A Needs Assessment: Stress Management and Burnout Prevention for Case Workers and Human Rights Activists Working on Issues of Gender and Sexuality in India

TARSHI and Nazariya (2019)

This report by Nazariya and TARSHI on stress and burnout focuses on the unique impacts of human rights work faced by individuals and organisations working in human rights activism and advocacy, and how this is impacted by critical identities of gender and sexuality. It draws on desk research and three needs assessment workshops on stress management and burnout prevention, organised collaboratively by TARSHI and Nazariya in 2018 and 2019, across North, North East, and South India. The report finds that, despite similarities in the notion of and experience of “stress” across different communities and contexts, activists are exposed to “unique stressors,” which are experienced differently depending on crucial differences and complexities within socio-cultural and political environments. The report suggests a threefold way forward: (i) activating and expanding such intervention programme spaces using a needs assessment workshop as a model; (ii) developing a curriculum intervention approach to stress management; and (iii) undertaking training of trainers towards sustaining environmental changes that foster psycho-social health and well-being.