Introduction

Gender socialization begins early, and it is important to initiate change process at a young age to shape attitudes and transform behaviors. Schools and colleges play a major role in this regard, because students spend large amounts of time engaged with peers in such settings. Creating positive social norms in educational institutions that value girls and their rights is important to improve the well-being of girls and achieve long-term and sustainable social change. India is home to around 232 million individuals aged 15-24 years, who account for 19.15% of the country’s population. Engaging with these young students is crucial to help them critically assess notions of masculinity and question prevailing gender inequities. We need to tap into the goodness and sense of justice of these young minds to give them tools for maintaining those gifts as they encounter people and experiences that are different from their own. We need to engage with them to challenge and shift gender norms that contribute to girls and women having less worth, opportunities and decision-making ability than boys and men. In order to promote gender equality, guaranteed by Article 15 of the Indian Constitution, we need to change the mode of interaction at all levels – home, school, college, workplace and so on. To increase the outreach for creating an environment that fosters equal treatment, Government of India envisages engagement of Gender Champions in all schools and colleges across the country. Gender Champions can be any student above 16 years of age enrolled in educational institutions. It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of women and Child Development and Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Objectives

The broad mandate of a Gender Champion is to provide an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the social and cultural constructions of gender that shape the experiences of women and men in society. The aim is to make the young boys and girls gender sensitive and create positive social norms that value the girls and their rights.

Vision

Gender Champions are envisaged as responsible leaders who will facilitate an enabling environment within their schools/colleges/academic institutions where girls are treated with dignity and respect. They will strengthen the potential of these young people to advocate for gender equality and monitor progress towards gender justice.

Mission

To make young boys and girls as gender champions to create positive social norms that value girls and their rights and treat them with dignity & respect.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The responsibilities of the Gender Champion will include the following:

1. Provide overall guidance to the peer group in integrating /mainstreaming gender in all activities of the Institution in the form of focused group discussions, debates, poster competitions etc.
2. Engage a variety of stakeholders from the college, civil society organizations, women’s groups and media in gender mainstreaming activities.
3. Identify gaps in college's activities vis-d-vis gender, and make recommendations on how to address these gaps, e.g., observe classrooms to detect bias in interactions.
4. Promote Gender Champion Club in their educational institutions and undertake innovative activities, like creating a website or blog on gender equity and regularly writing an equity column on issues on, e.g. untold stories of extraordinary men and women who changed lives of women and girls, about enabling legislations, government schemes or about finding a new Gender Champion in his/her educational institution, or competitions to analyze greeting cards from gender perspective, organize film fest on gender’ equity etc.
5. Organize awareness programs on various gender issues including legislations to influence behavior change. This could be facilitated through workshops' theme based plays, films, painting competition, etc.
6. Organize the college fest on theme of gender equality and women's empowerment and encourage students to sign up and express their support for gender justice and equality in attractively designed Gender Champion booths.
7. Organize exposure visits to various public service institutions at the village, block, district and city level (public health centers, hospitals, post offices, banks, police stations, block office, SDM/DM office to facilitate knowledge about gender issues as they affect diverse populations.
8. Popularize phone numbers of such services as police helpline, women helpline, hospitals among students.
9. Arrange for providing necessary Life skill education and information/guidance about existing public services to their fellow students.
10. Demonstrate knowledge of important Government schemes, events, legislation, and court rulings which has a major impact on the treatment and experiences of diverse groups.
11. Document best practices to measure the extent of behavior change and display the same through exhibitions, fests, annual magazines etc.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

A Gender Champion should fulfill the following eligibility criteria –

1. Gender Champions can be any student above 16 years of age.
2. Should be enrolled in and regularly attending school or college.
3. She/he must have secured minimum of 50% marks or equivalent grade in the annual examination/school leaving certificate.
4. Excellent oral, written, and presentation skills.
5. Should have demonstrated leadership qualities.
6. Excellent understanding of the socio-cultural issues and prevailing gender norms and practices