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 CATEGORIES |
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| COMMUNITY BASED ACTION : SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT |
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Bonded labour is rooted in poverty and inequality. It affects disproportionately those groups of people who suffer discrimination of many kinds in different aspects of their lives, not only at work. These groups include low castes, religious minorities and indigenous peoples. Women and children are particularly vulnerable in the context of deep-rooted and persistent patterns of gender inequality in south Asia.
Bonded labour results from a complex web of unequal economic and social relations, so it can only be effectively and sustainably addressed by tackling the root causes of social inequality and subordination. Socially empowering people who are vulnerable to, trapped in or released from, bonded labour is key to these efforts. It comprises many kinds of action: functional literacy and numeracy training; raising people's awareness of their basic rights; self-help group organization and support; enhancing villagers' self-esteem and self-confidence; strengthening negotiating skills to enable workers to interact more effectively with their employers and other agents; linking CBOs to other groups, such as trade unions, for greater bargaining power; improving health status; and redressing gender inequalities in all areas of family and community life.
The materials presented here represent a small sample of good practices and tools for social empowerment, as an essential component of an integrated approach to the prevention or rehabilitation of bonded labour at community level
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