Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) - Empowering Women in India

Case Studies | Case Study in Business, Management, Operations, Strategy, Case Study

ICMR HOME | Case Studies Collection

Case Details:

Case Code : LDEN029
Case Length : 09 Pages
Period : 1970-2004
Pub Date : 2004
Teaching Note : Available
Organization : Self Employed Women's Association
Industry : Service
Countries : India

To download Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) - Empowering Women in India case study (Case Code: LDEN029) click on the button below, and select the case from the list of available cases:

Price:

For delivery in electronic format: Rs. 300;
For delivery through courier (within India): Rs. 300 + Rs. 25 for Shipping & Handling Charges

» Leadership and Entrepreneurship Case Studies
» Case Studies Collection
» ICMR HOME
» Short Case Studies
» View Detailed Pricing Info
» How To Order This Case
» Business Case Studies
» Area Specific Case Studies
» Industry Wise Case Studies
» Company Wise Case Studies

Please note:

This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.

<< Previous

"From a miserable passive acceptance of all the injustices, SEWA women, by organizing themselves, have attained the courage to stand up and fight, the ability to think, act, react, manage and lead. Self-reliance is what they ultimately want. There is no development without self-reliance. But there is no route to self-reliance except by organization."

- Ela Bhatt, Founder of SEWA.¹

Empowering Women

In August 2003, Reema Nanavaty, director of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) signed an agreement with the Taj Residency Ummed² (Taj) in Ahmedabad,³ India, to open an outlet of SEWA products within the premises of the Taj. This agreement would enable SEWA to target foreign tourists coming to India, in keeping with its strategy of targeting international markets for its textile and handicrafts products. Since its inception in the early 1970s, SEWA has been working towards organizing and empowering poor, self-employed women workers in rural and urban areas in India. SEWA has organized self-employed women from different trades and helped them get regular employment, easy access to credit, childcare, healthcare facilities, etc.

SEWA was more than an organization; it was a movement - a combination of labor, women and co-operative movements. According to Ela Bhatt, founder of SEWA, "It took ten years to build an organization and twenty years to build a movement."⁴ SEWA was affiliated to HomeNet - the international network for home-based workers - and Streetnet International - an alliance of vendors & hawkers. These affiliations helped SEWA extend its movement to the international level. SEWA also received grants from the Government of India (GoI), The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)⁵, the Ford Foundation⁶, and the International Labor Organization⁷.

Formation of SEWA

In 1971, a few women handcart pullers approached Ela Bhatt (Bhatt), head of the Women's wing of the Textile Labor Association (TLA), in Ahmedabad, India, with problems like low and erratic wages, poor working conditions, etc. Bhatt was aware that most of the women did petty jobs, working as garment makers, vegetable vendors, handcart pullers, milkmaids, hawkers, etc., to supplement their family income. About 97% of the women lived in slums and 93% were illiterate. Bhatt soon realized that women employed in the informal⁸ sector were unorganized, unprotected, economically weak and had no bargaining power...

Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) - Next Page>>


Leadership and Change Management Textbook Textbooks Collection	Leadership in Practice Case Volume Case Study Volumes Collection

1] http://www.thp.org

2] Taj Group is India's largest luxury hotel chain. It has hotels in the major cities in India. TajResidency Umeed is in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

3] Ahmedabad is the capital of western Indian state of Gujarat.

4] http://www.wiego.org

5] UNICEF is the largest organization in the world working for children's rights, their survival, development and protection.

6] The Ford Foundation aims at strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international co-operation and advancing human achievement.

7] The International Labor Organization is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights.

8] The informal sector includes those who work in small unregistered enterprises, both employers and employees, as well as self-employed persons who work in their own or family businesses.