Community Education & Training
The goal of our community education and training programmes is to reduce the risk of sexual abuse of children and re-victimisation of adult women survivors through education, training and college based programmes. These programmes are available on request.
Community Education and Training
The Young Adult Programme
YAP as this programme is popularly known, is targeted towards young people between the ages of 17-28 years. It involves workshops, groups and events geared to raise the level of awareness of the young towards incest and equip them with knowledge and skills that are relevant to their situation and needs. Currently implemented in colleges and university campuses, this programme will be expanded to reach out to include young women professionals, housewives and mothers.
College Programs
Ever since 1997, RAHI has held lectures and discussions in colleges in Delhi and other cities with the Psychology and Social Work Departments, the Women’s Development Cells and the National Social Services. These interactive lectures with graduate and post-graduate students have proved to be valuable sources of information on the various aspects of incest, prevention and intervention. They serve not only to educate young women about the issue, but also to reach out to potential survivors with the message of recovery.
The Disclosure Workshop
This is one-day training for women students in Delhi colleges on handling any disclosure of incest/CSA experiences made to them by friends or peers. It is based on the feedback RAHI has received through its lecture with student in previous years and on the findings of a survey conducted by RAHI in 2003 amongst 1400 women students. The survey revealed that disclosure of incest/CSA takes place amongst college friends and brought out the need students felt for training in this area.
The aim of this workshop is to equip students with information and skills so that they can respond appropriately to such a disclosure. This is important, because the impact on lives of survivors can be devastating if disclosures are not handled compassionately. The workshop is both informational and experiential and includes exercises, games and role plays.
‘The Girl Next Door’ Campaign
This is RAHI’s public campaign targeted towards young adult. This campaign was evolved after several brainstorming workshops conducted with our student volunteers from different colleges in Delhi. The aim of this campaign is to mainstream the issue of incest in and around campuses in a manner that moves away from rigid activist stances and is acceptable to our target audience. This campaign has been designed to run independently as well as be integrated into programmes meant for the young such as college winter festivals and music events. The campaign includes debates, posters, competitions, stalls, theatre, rallies and films.
The Women’s Sexuality Group
This is a 5-week facilitated sexuality group designed specially for students. It offers a safe and confidential space for young women to get in touch with and talk about their sexuality. The participants in the group explore sensitive and often taboo issues such as sexual pleasure, desire, masturbation, sexual identity, sexual abuse and rape. The group is open to both survivors and non-survivors and aims to provide women with opportunities to express and celebrate their sexuality in creative and affirmative ways.
RAHI’s training programmes are based on the emerging need of our principal target communities to be more effective in recognising and dealing with cases of incest. Designed to include different modules to suit the requirements of different groups, it functions at two levels – an annual course and on-site NGO workshops. The course, already being conducted for students, will be offered to others by the end of this year.
The Incest Course
‘Incest: Impact and Recovery’ is RAHI’s two to five-day residential course for students of psychology and counselling, mental health professionals and social workers. The course aims to equip existing and future practitioners with an in-depth understanding of the issue and skills for best treatment practices. Challenging existing assumptions around the issue, the course offers a comprehensive perspective on the different conceptual and theoretical frameworks that exist on the occurrence, impact and treatment of incest.
NGO Workshops
These are two to three-day on-site workshops conducted for specific urban and rural NGOs working with women and children in the country. They are designed based on an understanding of the population with which the NGOs work, the social and political context within which they function and their existing organisational capacities. They are aimed to build on the capacities of NGOs to deal with cases of incest/CSA in their communities in an effective manner and explore together with them possible intervention and prevention strategies. NGO workers are provided with up-to-date information on incest/CSA and skills on psychodrama techniques and group work which they can apply not only to deal with incest/CSA survivors but also those of rape, domestic violence and other trauma in their communities.