Introduction

A woman to woman community network that is committed to the cause of upholding women’s dignity and mainstreaming their role and responsibility in the social and economic transformation of our nation. Founded on April 11, 2013, this network today has a membership base of almost 110,000 members and is growing in a robust manner. Currently the network is based in Maharashtra, India, but is rapidly expanding its global footprint into other countries such as Mexico. Considering the social and economic profile of women in India there was a real need to create a platform for women which would mobilize, galvanize & harness their full potential by addressing three critical areas :

Emotional Security

Emotional security involves defining and charting a clear role for women based on an integration of self-acceptance and self-confidence, social and political understanding. and a personal ability to take a significant part in decision-making and in control over resources in the environment. Through the Tanishka Women’s Network women are encouraged to work in groups and exchange ideas with other groups which help them address issues within their communities. This process integrated with technology and social media leads to creating pathways that bring about a social change. Every woman thereby obtains a clear understanding of her own self-worth, aspirations and a healthy sense of entitlement. This enables women to individually and collectively identify and address issues thereby paving the path towards self-fulfillment. A firm sense of emotional security in turn enables women across strata to come together to formulate goals for personal and societal improvement thereby actualizing themselves as agents of positive change in society.

Physical Security

The Tanishka Foundation provides a platform that facilitates the conferral of fundamental rights of security at multiple levels for all women. This includes the basic right to life, gender equality, equal protection under the law, right to be free from all forms of discrimination and the right to the highest standards of physical and mental health. Most importantly, the right to complete freedom from abuse at the domestic or community level and zero level tolerance for any form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This also implies their right to operate as a part of society on par with men, and enjoy the same freedoms of choice and decision making thereby charting their own course. This in turn enables them to operate from a standpoint of courageousness, self-respect and emboldened action- empowering them to take control of their lives and initiate positive change in society.

Financial Security

Tanishka Foundation provides a structured platform, process and methodology that acts as an positive enabler for the financial security and independence of women, empowering them to utilize and actualize their inherent abilities to build capacity to generate income, find innovative livelihood options and have the right to greater access and control of resources. The Tanishka Women’s Network promotes financial security via empowerment programmes and helps women to obtain greater market access through which they can get integrated into an inclusive framework of financial institutions and services. This leads to the greater participation in multi-level policy and implementation frameworks affecting their lives, through a process involving negotiation, using influence & exerting control over their societal ecosystems. Tanishka also emphasizes that in order for women to have a dignified life and fully harness and galvanize their potential, it is paramount that they have stable incomes on par with men in their socio-economic strata. In addition, they are provided the skills and education required to earn secure & continuously enhanced incomes, with rights to optimal control over land and other critical monetizable resources and equal access to all entitlements and services available in society, thereby ensuring that they have a stable and secure base from which to act in the interests of societal and Nation Transformation.

Where we work

Maharashtra

Mexico