In a step towards enhancing the safety and empowerment of women and youth in India’s tea sector, the Women’s Safety Accelerator Fund (WSAF) 2.0 was launched in the city today.
The first phase of the programme reached 321 tea estates across Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The new phase sets a goal to engage 550 tea estates, with an intensive focus on developing 150 model tea estates.
The first phase of WSAF brought about major shifts in addressing gender-based violence (GBV), empowering women and adolescent groups to raise their voices against domestic violence, child abuse and harassment.
The launch event underscored the need for stronger collaboration between government bodies, tea producers and non-government organizations. The representatives of various state government departments like State Legal Service Authority and District Legal Service Authority, District Child Protection Officer, Women and Child Development and Social Welfare department along with different tea producers and representatives of the NGOs signalled the broad-based commitment to the initiative.
The event also featured the release of WSAF’s endline evaluation, showcasing a significant shift in societal attitude and a weakening of long-standing beliefs that normalises violence against women.