Guest AuthorWomen-led and women-centred campaign Khud se Pooche launched in Patna this week. The project aims to encourage the women of Patna to take on a self-reflective journey and give voice to their narratives and experiences around dignified healthcare. Khud se Pooche invites women across Patna aged 18-30 to apply to be ambassadors for the campaign and lead this movement for change by starting a conversation around accessing respectful healthcare services.
While access to women’s healthcare services has significantly increased, conversations around the quality of care, specifically dignity in health care, are almost non-existent. While accessing health services, women and young girls are often judged or disrespected, and not provided with the right guidance. This leads to a lack of information and creates an unsafe space for them to address their needs, significantly deterring many of them from receiving proper care and treatment. As noted by National Family Health Survey – 5, only 46.5% of current users of family planning were ever told about any side effects of methods of family planning. Khud se Pooche hopes to change this by empowering ambassadors to understand and articulate their needs for better and more empathetic health services.
Women aged 18-30 are invited to apply to the programme via an online form or by sending a Whatsapp to +91 7632897424. A cohort of women will be selected and invited to a series of workshops building their leadership, co-creation, and storytelling skills. The ambassadors will have a chance to interact with experts on different issues that affect them, receive a certificate, and work together to co-create a manifesto for change and a symbol to represent dignity for all women of Patna.
The ambassador programme will form the core of a series of initiatives developed by Khud se Pooche to help women acknowledge, recognize and build awareness on the deserved dignity in healthcare, including a series of roadshows, talks, workshops and art installations. Through the course of these programmes, women in Patna will be equipped with digital storytelling skills to define their own narrative around health care and amplify this narrative whether via social media, public events or directly engaging with other women.
Developed as a women-led collective movement, Khud se Pooche is led by organisations including Sakhi, Gaurav Gramin Mahila Vikas Manch and a Patna based youth collective led by Ashoka Young Change Maker. The campaign is also garnering support from other organisations such as BihArt, Centre for Catalyzing Change, Population Foundation of India, Lion’s Club of Patna, colleges, and other groups.
“Inherently, women’s healthcare with dignity should be the right of every woman, this should be valued and given attention, not only for women of today but also women and girls for the generations to come, so that all women can access health services without being judged or discriminated, and we can move towards better health outcomes for all women,” – Suman Singh, Secretary, Sakhi Bihar
“Women are often discriminated against based on their physical experiences. I have faced this too – I believe that conversations and dialogue on dignity can motivate women and increase their access to health services such as family planning services,” – Juli Kumari, student of IGIMS
“Women and girls usually have very basic knowledge. These are life-changing decisions – from becoming a mother, to when to become a mother or period related health. Sometimes because of a lack of full information, we are unable to feel connected to our body and our decisions. We need to express ourselves, so we can be aware, women around us can be aware, and we can talk to healthcare providers without any hesitation or judgement, and start receiving the good quality of care”, – Priyaswara Bharti, a youth leader from Patna & Ashoka Young Change Maker.
To know more about Khud se Pooche, you can visit the website here and follow @khudsepooche on social media.
To sign up for the ambassador programme via the below link: https://bit.ly/3hh5ftt
Aravind Sundaram
Guest Author
