Drawing on Rights is a collaborative project with Enriche, Barefoot College International and Hogan Lovells Citizenship addressing access to human rights in rural India.
Despite a robust legal framework around them, many people in rural India, women in particular, continue to live their lives without full realisation of the fundamental human rights afforded to them. The aim of this project was to increase knowledge and autonomy around vital issues related to human rights utilising visual storytelling and comics in guided discussions.
Highlights
- Human rights workshops utilising the Drawing on Rights resources have been conducted with over 140 women from rural communities in India
- The workshops have been facilitated across five locations in three states
“Domestic Violence is not new to us. But,
earlier I didn’t know that emotional, mental,
verbal and economic violence is Domestic
Violence too. I also learned that we have a law
to protect us against all forms of domestic
violence.” – Enriche workshop participant feedback
Cross-Sector Collaboration
This female-led project brought together lawyers, researchers, artists, grassroots practitioners, designers and those closely impacted by human rights issues in rural India. Together, we co-produced a set of arts-based digital learning tools to be used in Barefoot Enriche’s workshops on human rights.
Primarily created in Hindi for our target audience in India, these resources were developed in collaboration with Barefoot College International’s Enriche team – which have deep contextual knowledge of these issues – and with pro bono legal research on human rights provided by Hogan Lovells; over 20 lawyers from across Hogan Lovells undertook research on human rights within 18 countries.
Research Approach
The comics follow Asha, a teacher from a rural village, as she discusses the concept of human rights and the daily interaction she and her fellow villagers have with these rights; from gaining access to the local well to the sharing of household chores between men and women. Asha goes on to share stories about the right to education, equality, health, and freedom from violence. Each story was drawn from the real-life experiences of women at Barefoot College in order to ensure the comics closely resonated with the audience. Together with the Enriche team, we conducted fieldwork in 2018 where we facilitated focus groups and interviews with over 50 women representative of our target audience.
“I realized inequality begins at our home. We discriminate between our girls and boys and find nothing wrong in it. After the training, I have decided to start treating both my children equally. I am hopeful my small move will make the world more equal for my children and the future generation.” – Enriche workshop participant feedback