PhD student is co-author of a book detailing the victimization of women in western India in the name of religious rite

Govind Dhaske

   Oct. 13, 2009 -  Govind Dhaske is a new PhD student at the Indiana University School of Social Work, but he has already something to add to his resume – co-author of a book detailing the victimization of women in western India in the name of religious rite.

   The book is, “Jata Removal Movement, Unfolding the ‘Gender’ in Politico-Religious Society,” and is being released this month by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

 “Matting of hairs has several superstitions attached to it which violates women’s human rights. Due of matting of hairs (called Jata) women receive social, cultural and religious attention, and are forced to follow number of rituals against their choice. The personal, familial and social drudgery faced by women due to this issue is severe. There is no recognition of the issue at policy level. Matting of hairs creates stigmatization and stress among women and affects their psychosocial wellbeing”, Govind explained. He collaborated with Sudhir Kumbhar, an Indian academician and social worker for this project.

   Govind intends to focus on gender issues and social policy in his research at IU. He is associated with Jata (matted hair) Removal Movement in India.  Not much research has been done on the reasons why the women’s hair becomes matted, Govind explained. It could be as simple as a lack of proper care because women too overburdened with work to the hair care that is needed. Once it becomes matted though, it can lead to several physical and psychological health problems over time.

   But simply removing the matted hair is not a step that families are willing to chance. Some people view the hair as a sign of an act by a goddess and it is believed that the person with such hair has divine powers. Women with such hair are believed to have the powers to put a curse on others and thus people give those with matted hair a certain amount of respect out of fear of what might happen if they don’t. There are several superstitions that control the reinforcement of the rite about matted hairs. To seek out the advice of priests about what to do costs money, which the women and their families often don’t have. Some poor families become indebted due to such expenses for rituals. They are forced up by the religious superstitions to keep the matted hairs.

   The issue of matted hairs is linked with the rigid and oppressive tradition of devdasi who carry jata as one of the customary symbol. Devdasi rite is sexual exploitation of women by the politico- religious leaders and majority of the devdasis belong to the dalit communities. The symbol of matted hairs carried by devdasi has stigma attached to it and hence it leads to drudgery of women who get affected with matted hairs. The jata removal movement began with removal of matted hairs of devdasi and spread it to the masses.

   Even educated individuals are most of the time can’t take stand against traditions, Govind said. He recalled one woman who lived with matted hair for decades before she finally had it removed when she was 76.  Another case involved a young girl who got matted hair when she was a toddler and suffered health problems until her family was convinced it was ok to remove the matted hair when she was about 11-years-old.

   A network of jata (matted hair) removal activists are sometimes contacted by a friends or relatives of the person with matted hair. The activists work slowly with the family to get them to consider removing the matted hair. It’s not a situation where activists can simply go to the family and tell them to cut the matted hair, Govind said. Instead, they have to counsel family to overcome their belief in superstitions and make them understand it is in the best interest of their near ones to remove the hair.

“The matted hair removal movement has been a scientific movement rooted in rational humanist thinking about beliefs and traditions. A forced life with matted hair is a serious but neglected human right violation and there is an urgent need of further public policy, social research, and social work interventions” Govind elaborated.

For information on how to order the book, go to the publisher's website at 

www.c-s-p.org.