Woman Health Programme
Addressing the broader aspects of women's health beyond medical care.
The state of India cares little about the deeper aspects of women’s health and is mainly interested in population control, prenatal care, and safe motherhood. As a result, we as part of the larger Women’s Movement in India have criticized the current status quo. The critique has pushed the policymakers, us, and other NGOs to look at women’s healthcare issues beyond medical care. We have worked for the integrated development model, which includes a focus on the socio-cultural, economic, and political growth as well. Each of these aspects has a deep influence on health. Therefore, we believe it is not possible to raise the health status and quality of life of women unless the efforts are made to enhance the overall status of women in society and also challenge acts of human rights violation.
In Himachal Pradesh, the family, society, and state have ignored women for a long time. Gender indoctrination discourages women from paying attention to the health needs of their body and forces them to remain silent about many of their sexuality-related problems. The image of good women, in India, is one who is confined to four walls, quiet, submissive, and sacrificing. The society of Himachal Pradesh too, caught in the web of this “good women” image, has forced women to become submissive and indoctrinated. Adding onto this, the traditional healing practices where women’s knowledge was important are slowly fading out.
For a long time, what escaped the attention of many developmental planners was a very large group of women and adolescent girls who suffered multiple health problems and had no redressal mechanism to respond to their needs without any moral judgement. As a women’s organization, it is our assumption that in order to address the overall wellbeing of women, rural communities must be made more capable and proactive. This will only occur when women and young girls demand their rights by engaging with the health delivery systems and demand health facilities including information on their own bodies and wellbeing.
