Challenges of women associations in modern times

For women to take a common stand against issues militating against the feminine gender as a whole and demand for accountability and respect for their dignity as well as upholding their rights, there is a need for women gatherings and movements to hold government and policy makers accountable on critical issues which include health and rights of women and girls.

A strong and effective women’s movement or pressure group is a necessity if there will be a progressive public policy change that would favour the feminine gender. Unfortunately, most women groups have issues of survival and basically fizzle out before the actualisation of their objectives due to a variety of reasons, making it a herculean task to achieve their goals.

The major challenge of women groups is finance; many women’s bodies that advocate for progress in the society usually operate with little capital and funds to finance their projects and are forced to operate with a shoestring budgets that are not enough for their projects and  barely enough to make the groups functional.

Aside the challenge of finance, there are other major issues that militate against the functionality of the groups and in today’s world, the challenges continue to rise. Another major challenge is cultural and religious bias that make people look at women that spearhead advocacy groups as those that are not virtuous and cannot keep a home because they cannot submit to a man. This perception, usually a misconception, cause a lot of issues for such women which also affects the groups.

As a result of the misconception, women rights advocates usually experience harassment both online and offline, they face threats from religious extremists as well as repression from government agencies and policy makers and general opposition from biased people who hold on to age-long traditions and beliefs.

Because of traditional bias, it is difficult for women groups to access funds as people, including fellow women usually speak against them and blocks their chances at getting finance because they misunderstand their passion and falsely think they are in a battle against established institutions, beliefs and traditions.

Yet, without funds, nothing can be achieved and the dream for parity is further pushed back. And just as funding is difficult to access, women organisations further face bureaucratic or administrative bottlenecks in the course of their assignments in addition to non-flexible and less than liberal requirements when they canvass for finance.

Rather than the simple process of seeking for grants, women advocates are subjected to a more cumbersome process; they are requested to give more information, inform donors about the economic, political, and social context they operate in as well as personal information, which wastes useful time and leads to frustration and disenchantment.

The administrative, bureaucratic, legal and traditional bottle necks placed before women is an impediment to accessing fund and a threat to the sustenance of their groups, which on the long run hinders development of the womenfolk in every way that counts.

A women group that will get funding must be ready to work more, and withstand every delay and bureaucratic red tape in order to achieve its aims because only a group with a strong and determined voice will make headway and make a success of its vision.