ADECOM Network

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ADECOM Network is an Indian local NGO that has been helping women from oppressed Communities to exercise their political, social and economic rights for over 32 years.

ADECOM stands for:
• Animate: create self-awareness and self-confidence among oppressed women
• Develop: improve social, environmental and economic conditions for women
• Employ: enable access to secure, well-paid jobs and create enterprise opportunities
• Communicate: work in partnership with communities, civil society and government to keep women’s rights at the top of the agenda

Our goal is to bring universal human rights to oppressed women at the grassroots level. We achieve this by:
• Working directly with South India’s oppressed peoples, including, schuled caste, tribal people, and rural communities.
• Challenging stereotypes about women’s place in society and changing beliefs and behaviours that discriminate against women
• Giving young people and women confidence, skills and opportunities to end discrimination and inequality and participate in society
• Advocating for women’s rights at the state and national government levels

What we do
Women & Gender Development
• Tailors Co-operative: Through our tailors’ cooperative, we teach local women tailoring skills. This enables them to both take on work as self-employed tailors, and to work together to harness bigger opportunities. We offer free tailoring courses at our Village Training Centre in Utchimedu and Field Offices. Easily accessible to local rural communities and taught by experienced local business women, classes take place daily for six months. By the end, students gain a source of secure income.
• IT Skills: We offer free 3 month basic computer courses from our Women’s Rehabilitation Center in Pondicherry. Students become familiar with the computers and learn Microsoft office. At the end of the course students operate at school level and are eligible to continue into a computing oriented job.
Women’s Rehabilitation Centre:
• Our Women’s Rehabilitation Centre provides services severely lacking in the Pondicherry area, in a safe and welcoming environment. We work closely with the Local Police and Health Care Centres to provide a safe space within which Women feel empowered and comfortable. We offer counselling as well as the opportunity for our beneficiaries to attend our Tailoring and IT courses, with the intention of empowering victims of domestic violence by building confidence.
• Legal Advice: Our Lawyers’ Forum provides free legal advice to victims of crime and injustice. We also organise training workshops to educate women about their legal rights and how to secure crucial legal documents, such as marriage certificates. We educate survivors on identifying kinds of violence, actions available, and the persons responsible for providing services through the Protection Of Women From Domestic Violence Act Of 2005.
• Social Counselling: Our social counsellor is the first step of the rehabilitation centre. They analyse the circumstances surrounding a case and proposes the proper path for the victim. Our social counsellor creates a warm and inviting space in order to guide our beneficiaries to the proper counselling: legal, psychological, or medical.
• Medical Counselling: Medical Consultations are given to all survivors of domestic violence through ADECOM. Medical treatment is usually provided in-house, although special treatment is provided in emergency cases.
• Psychological Counselling: All victims of domestic violence are affected psychologically, but we know these wounds are harder to identify. All victims are given psychological counseling at ADECOM. We work with women on identifying psychologically violent behaviour and healing past traumas through counseling sessions.
• Short Stay: ADECOM offers a dormitory within which women and children stay when necessary. These cases are determined by circumstances, but the average stay is two to five days. The beneficiary is offered all counseling services and has their basic needs provided for.
Rural Development:
• Grassroots Empowerment: We enable women to take action for their rights and agitate for change. Through our grassroots women’s organization, Ambedkar Pen gal Pagutharivu Iyyakkam, vulnerable women work together to tackle local challenges. Our field co-coordinators meet women daily to support them in securing rights, employment, Education and services for themselves and their families. We rely on over 500 local women leaders to implement change in the rural areas surrounding Pondicherry and throughout Tamil Nadu
• Farming Initiative: We offer free workshops in rural areas, educating women on land ownership and inheritance rights as well as permaculture techniques.
Children's Development:
• Gender Sensitization Campaign: ADECOM advocates that change must come from all sides when addressing Violence against Women. In 2016 ADECOM launched the Gender Sensitization Program, working with boys, as well as married and unmarried young men through workshops that raise awareness and promote empathy. Through our village workshops boys and young men are educated on women’s safety and security measures, women’s rights and how to identify violence against women. Participating boys share household tasks with their mothers, such as sweeping, water retrieval, cooking, laundry and going to the market; increasing the responsibility of the boys and raising awareness in the household. In 2017, 15 boys from the Vathaur village were moved to create a petition on the behalf of the village women for clean toilets, a proper road and a street light.
• Cadres Meetings: We work to empower future generations by educating them on the rights of women in India. We create awareness surrounding the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005 through social workshops involving local officials in villages throughout Tamil Nadu.

Mr. S. Peruaml is the Legal Consultant and Managing Trustee of ADECOM Network.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.