About Us
"SEWA - A national organization of self employed, unorganized sector women"
At a National level
Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is a national organization of poor women workers in the unorganized sector. The main focus of SEWA has been the betterment of women’s livelihoods, attainment of rights and recognition of their work and as workers, income and social security through their own collective strength.
SEWA was born in Gujarat in 1972 under the leadership of Smt. Ela Bhatt whose foresight and commitment to this sector of workers has resulted in large organizations of women workers from around 124 different trades, women working in their homes in traditional occupations or as part of a production chain or just providing services in the informal sector (www.sewa.org).
Securing the work of women in the informal sector is a two pronged process. Advocating for rights and recognition as workers is a political activity and forms the basis of the SEWA trade union. Strengthening and securing work is the economic activity and forms the basis of the SEWA development activity. Hence sangarsh aur nirman. Both these processes build on the collective strength and leadership of the members thus stimulating the SEWA movement to grow all over the country.
SEWA in Numbers
14
Indian States
17,000
Members as of June 2013
2007
status at Central Trade Union
2012
Sewa celebrated its golden jubile
SEWA Kerala
The Headquarters located in Trivandrum, Kerala.
Asha Francis
President
Bindu Surendran
Vice President
Nalini Nayak
Secretary
Sonia George
Coordinator
About Us
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The SEWA Movement in Kerala emerged in the mid 1980s, through seeking ways to address the crisis of women in traditional sectors who lost their jobs and were searching for new livelihoods. The women who came together were from the fishing, agriculture and reed worker communities who therefore were dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods. Even as they struggled to retain these livelihoods when access to natural resources declined, several of them were also in need of alternate livelihood options. Single mothers in particular needed to be assured of daily earnings so that they could keep their home fires burning. They thus exerted pressure to have some supplementary economic activity.
As there were no other platforms/unions addressing these issues of women workers at the time, Smt. Aleyamma Vijayan and Nalini Nayak, inspired by Elaben, decided to assist these women to create SEWA in Kerala thus linking up to the only larger platform of women workers in the country. The initial years were difficult as this was a new kind of intervention in highly politicized Kerala, but by 1986 the movement began to take root.
Alternate employment generation for workers whose livelihood base was diminishing was the cry of the hour and hence moving into the service sector through the creation of worker’s collectives was the initial challenge.