AAGAJ - Aware Adolescent Girls Action for Justice

Aware Adolescent Girls Action for Justice Program, as the name suggests, is a holistic initiative working with adolescent girls to empower them with gender awareness, and mold them into confident, self-aware individuals, and responsible citizens. The project, directly reaching out to more than 1600 adolescent girls intensively, and 1300+ girls through school sessions and campaigns extensively thus attempts to create a safe space for these girls, where they can engage with topics that no one else talks to them openly about and share their insights and concerns. The project, spread over 120 villages of 1 district of Himachal (Solan), works on the grassroots level to engage with the adolescent girls of the community and create a space for them to discuss and learn about a range of issues concerning them. The workshops and meetings focus on the different ways in which gender and patriarchy impact the lives of girls and women, and how they intersect with their physical, mental, and reproductive health, experiences of violence, education, relationships, and rights and entitlements. We focus on their overall physical, mental, and emotional development as well as enhancing their awareness and participation in the decision-making processes at the household and community levels. The work of the AAGAJ team has transformed the ways the adolescent girls of our collectives have started viewing themselves and the world. The girls now feel seen and heard, and believe themselves to be empowered individuals with their own unique identity.