Sohini Chakraborty - Helping abused women cope through dance
Sohini Chakraborty - Helping abused women cope through dance
Sohini Chakraborty was walking through the Kolkata Book Fair on a winter evening in 1996 when she spotted a poster outside the kiosk of an anti-trafficking non profit organization. A young girl looked out of the poster that said, "No more a bride-to-be, no more a mother-to-be, no more a future-to-be.” Thus was born the idea of Sanved – an organization that now helps thousands of victims of trafficking all over South Asia through dance. Sohini Chakraborty in conversation with Nilanjana Bhowmick.
Shetizenjournalist.com
August 31, 2010
Helping victims of trafficking to cope with their past through dance – how did that come about?
As a post-graduate student of Sociology, I had been exposed to the concept of trafficking and its psychological damage on women and young girls through a criminology module. I was already thinking about using dance as a psycho-therapy tool. The girl on the poster prompted my thoughts into action and I was sitting in the office of the NGO the very next day, outlining my plan. They were not convinced enough to offer me a job as a therapist but interested enough to allow me to take classes in their shelter homes. For the next 8 years I devoted myself to developing a curriculum that will hold the interest of the girls, make them come out of their trauma and get involved with life and integrated in mainstream society.
What kind of response did you get from the girls initially – there must have been some resistance?
When I began counseling the girls as a volunteer at the shelter homes I was using various hand movements that I had learnt. However, I had a shock waiting for me. The girls were totally unresponsive. One of them even walked out of the room while I was talking. It made me realize that my theoretical learning was very tight. From then onwards I sat with them for hours and over the next few years the therapy evolved from games, story telling, singing, dancing and so on.
Why did you hone onto dance as a psycho-therapy tool?
Dance Movement Theory (DMT) which forms the base of my curriculum integrates socially, emotionally and physically. Movements bring in liberation. Women are always in bondage. So movements explore what’s inside you and help in bringing it out. DMT is a non-judgmental medium – it is participatory and hence the barrier between counselor and victims breaks down easily.
Dance Movement Therapy has been around in the West since the 1940s. How is your curriculum different?
Although DMT has been around since the 1940s in UK and US, worldwide it has been mostly used in a clinical form – practiced by individual therapists. Kolkata Sanved institutionalized it in South Asia for the first time and advocated its use as a human rights tool. I spent years in shelter homes and red light districts, talking to girls about what movements excited them, made them happy or angry and then developed our own curriculum, “Sampurnata” or fulfillment.
How long is the program and what is the success rate?
Sanved’s healing and recovery program lasts for a year. After the end of the year most of the girls want to continue their training as a therapist. We have a 100 percent success rate. We have been able to transform around 5000 women’s lives directly since 2004, out of them 2500 were child prostitutes. Indirectly, through seminars, work shops and dance performances, we have been able to reach out to more than 10,000 women and the numbers are growing everyday.
Was it easy to break social stereotypes and get your trainers accepted by organizations?
It was not easy, it still is not. Some would insist that I myself do the training but I put my foot down and rejected many offers. Now it’s a little better but the prejudice is still there.
What other challenges do you face in your work?
Paucity of funds is something we struggle with all the time. The entire process is skill-based and things do not change in one day – it is a long drawn process. And we need long term and continuous funding to sustain it.
Was there a turning point ever which defined your journey?
There have been many – right from the sighting of the poster till when I formed Kolkata Sanved with a few girls from shelter home. One significant turning point was a three year grant from UNIFEM in 2006. With $42000 spread over three years, our dream could really find wings. Now we have 18 women working with us – all of them have been victims of abuse in some form. Do you have your own shelter homes?
No, Kolkata Sanved works in tie-ups with NGOs. We bring our training program to various shelter homes in South Asia. In 2004, we worked with 2 NGOs and now we work with 38 spread all over the world. We work extensively in trafficking-prone countries like Bangladesh and Nepal
Where do you get your inspiration to carry on?
My strength comes from the women and girls who benefit from the program. To see them bloom from traumatized individuals to sociable and self-sufficient citizens of the world is my biggest inspiration. What I fight for is not just to teach people dance, but make them strong individuals in society with dignity and self-respect.
Sohini Chakraborty - Helping abused women cope through dance
Sohini Chakraborty was walking through the Kolkata Book Fair on a winter evening in 1996 when she spotted a poster outside the kiosk of an anti-trafficking non profit organization. A young girl looked out of the poster that said, "No more a bride-to-be, no more a mother-to-be, no more a future-to-be.” Thus was born the idea of Sanved – an organization that now helps thousands of victims of trafficking all over South Asia through dance. Sohini Chakraborty in conversation with Nilanjana Bhowmick.
Shetizenjournalist.com
August 31, 2010
Caption: Sohini with the girls.
Helping victims of trafficking to cope with their past through dance – how did that come about?
As a post-graduate student of Sociology, I had been exposed to the concept of trafficking and its psychological damage on women and young girls through a criminology module. I was already thinking about using dance as a psycho-therapy
What kind of response did you get from the girls initially – there must have been some resistance?
When I began counseling the girls as a volunteer at the shelter homes I was using various hand movements that I had learnt. However, I had a shock waiting for me. The girls were totally unresponsive. One of them even walked out of the room while I was talking. It made me realize that my theoretical learning was very tight. From then onwards I sat with them for hours and over the next few years the therapy evolved from games, story telling, singing, dancing and so on.
Why did you hone onto dance as a psycho-therapy
Dance Movement Theory (DMT) which forms the base of my curriculum integrates socially, emotionally and physically. Movements bring in liberation. Women are always in bondage. So movements explore what’s inside you and help in bringing it out. DMT is a non-judgmental medium – it is participatory and hence the barrier between counselor and victims breaks down easily.
Dance Movement Therapy has been around in the West since the 1940s. How is your curriculum different?
Although DMT has been around since the 1940s in UK and US, worldwide it has been mostly used in a clinical form – practiced by individual therapists. Kolkata Sanved institutionalized it in South Asia for the first time and advocated its use as a human rights
How long is the program and what is the success rate?
Sanved’s healing and recovery program lasts for a year. After the end of the year most of the girls want to continue their training as a therapist. We have a 100 percent success rate. We have been able to transform around 5000 women’s lives directly since 2004, out of them 2500 were child prostitutes. Indirectly, through seminars, work shops and dance performances, we have been able to reach out to more than 10,000 women and the numbers are growing everyday.
Was it easy to break social stereotypes and get your trainers accepted by organizations?
It was not easy, it still is not. Some would insist that I myself do the training but I put my foot down and rejected many offers. Now it’s a little better but the prejudice is still there.
What other challenges do you face in your work?
Paucity of funds is something we struggle with all the time. The entire process is skill-based and things do not change in one day – it is a long drawn process. And we need long term and continuous funding to sustain it.
Was there a turning point ever which defined your journey?
There have been many – right from the sighting of the poster till when I formed Kolkata Sanved with a few girls from shelter home. One significant turning point was a three year grant from UNIFEM in 2006. With $42000 spread over three years, our dream could really find wings. Now we have 18 women working with us – all of them have been victims of abuse in some form.
Do you have your own shelter homes?
No, Kolkata Sanved works in tie-ups with NGOs. We bring our training program to various shelter homes in South Asia. In 2004, we worked with 2 NGOs and now we work with 38 spread all over the world. We work extensively in trafficking-prone countries like Bangladesh and Nepal
Where do you get your inspiration to carry on?
My strength comes from the women and girls who benefit from the program. To see them bloom from traumatized individuals to sociable and self-sufficient citizens of the world is my biggest inspiration. What I fight for is not just to teach people dance, but make them strong individuals in society with dignity and self-respect.