During September 1991, a small group of journalists and social workers, at the initiative of a senior journalist, C. Y. Gopinath, placed a short advertisement in a few Mumbai newspapers, namely Indian Express, Jansatta and Loksatta to find out if an appeal to men regarding the issue of wife-battery and domestic violence could elicit any response. The copy read: “Wanted: Men who believe wives are not for battering. If you are a man strongly opposed to violence towards wives from their husbands, and would like to help stop it, then send us your name…”[7]. The response was both surprising and overwhelming. More than two hundred men from the city belonging to diverse age groups and linguistic backgrounds wrote back. More than sixty of these men filled out a subsequent questionnaire which was devised with the intention of exploring the formation of a group that could undertake activities opposing violence towards women. The first, exploratory meeting of the group took place in April 1992, and over a number of gatherings, more than a year later, MAVA came into existence on Sunday, 11th July 1993 at a public meeting at Dadar[8].
Registered in March 1993 as a ‘Society’ under the Societies Registration Act, MAVA is run by a Managing Committee of five men from various professional backgrounds. They include Harish Sadani, Honorary Secretary, formerly working as Asst. Manager, Social Work & Public Affairs at Glaxo India Limited; Dinesh More, Hon Jt. Secretary, running his own business at Dombivli; Kamalakar Desai, Hon. President & Former Consultant at ANZ Grindlays Bank; Swapan Purkayastha, Hon. Vice President & Asst. Manager, Maintenance at Tata SSL Limited and Pramod Naik, Hon. Treasurer and Executive Engineer (Operations) at Tata Electronic Companies[9].The core group of the organisation includes very active women members, namely Yashodhara Purkayastha and Pratibha More[10].

“MAVA’s primary objective has been to bring about a change in the traditional, male dominated attitudes of men (which have been systematically perpetuated by the media and all other subsystems in the society) and help stop or prevent violence and abuse of women in our society”[11]. I list below some of the more significant points mentioned under the heading ‘Objects of the Society’ in the official ‘Memorandum of Association’. The Memorandum says, “The main object… (is) to bring about moral and social change, particularly in the attitudes of people and control violence and abuse against women by working primarily with men. To attain the above objectives MAVA will provide, undertake or promote… following activities…:” And, the activities listed are: Counselling; publications; public service; support to other groups involved in similar activities; co-ordination with the police and other governmental, welfare and voluntary organisations; legal aid for abused women; campaign for legislation to curb violence against women; seminars, workshops and conferences for creating better awareness and addressing issues; research; exhibitions, fairs and promotional gatherings; networking with women’s organisations and social service groups; medical and educational assistance to women in need; temporary shelters for women in distress; creation of employment opportunities.

If we take an overview of some of the most noteworthy activities taken up by the organisation, we find that the focus has been on domestic violence and abuse of women. We also notice that despite the constraints of membership, office space and funds, it has attempted to fulfil many of its avowed objectives with earnest sincerity. In terms of the nature of its activities, the members of MAVA distinguish between ‘preventive’ and ‘curative’ programmes. Here, the rather apolitical, social-work oriented connotation of these terms is significant, as most activists appear to function within a social service paradigm. To phrase it in less formulaic terms, the activities of the organisation are broadly of two types: programmes for public awareness; and counselling of individuals or families. The first, addressing the general public, are geared towards generating a more gender-just social consciousness. This involves addressing different groups and developing appropriate strategies to spread awareness. MAVA has taken up many such programmes with varying degrees of success. The second type of activity involves responding to specific cases of domestic violence or family discord and taking up counselling of individuals and families, as also networking with women’s organisations as well as lawyers for effective handling of the problems.