Dignity Centers

DIGNITY CENTER: Dignity centre is a place to meet comprehensive needs and address structural issues of adolescent girls. Three Dignity Centres have been established in Mandsaur district, which have been acting as guiding light to the adolescent girls from marginalized communities. The girls from these communities are usually kept away from education system and married off at an early age. This condition, a multitude of problems, is a result of the centuries old caste system and the gender inequality that exists within the system. The dignity centres, aimed at the empowerment of such girls, are filling the gap created by the absence of governance and social justice.  Dignity centres function in a way that they go beyond assistance in formal education by also providing the much-needed knowledge and support in claiming the constitutional rights, thus being socially conscious. Dignity centre is easily accessible to the girls since it is located in their own locality and motivator (prerak) belongs to same community. It gives girls more freedom there than their home since these centres are explicitly for girls, so they don’t hesitate in sharing any issues concerning to them. Motivator (prerak) mentors the girls on various aspects related to adolescence including social (caste, gender etc), physical (health, hygiene, sexual education etc) and psychological (issues of identity, confidence, peer pressure etc) domains. Prerak conducts daily sessions in the dignity centres comprising wide range of modules on constitutional rights, life skills, health, education etc. Dignity centres have emerged as a source of holistic development of girls in all program sites