Resources

Dasra has conducted extensive research into the negative backlash faced by adolescent girls in India, to understand the adverse consequences, or backlash, faced by girls who express agency or defy traditional norms of femininity, and by organizations that implement programs intended to empower them, and to draw conclusions about ways of overcoming such backlash. Action Reaction I, and Action Reaction II, document the occurrence of this phenomenon, and outline the triggers of backlash, as well as the various approaches and practices deployed by implementing CSOs to mitigate and address backlash.

The reports draw attention to the lasting, and often unseen, impact backlash has on funding– thereby making a case for backlash management to be included as an essential component of adolescent empowerment programs. To this end, this two-pager is a resource created by Dasra to encourage non-profits to identify and articulate backlash, in the hope that it will drive them towards more open conversation with stakeholders across the adolescent ecosystem.