32-year-old Jaspreet Kaur, a youth leader with YFC Rurka Kalan from Jalandhar has been awarded the Woman Exemplar Award. National recognition was bestowed on her for her contribution to leveraging sports as a tool for empowering people regarding sexual reproductive health. Jaspreet is the only woman from Punjab to have received the honor.
Jaspreet received the award from the hands of the Union Minister for Women, Child Development and Minority Affairs, Smriti Zubin Irani.
She was selected as one of the finalists for the Woman Exemplar Program in the Health category (Education and Livelihood were the two other categories) for 2023.
Jaspreet is an employee of the Youth Football Club, Rurka Kalan, Jalandhar. She has been using sports to amplify the holistic development of children, youth, and women from poor socio-economic backgrounds.
She began her awareness program with 196 girls and so far 11,000 girls and women have been impacted by the program.
Jaspreet has worked with the Banjara community in Rurka Kalan. Her work now reaches out to places such as Phillaur, Goraya, Beer Bansian, Pasla, Bilga, and Jamsher, among others.
“Women who issued cold stares when talking about their menstrual health years ago, are now leaders mentoring others on the issue without hesitation. Girls and students now don’t hesitate if they want that free pad from a school vending machine,” said Jaspreet, talking about the impact of the program.
“Women and girls are facing numerous issues regarding health in Punjab’s rural areas due to lack of self-awareness, lack of knowledge, gender stereotypes, gender discrimination, and lack of confidence. They were scared to speak up a few years ago. There was no concept of menstrual hygiene and women used cloth. We knew women who used to sleep under the skies because they were not allowed inside homes during ‘those days’. Or those whose family or in-laws belittled their need for menstrual hygiene. In turn, this gave rise to other diseases and infections.”
“Cervical cancer is also common in the region that I work in. So, my job has been to inform and empower women on these,” she further said.
She uses the ‘sport for development’ methodology, to empower women and girls. Using this she raises awareness about gender-based violence, sexual reproductive health rights, cervical cancer, menstrual hygiene, sexually transmitted disease, urinary tract infection, and HIV among others.
