Women suffer violence of all forms and at all stages in their lives-from foetal stage where they are susceptible to death through sex selection; during childhood when they are often undernourished, uneducated, generally neglected, and burdened with household responsibilities; during early married life when they are vulnerable to harassment, injury, have no control over their sexual and reproductive health; and throughout their lives when they are subjected to physical beating and assault as well as emotional humiliation and degradation. Women in the country are highly vulnerable because of poor quality of life and rampant poverty.

SMART has, with support from Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI) undertaken a three-year-long project to raise awareness about violence against women and sensitize the community, administration and women themselves to challenge prevalent values, beliefs and behaviour which contributes to oppression and subjugation of women. We believe that strong women help build stronger communities, and are invested in creating an environment that helps women take control of their own life. 

Our multi-pronged approach will be to empower women through information and building networks, create awareness and urgency for NGOs, panchayats, police and local administration to address the issues of domestic violence; deepen the work with local visual and print media  to produce programmes/write stories and reports that highlight issues of sexual harassment and violence within their immediate environment. and finally with grassroots media platforms to give greater attention and coverage to the implementation of the law at the local level