sure enough, very late that night he came knocking at our door looking for Kirti. She sent him back saying she would return only the following morning and with a very strict warning from me that the next time around he would face the wrath of the police if he harmed her in any way. Kirti’s husband did not stop drinking but he never lifted his hand on her again. I am also reminded of Paromita, from an upper-class elite family, married to a very wealthy filmmaker, who finally walked out after many years of domestic abuse because she had managed to build a small space with her inheritance money. Both Kirti and Paromita mobilised their own inner and external resources to resist the violence they were facing.

 As we raise our collective voice against the shadow pandemic of domestic violence, we have to recognise the need to marshal measures that build women’s self-confidence and awareness but also enable women to claim resources that consolidate this consciousness-raising. Among these resources, economic resilience building is known to play a very crucial role in enabling women to navigate the choices they have to make in the face of abuse. Advancing women’s economic rights can play a crucial role in challenging violence and abuse. But it is important to recognise that economic rights can be truly realised when women also have equal opportunities in education, are able to move about safely and when the workplace is free of sexual harassment.

Employment and earning an independent income open an important avenue for economic resilience building for women and enables them to claim an important source of power – economic resources.  Acts of violence also emanate from a skewed distribution of resources. Economic dependence on men is one of many factors that hold women from challenging violent relationships. Based on the analysis of a large-scale survey (NFHS – 3), a study (Dalal, 2011) found that while employment status alone may not protect women from intimate partner violence, working women had sought more help for domestic abuse. Research and field experiences suggest that a change in gender norms along with improvements in the employment and income status of women can play an important role in mitigating gender-based violence.

I was interacting with a group of women from North India about what their participation in an income generation programme I was studying, had done for them. They kept saying it helped them move out of their homes. When I persisted in asking what this really meant, they explained, exasperated with my repeated questioning that the kind of planning, and strategizing it takes to convince one’s family, plan for the next day, decide which bus to take to the market, plan the bus fare, where to sit, which tea shop to make a stop – are all a process of planning for them and that all this sharpens their negotiations with the outside world. This is what the income generation programme enabled them to do. I came away educated and humbled that the world that mobility and economic opportunities open up, can scarcely be understood by those who take mobility and an independent income, for granted. It also taught me that in looking for grand solutions to ending violence against women it is everyday and simple actions that also push the needle on justice.

As we unite our efforts to claim a world that is safe and equal for women, let us keep reminding ourselves that a just world is possible only when women can claim their share of resources in an environment of safety, equality and non-discrimination.     

Anuradha Rajan has extensive experience in programme development and feminist monitoring and evaluation.  She has been keenly engaged in ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women and promoting women’s empowerment for over two decades. She is presently the Honorary Executive Director of SAWF IN.