The Sanginis of SNEHA
A ‘sangini’ is ‘one who stands by you,’ who is your ‘companion.’ This is the title given to the female volunteers who are the task force of SNEHA’s operations in the field, in the slums of Dharavi and Govandi, 400 sanginis are currently being trained and re-enforced as part of SNEHA’s project: Teaching Communities Zero Tolerance for Gender Based Violence. They, in turn, have been active with SNEHA for anywhere from more than 10 years to the last 3 years prior to earning the title of ‘sangini.’
So, what exactly does a sangini do in the community? And who are these women who have come forward to do this work - not because they are paid, but because they care to take it on.
Let us consider the story of Hamida (names changed to maintain anonymity). She had been abused as a child, married off as a teenager, and thereafter abused again - beaten, driven out of the house periodically, and subject to all manner of physical and mental torture. The entire time, they were living in a makeshift shelter. Over time, her husband’s condition was identified as schizophrenia. Living in this chaotic way, Hamida had 3 daughters. To leave her husband and go back to her own family was not an option: it is seldom an option. Irrespective of the much-heralded idea of how your mother’s home is your home, the reality is often that married women who want to return are not welcomed back. It is too shameful for the parent’s family and by and large, most Indian families lack the clarity, courage and conviction to stand by their daughters when they are in trouble.
Legal Awareness Training for the sanginis organized by the National Commission for Women and the National Legal Services Authority, both government bodies that are collaborating with SNEHA.
Photo credit: SNEHA Mumbai
Hamida fought her own battles. A part of the slum at Govandi was slowly filling up with migrants. She staked out a piece of land as her own and set up a tarpaulin sheet shelter there. In the morning, she would go back to her rented one-room dwelling and stay there with her children. Every night, she would return to defend her small piece of land in the developing slum area. With her, she would take one of her little children who was disabled (and has since passed) and sleep there. Goons would come with machettes at night to scare her away from that spot but she told them, “I am here. If the worst you can do is kill me, then kill me. But I am not moving.” Over time, the slum grew and little by little, she was able to put together a 100 foot square dwelling for herself and her growing family. That house is today a pucca (solid - not made of tarp and tin) dwelling in the slum of Govandi. It is still tiny but she has some nominal papers certifying her right to that dwelling as her own. Her husband is still there and the slum area that came up around that house since 2005 is really dangerous.
Addiction to drugs among children (as young as 7 years), teenagers and adults is rampant. Your life is not worth a moment’s protest in this environment. Murder is easily done and entirely unpunished. Police are scared to visit and patrol at night, (rightly) suspecting that they would be knifed and thrown away in the gutter. Sexual and physical abuse is rampant. Stealing and selling of ordinary household items (like barrels that hold water which is rationed for 2 hours daily) is carried out all the time in order to pay for drugs.
In this viciously tough enviroment, Hamida met with SNEHA’s staff and became acquainted with them and their work. She learnt how to stand up for herself and fend off her husband’s threat of violence. “The way it is here,” she said, “ten of us (sanginis) would have to die in order to bring down ten of them (the druggies/abusers). We are not scared for ourselves, but if we say too much, they will harrass our children.” With such tiny dwellings shared among so many people, children grow up in the narrow galis of the slums. They have no place to play, no where to run around except these highly constricted spaces within the slums. Once they are out, they are exposed and open to anyone who decides to lay hands on them.
Despite these circumstances, Hamida is still a leader among her neighborhood group of almost 12-15 other sanginis. When there are problems in the neighborhood - whether it is a case of wife-beating or child harrassment or getting a water connection for the house - they come to Hamida. Being illiterate has not kept her from getting her own house a water connection and helping others do the same around her. She has the conviction of her own strength and is recognized as a leader.
Not helpless women at all, but rather running their own shop selling special cutlets and snacks which are very popular in the neighborhood. Some sanginis are more financially successful and have easier circumstances at home than others. What they have in common is their willingness to look out for others in their community, and knowing that in this they have the support of SNEHA.
Photo credit: SNEHA Mumbai
When the need for collective action arises, sanginis band together in a group and go visit the house of the affected party and cajole, explain, threaten and demand that things change. And often they do. Another sangini, a leader in her own right, noticed that a woman was drunk and surrounded by men at 1.00am in the night in the street in front of her house. She called her friend from close-by, who woke up at that time of night, and came over to stand by the drunk woman, waiting till help arrived, and the gang of men who had surrounded her were effectively dispersed. That day, they prevented what would almost certainly have become a full blown gang rape, by actively intervening. Their presence and their stature in the community acts as a deterrent. They have had men serve prison time and allowed women and children to feel protected in their community.
They are taught how to do this by SNEHA’s staff who provide the sanginis regular training in how to identify cases; how to manage them on their own; or refer them to SNEHA when the case requires special attention; how to accompany the abused to the police station in order to get a report filed; how to intervene by convening collective meetings with all members in the victim’s family; how to recognize when a woman needs extra counseling and legal help, and send them correctly on to SNEHA for these specialized services. And above all, how to stick by the abused, follow up with them and check-in on them as they begin the process of recovering themselves anew.
Sanginis prefer not to act alone. In one case, in Dharavi, a young woman was assaulted by the tailor who was renting the upstairs part of their slum dwelling. She cried out and was heard by women nearby. The sanginis came running. In the meantime, the tailor picked up his scissors and rammed them into the girl’s head. She started bleeding profusely. As soon as the sanginis arrived, one took the girl to the hospital, a few stayed with the tailor till the police arrived, and one went and called the girl’s father.
A house for 4 children and 2 adults. What you see is 50% of the house. The remaining 50% is the kitchen. Everything that the family owns is here. The sum total of their possessions. There is solidarity among the sanginis who live in similar circumstances and understand each other’s situation well. They will stand together.
Photo credit: SNEHA Mumbai
Acting together and effectively has made them conscious of their strength. When asked, how it made them feel to be a sangini, to help others, I heard various replies:
“We feel proud that we are somebody who can help. We also have some power.”
“We have learnt to believe in our selves.”
“Until now all we did was manage the house and take care of the kids. Now we are also worth something.”
This is an effective model for empowering women to act under the most difficult of circumstances. It is a model that has truly been a means of change. The longer a community has had a sangini base, the less violence there is in that area. But it takes time to build that kind of presence and each community in the vast slums of Mumbai has its own set of unique problems and assets. SNEHA is working under excruciating circumstances, navigating this complex architecture of the Mumbai slums with the sanginis who live there to increase the safety and well being of the community.
