Building Allyship among Women

Women in the workplace have always been a topic of discussion. Even though the number of women in the workplace has substantially increased in the last decade, women still are underrepresented in office. In rural areas, most women are employed in manual works and often have disguised employment. To encourage women to become self-independent, the formation of Self Help Groups is an important step. If we observe closely, the Self Help Group’s core is “building allyship” among them. In layman's terms “Allyship” can simply be defined as people supporting each other to help each other succeed. Here Allyship is Rural Women Supporting Other Rural Women to empower each other. The Government of Uttar Pradesh started the Mission Shakti to make women Self Reliant, Self Secure, and for their Self-respect ( Nari Svavlambhan ,Nari Surakska, and Nari Samman). One of the Important stakeholders of Women's Empowerment is Mobilising the women of rural areas to become self Independent. The formation of Self Help Groups(SHGs) is a key step to making rural women self-reliant. The Self Help Group women help each other in terms of financial as well as emotional support. The Self Group consists of ten-twenty members with one woman as secretary and one as chairperson. They also keep track of financial records to manage the group savings and expenditure.

The formation of Self Help Group starts with a group of women who have already become self-reliant, to come and teach the rural women mechanism to become self-independent. Their area of interest is further pursued so that they can use the hobby as means of becoming an entrepreneur. The area of interest can range from a variety of tasks including but not limited to making masks, making papad achar, making bangles to designing clothes, or broom making. When I was posted in Lucknow, during my stint as BDO( Block Development Officer), I met many SHG women who were doing very well in their respective businesses. One woman was exemplary in jute handicrafts. She has crafted beautiful bags of jute. When I first interacted with her, she was training other women on the same. Another woman I met was very good at chikankraft embroidery. She told me details on how the work happens. I also happen to meet a group of women who were working with her on the same. There was lots of enthusiasm for these women regarding learning and doing something on their own.

When I was transferred to my next assignment, I enquired from my jurisdiction BDO regarding SHG here. The SHG here was very contrast to what it was in Lucknow. I feel SHG offers a proper platform to women who are interested in starting their own business. Here the SHGs were interested more in getting contracts of cleaning Community toilets than doing entrepreneurship. I did try to instill interest in the team( who works for SHG) to encourage these women to do something. This is one aspect of my work on which I would like to work more in the future. In bringing, more and more rural women to become financially independent. I explored more about the area where I was posted and read that once upon a time it was the hub of the bangle-making industry, Now the skill is dying a slow death. I requested the concerned officials to work on the same.

The allyship among women will only work in terms of SHG when the women learn to lift each other. They must be able to share their experience, good or bad with their group. Too often it happens due to fear of being criticized and being judged, they fear not to speak. If a women wish to become an “Ally” of others, the most important principle is to “listen attentively”. To listen doesn’t always mean to offer a solution or to respond but simply to understand what the person is trying to convey. Too often we end up judging others, making the commuter feel guilty about sharing the aspect. It is not necessary to agree on every point. A good allyship is all about healthy discussion. Trying to understand what the person is conveying and expressing one's viewpoint wherever essential. Disagreements are also crucial in one's growth as a person.

It is often seen in rural set up that women’s careers are not decided by them but by men surrounding them. Women need to take ownership of their careers. To take ownership of their career, means, they need to express themselves more. Of course, it is always a good idea to listen to other people’s suggestions but the decision should be entirely one’s own. The independence can truly come when they learn the art of "mental freedom". All the women need to actively participate and help each other in making them comfortable to express their thought. It is not always necessary that one's thoughts be correct. It is okay to make mistakes. Learning from the previous mistaken and aiding it in one's growth is the expected outcome.

Building Allyship among women workers is an essential step in making women's workforce more comfortable at the workplace. Allyship doesn't differentiate based on vertical organization structure. Allyship is a unifying factor making women at the workplace closer to each other. Allyship is also determinantal in bringing equality at the workplace. Maybe there is a need for having a monthly meeting of all women in the workforce in a setup so that there is a greater platform for discussion and sharing. The concept needs to be expanded and explored in all setup of government organizations as well. Starting from government offices to government-built SHGs.