Articles on MAVA
Men Against Violence and Abuse: Men’s Movement for Gender Justice
– Jatin Wagle*
Introduction
Men's Politics And MAVA
History And Objectives
Awareness And Related Programmes
Counselling
As per the loose division of labour as it exists in the core group of the organisation, Pratibha and Dinesh More, Yashodhara and Swapan Purkayastha and Pramod Naik are primarily concerned with the counselling of individual cases. Swapan Purkayastha and Naik also work with school children, taking up lecture-modules on value education, sex education, stress management etc. However, counselling appears to be the mainstay of their activities within the organisation. In most cases, the counselling sessions take place at the residences of the activist-counsellors. It should be mentioned here that instead of seeing this as an invasion into their private spaces, the counsellors have transformed this space-related constraint into an advantage by creating in their homes an atmosphere that is more relaxed and less forbidding than clinical spaces commonly used for therapy[15]. The Purkayasthas look after the complainants from western Mumbai, while the Mores deal with the Thane-Kalyan-Dombivli belt. Naik stays in Chembur and is responsible for the Sion-Ghatkopar area. MAVA gets its cases in two ways: individuals come to them independently by calling them up on their telephone hotlines (residential telephone numbers); or women's organisations, such as Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Mahila Dakshata Samiti, Special Cell for Women in Distress, direct affected persons to them. MAVA in turn directs individual cases to lawyers or other organisations as per the need.
In the process of attending to the varied needs of their ‘clients’, the counsellors appear to have developed special skills, and some of them have taken up counselling-related courses to hone their craft. They have also evolved elaborate procedures to ensure effective handling of the cases.[16] It is notable that each one of them appears to have his or her distinct style of dealing with the affected persons. The Purkayasthas claim that spiritual healing is an inseparable facet of their counselling sessions.[17] The Mores appear particularly concerned about their experiences with the individuals who use the organisation to settle personal scores or those who never get back to them for a feedback. It is a testimony to the dedication and courage of the activist-counsellors at MAVA that in spite of physical attacks, verbal abuse and lack of much appreciation from their ‘clients’, they have sustained this arduous effort for so long. Some of the more notable points raised by the counsellors are:
§ Most of the cases taken up for counselling are about marital discord.
§ In cases of marital discord, the common intent of the counsellors at MAVA appears to be to keep the family intact. Much counselling in this context seems to be about imparting ‘coping skills’[18].
§ More than feminism, it is their commitment to an egalitarian humanism that appears to be the main principle guiding their counselling work[19].
§ About sixty percent of the cases are related to alcohol-addiction, and therefore, counselling with men has to incorporate ways of dealing with addicts[20].
§ Many women’s organisations send men to the counsellors at MAVA when they realise that they do not have the ‘expertise’ to deal with men.
My general impression about MAVA’s activities, especially where the counselling of individual cases is concerned, is that they take place in what can be described as a social work or social service paradigm. This allows for a high degree of individualism, innovation, professionalism and flexibility. However, as it encourages an apolitical ‘handling of’ or ‘coping with’ gender issues, it can lapse into a clinical or problem-solving approach to questions that are related to systemic, and therefore, political processes. In this context, it also needs to be mentioned that there appears to be an intellectual fissure between the broad, complex, theoretical and political engagement with gender issues as seen in the pages of Purush Spandana and what I have earlier described as a social-work paradigm within which the activities of MAVA are staged. An imaginative integration of these could lend a greater sense of coherence to the activities undertaken by the organisation[21]
Conclusion
MAVA has been variously described in the print media as “a men’s group fighting for women’s rights”[22], as ‘men opposed to domestic violence’ and even as “a vigilante group of male crusaders”[23]. The singularity of its formation and its approach to the issues regarding gender and violence make for its peculiar strengths as well as limitations. In a political environment where liberal ideologies appear to be losing out to more identity-based manners of socio-political mobilisation, the role of a group such as MAVA is extremely significant, as it generates an alternative locus from which contemporary politics can be waged and viewed. However, this also means that its role is circumscribed by the very social atmosphere that nurtures it. In other words, the urban, middle-class membership of this organisation as well as its avowed commitment to a pro-feminist humanism make for its uniqueness; and it is this very liberal humanist framework that appears to limit its appeal. These are probably the reasons why the MAVA experiment has not been extended or replicated in other parts of India. The way ahead for MAVA, it seems to me, is to build broad coalitions with other men’s organisations, bringing together gay rights groups and other social identity-based progressive formations[24] that are yet to discover their gendered beings.
[15] The counsellors feel that this in turn has positively transformed the familial relationships within their households. Their children, for instance, appear to have imbibed the pro-feminist values of their parents. This is evident from their active participation in the various activities undertaken by MAVA.
[16] These procedures involve the formalisation of counselling relationships through an insistence on written submissions from the complainants, coordination with state agencies such as the police etc. They also entail the incorporation of professional counselling patterns and strategies usually employed in the field of social work.
[17] Perhaps such eclecticism is a useful (and an inevitable) feature of all hands-on counselling activities. However, spiritual healing, especially the Hindu variety that the Purkayasthas recommend, is an insidious terrain. The problematic nature of the beliefs underlying this healing practice are evident in an article authored by SwapanPurkayastha entitled ‘Eternal and Invaluable Spiritual Counselling’, included in a Souvenir brought out by MAVA on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, 2003, pp. 9-10.
[18] Such professional-social-work-related vocabulary abounds in the counselling-related discourse of the counsellors at MAVA.
[19] While discussing with the members of the core group of MAVA the issue of their avowed political leanings as well as the theoretical frameworks that inform their counselling and ergence nd ambiguity. While Sadani appeared to be quite clear that they operated from within a pro-feminist political space, the others were far more circumspect. It emerged that the term ‘feminism’ was seen to be restrictive as well as unnecessarily politically overloaded, while ‘humanism’ was being used as a keyword that broadly signified a progressive political space that subsumed the appeals of ‘feminism’. However, this should not be seen as a naïve rejection of feminism or pro-feminism. It seems to me that it is an expression of a set of complex and interrelated concerns: firstly, this ambiguity regarding feminism articulates a deep scepticism of everyday ‘feminist’ politics and practices that the members of MAVA have developed through their long and eventful association with women’s groups; secondly, it should be viewed as an expression of a struggle that seeks to phrase what are normally seen as women’s issues in a language that appeals to the larger ‘humanity’; thirdly, it also articulates the larger concern that lies at the very root of MAVA’s existence, that is, the place and role of men in the women’s struggle against patriarchy.
[20] The counsellors at MAVA claim to have developed various strategies to deal with men afflicted with addictions and their complex problems. They also appear to coordinate their efforts with organizations such as the Alcoholics Anonymous.
[21] I am conscious of the fact that this is easier said than done, especially for an organization that seeks to intervenesimultaneously in the diverse realms of ‘private counselling’ and ‘public awareness’. It also needs to be noted here that an endeavour such as the consistent publication of Purush Spandana, with its rich and intellectually stimulating content, is in itself salutary. However, what is being pointed out is that there is scope for greater permeability and accordance between the various activities of the organisation.
[22]Vhanmane, Sanjay, “Mahilahakkansathi Purushancha Ladha… ‘MAVA’!”, Maharashtra Times, 9th March 2003.
[23] Devidayal, Namita, “Enter the Male Crusader”, The Sunday Times of India, 1st August 1993.
[24] By this I primarily mean the progressive organisations of dalits and Muslims.
