Our Daughters’ Right (Aapni Dikari Ro Haq)

Vikalp’s ‘Our Daughters’ Right’ campaign seeks to prevent gender-based issues, particularly child marriages, by creating awareness about the rights and potential of girls everywhere. This campaign was initiated in 2004 to focus on girl children in four districts—Udaipur, Jodhpur, Barmer and Jalore. Vikalp forms task forces of local youth and community leaders who help to steadily address issues of child marriage, education and the rights of girl children within their communities in a sustainable way.

Vikalp makes sure to engage a range of community members in our projects, whether they be religious leaders, caste leaders, local police or government officials, school administrators, individual girls and boys or family members. We engage these stakeholders in a holistic way, including, by holding discussions, hosting workshops and trainings, performing street plays, organizing rallies and marches and supporting local youth groups for boys and girls. We also work directly with girls, conducting a range of empowerment and capacity-building training. Under this campaign, Vikalp endeavors to empower girls to advocate for their futures and to negotiate with their families and their communities for their education, dreams and equality.

Udaipur, Jodhpur, Barmer and Jalore bear evidence of the success of the campaign popularly known as “Our Daughters’ Right”. Since 2004, this campaign has accomplished the purpose of establishing agency & the prevention of gender based violence/gender-based atrocities (Child Marriage, never enrolled & drop out school girls). Possible Supports are still being provided by community members, village based spiritual leaders, caste leaders, Local Police or other government officials, Family members, regular school going boys and girls and active women from the community itself in the form of holding community meetings/discussions, hosting workshops & trainings, Street plays, rallies & marches and forming boys and girls groups.

Impact of this campaign

• 74 villages declared child marriage free
• 40 Gram Panchayats have vowed to make their Panchayats free from child marriage.
• More than 160,000 people have taken an oath to never perform or participate in a child marriage. Of this, 16000 people have taken a written oath.