Utthan
Rising: Peer Leadership Training for Survivors

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The need for this peer leadership training with a group of selected survivors is intimately connected with the idea of restorative care. This is needed to ensure enhanced survivor participation in care planning and need-based advocacy with duty bearers and service providers at different levels. The need for such a training had also emerged as an action point during the first part of the initial workshop with social workers. With a view to facilitating adult-youth partnership crucial to the success of the restorative care approach, social workers were also invited to participate in the peer leadership trainings. With survivors and their caregivers as joint participants, these were carried out in three phases following participatory workshop methodologies

Workshop 1: Youth Adult Partnership and Resilient

Objectives:

  1. To help the group understand and build a sense of purpose and meaning in collectivisation and its impact on prevention, protection and rehabilitation of survivors of sex trafficking
  2. To explore the ‘leader’ in themselves and strengthen the desire to inspire others as a change-maker
  3. To build a sense of support group and team with other survivors from other areas
  4. To raise awareness on youth-adult partnership and its principles
  5. Understand resilience and the resources that the group has – individually and as a group

Training Components:

  1. Principles and processes of youthadult partnerships and programmes
  2. Resilience- its significance, the components and the builders and busters
  3. Exploring Leadership and different styles
  4. Team building, decision making and problem solving in groups; roles and responsibilities in group dynamics

Methodology:

The training used a combination of several methods keeping in mind the educational levels of the survivors, age, contextual realities and their skills. Interactive lectures, games, exercises, debates and quizzes, group work and projective techniques were used to ensure experiential and self-reflective insights, sharing and learnings.

Workshop 2: Gender, Sexuality, Violence, Self Esteem, Resilience

Objectives:

  1. To explore the relationship between violence & body image and consequently body image and self esteem/ resilience
  2. To understand the context of violence against women and gender based patriarchy; the concepts of power and control and how sexuality can be used as a tool of control
  3. To understanding the difference between shame and guilt, the eroding impact of shame and how shame can be fought
  4. Strengthen participation and trust in the group; foster leadership skills of effective communication, planning and decision making

Training Components:

  1. Exploring sexuality and values around sexuality
  2. Body image and memories- their impact on self esteem and self worth
  3. Exploring shame and how to fight it (shame resilience)
  4. Exploring Leadership and different styles
  5. Team building, decision making and problem solving in groups; roles and responsibilities in group dynamics

Methodology:

  1. Interactive lectures
  2. Small group work and exercises
  3. Story-telling and comprehension
  4. Art/ Drawing
  5. Role plays
  6. Games

Workshop 3: Human Rights, Advocacy, State Accountability

Objectives:

  1. Understanding human rights, violations and impact
  2. Understanding the rights based model visà-vis the charity and needs based model
  3. Learning about State commitments/accountability and our responsibilities
  4. Identification of duty bearers and stakeholders who matter
  5. Understanding the importance of communication and advocacy to claim one’s rights
  6. Re-iterating the goals of the collective/ group

Training Components:

  1. The evolution and differences between charity-based, needbased and rights-based models of development work
  2. Human Rights – what are they and why they are important
  3. Special focus on four groups of children, which includes child victims of sexual exploitation – rights that get violated
  4. Stakeholders and Duty Bearers – the differences in their roles
  5. Focused Advocacy for redressing violations and exercising rights
  6. Ensuring survivor participation through collectivisation

Methodology:

  1. Interactive lectures using visual and textual handouts
  2. Participative discussions and group work
  3. Using projective symbols for programme representation

Efficiency and Efficacy of the Utthan Workshops

Since these trainings have been assessed through an external evaluation (Banerjee, May 2014), relevant excerpts from that report are presented below to highlight the extent to which this capacity building initiative has been able to achieve its stated goals.

What Utthan means to me?

Utthan advocating on the ToP Bill.

Telling Lies- Utthan busts myths about trafficked victims

Child Trafficking On Rise Amidst Lockdown, 34 Children Rescued

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