Sangsan: Building Our Youth for the Future: One Billion Rising

Since October 2013 Sangsan has engaged with an international movement aimed at increasing awareness of violence against women and girls. One Billion Rising for Justice is an international campaign that uses dance to raise awareness of the approximate 1 Billion women and girls who experience violence based on their gender. In 2013 tens of thousands of events, in which large groups in public performed the dance, took place in 207 countries to bring light to the issue and provide an environment of empowerment and safety for women to express themselves.

Sangsan has been actively engaged in this project over the past year and we have produced five videos of our own dance performances featuring our staff, students and other women from the broader community passionate about women’s rights.

The dance has also been a useful tool within our training camps as a creative and energetic activity that also touches upon issues of human rights and gender equality.

At our recent evaluation camps for university and high school students the dance was performed with staff and students, females and males together. While the campaign is specifically focused on violence against women it also encourages discussion about broader discrimination against women and girls. With so many Sangsan students being female these messages are important to discuss when considering that our students are at a time in their lives when they are considering the career opportunities available to them. For many of our students the opportunities presented to them by their families and communities are typically limited within traditional gender roles or by the expectations of coming from a minority group in Thailand. Through discussion with the Sangsan team the broader opportunities available through education are explored and encouraged.

One discussion at the evaluation camps was particularly resonant. One student reflected in the group discussion about the pressures placed upon her by her family to fill a traditional gender role within her household and not to continue her education. This related to not just the expectations placed on her but also on her brothers who, while receiving much more acknowledgement and encouragement, also struggled with the expectations of their traditional gender role expectations.

Further discussion occurred during rehearsal for the dance in which Jeab formed small groups to discuss the issues of violence and discrimination against women. The discussion proved to be a powerful forum for both the female and male students to talk about gender roles and gender based violence in their own communities.

Sangsan is supportive of the campaign and is very proud of our involvement and contributions. The One Billion Rising for Justice movement continues this year. Please visit http://www.onebillionrising.org/ to follow the campaign and to find our what might be happening near you.