Ika Chaalu - Enough is Enough

So happy to share that the article "From “Mother Theresa group” to “crazy girls gang of Thanda”: adolescent girls as agents of norm change." co-authored by Shantha Sinha, Rekha Wazir and Linda van der Wijk has been accepted and published by Taylor & Francis Group in Development in Practice Journal (DiP) on 10 November 2025. Limited downloads are available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2025.2581869

This article presents a case study of the Adolescent Girls Ika Chaalu Program by the MV Foundation and Charity Fund Rijsholtt and the budding movement Telangana Adolescent Girls Federation for Gender Equality, in Telugu Telangana Aadapillala Samanatva Samakhya (TASS).

The case study shows a community-based, non-linear approach to norm change that takes structural factors in account. It highlights how a dynamic and interactive interplay between both individual and collective agency brings about norm changes that is not driven by "outsiders" but by the adolescent girls themselves.

More information on the adolescent girsl program can be found at https://www.ikachaalu.com

Please feel free to comment, like, share, link, reference and/or ask for a pdf version from any of the three authors. Enjoy the read!

From “Mother Theresa group” to “crazy girls gang of Thanda”: adolescent girls as agents of norm change This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about social norm change by drawing attention to an approach that is nuanced, community based, non-linear, as well as one which takes structural and oth...

Very happy to share that our latest blog is now published. Crazy Girls Gang of Thanda; on empowerment of girls groups. Enjoy the read!

What’s in a name: Crazy Girls Gang of Thanda Crazy Girls Gang! How crazy is that? At a meeting with a group of Kishore Balika Sanghams (KBS) or Adolescent Girls Committees from across the project in December 2023, the leader of the first group introduced their KBS as “We are the Crazy Girls Gang of Thanda”. We were both surprised and curio...

A new blog, about data collection by the Council for the Social Development, on the norm changes that the Ika Chaalu project interventions by MV Foundation bring about, has just come online:

Evidence of Sustainable Norm Change Part 2: Data Collected by Council for Social DevelopmentThe Hyderabad chapter of the Council for Social Development (CSD) published a research report in 2023 entitled “A Study of MV Foundations’s Intervention: Gender Equality and Adolescent Girls’ Education”. This report offers an independen...

A new blog post, with evidence of sustainable norm change based on the data collected by MV Foundation' Field Mobilisers.

Evidence of Sustainable Norm Change Part 1: Data Collected by MVF Field Mobilisers There is credible and mounting evidence from the field that adolescent girls in the programme areas are now able to exercise agency and demand their rights; parents have stopped forcing girls into early marriage and allow them to follow their aspiration...

It's been a minute! While the Ika Chaalu project of MV Foundation and Charity Fund Rijsholt has continued and the work in the field has been going at full speed, there have not been any blog posts for a long time....but we're back at it! Here's the latest, about tracking:

Tracking the Journey of Adolescent Girls: Data Collection and Monitoring The development of a reliable, comprehensive, and readily usable database is a crucial element in MVF’s norm change strategy. This database allows it to track each child in the 6-18 age group to more accurately identify the weak links in the educational chain on a continuous basis. MVF field staff...

The latest Ika Chaalu blog post has just come online, with stories of how adolescent girls experienced the pandemic and its restrictions

Corona stories; how girls experienced the pandemic Hardships faced by adolescent girls during the Covid Pandemic During a recent field visit in June 2022, it became evident over the course of several meetings with adolescent girls that they were reluctant to speak about their experiences during the Covid pandemic. When asked about the hardships they...

A new blog post on the Ika Chaalu site. Our tribute to Kamla Bhasin. What she taught us impacts the Ika Chaalu team every day in their personal lives and work. In a GOOD way!

“It was love at first sight”: Remembering Kamla Bhasin’s Visit to MV Foundation 1-3 November 2018. Kamla Bhasin was a towering presence in the field of gender justice, gender equality and the fight against patriarchy - not just in India but in South Asia and beyond. An iconic trainer, communicator, writer and much more besides, she was always in high demand. At MVF, we were therefore delighted wh...

Our latest blog is now online, on the important role of the field mobilizers.
None of the work would be possible without them!!

The Crucial Role Played by MVF Field Mobilizers in Changing Gender & Education Norms for Adolescents The Ika Chaalu: Enough is Enough project is implemented at the local level by MVF’s field mobilizers. They are all first-generation learners from poor, marginalized, Dalit and Adivasi communities who have struggled to overcome their own challenges in securing an education. They are acutely conscio...

Proud to share our latest blog, with voices of adolescent girls.

“Why can’t they include the history of patriarchy and rights of girls in our text books?” Voices of Adolescent Girls The long drawn-out Covid-19 lockdown was lifted in Telangana in the beginning of August 2021. Schools and colleges reopened and the adolescent girls in the Ika Chaalu – Enough is Enough project were finally able to resume their education and project activities could rest...

BBC Gujarati is reporting on the Ika Chaalu project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iR_46V6npg We are excited and hope this inspires others!

India : UP Election પહેલાં રખડતાં ઢોરની સમસ્યા કેમ ચર્ચામાં? : BBC ગુજરાતી સમાચાર 01.26-09.30 ઉત્તર પ્રદેશમાં રખડતાં ઢોરની સમસ્યા, રખડતાં ઢોરોને લીધે કયાંક પાક બગડ્યો તો કયાંક જીવ...

Our new blog is online. Making sure girls can complete their secondary education and realizing equal rights requires a fundamental change in norms, community, institutions and state. Motivating, informing and mobilizing members of Gram Panchayats (elected local government) to become defenders of girls’ rights is one of the strategies followed by the project. In this blog we will look at some examples from the field of the positive changes that are possible when Gram Panchayats come on board and become allies instead of adversaries.

Gram Panchayats as Allies of Adolescent Girls Realising equal rights and ensuring completion of secondary education for adolescent girls are the main objectives of the Ika Chaalu – Enough is Enough project. Achieving this requires a change in social norms in the community, in institutions and among the functionaries of the State. Motivating, ...

A new blog post is finally online. This time the team (Rekha Wazir, Shantha Sinha) shares about the challenges faced in building new social norms for gender equality and universal education for adolescent girls in sustainable way. Read, share, comment, engage!

Challenges in Building Social Norms for Gender Equality and Adolescent Girls’ Education The experience of the Ika Chaalu project has demonstrated that the process of budling social norms towards gender equality and adolescent girls’ education is challenging and slow but it can be done, as witnessed by the following examples from the field: *The convention for adolescent girls organiz...