Empowering Through Gender Education

Our Journey

At Sahas Foundation, our journey began with a vision of creating a world where
gender-based violence is eradicated, and every individual is treated with dignity and
respect irrespective of their gender, sexual identity, caste and class. From our
humble beginnings, our dedication to enabling gender equity has driven us to make
a significant impact on the communities across India.

In 2012, a 23-year-old girl was gang-raped in New Delhi, India. The shocking incident labelled Delhi as the rape capital in the media. This incident led to increased fear for the safety of women and girls, increased surveillance and stereotypes against them and unwarranted pushback to the gender equality movement. It led to nationwide youth protests to demand justice. Mona and Purvi Yadav were part of the numerous protest marches experiencing anger, resentment and fear that this might happen to any of us. The protest march was the starting point of their journey of social change. They were desperate to work towards a preventative approach towards solving the problem of gender-based violence. Mona started the Sahas Foundation with Purvi Yadav in the year 2016.

Vision and Mission

Vision: Sahas works with a vision to create a world free from gender-based violence.

Mission: The focus of work at Sahas Foundation has been knowledge building of adolescents and young people on the issues of gender, sexuality, mental health and reproductive health thereby building their capacity to understand and challenge gender-based violence that they might be vulnerable to. We work with teachers, parents, police, young people, women and social activists to build a gender-sensitive ecosystem. We have been working in Khushipura village, located 50 kilometres from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh since the year 2020 to build awareness of girl’s right to have adequate access to education, health, sports and life skills needed for their holistic development.

Theory of Change

Sahas Foundation works with an intersectionality framework where we understand gender as a social identity that intersects with social class and caste as other social identities that can lead to experiences of discrimination, stereotypes and social inequalities. We work with a rights-based approach where we believe that girls have the right to education, health, sports and means of livelihood. This approach forms the foundation of all our programs including Sahasi Girls in the village.

Organizational Values

Our core values guide our work and interactions:

Collaboration: We believe in the power of working together with diverse stakeholders to achieve our goals. Collaboration amplifies our impact and helps us reach more communities.
Authenticity: We are committed to genuine and transparent practices, ensuring that our actions align with our mission and values.
Integrity: Upholding integrity is crucial in addressing gender issues and challenging barriers. We strive to maintain the highest standards of honesty and ethical conduct.
Respect: We value respect for time, behaviour, and work, fostering an environment of mutual understanding and collaboration.
Mindfulness and Compassion: Our approach is driven by mindfulness and compassion, ensuring that we address gender issues with sensitivity and empathy.

Looking Ahead

Empowering Adolescents with Knowledge: We aim to provide adolescents in India with comprehensive education on gender, sexuality, and reproductive health, enabling them to challenge and combat gender-based violence effectively.
Supporting Sahasi Girls: The Sahasi Girls program is designed to ensure girls complete their education, access job opportunities and reproductive health services, and gain the empowerment needed to make informed life choices and address gender-based violence.
Expanding Program Reach: Our goal is to implement and adapt the adolescent and Sahasi Girls programs across all schools and villages in India, tailoring them to meet local needs and conditions.

We are registered under –