Why is intervention important for this issue?

The term "internalized oppression" describes how people believe and behave in ways that uphold
the oppressive institutions they are exposed to as a result of accepting and integrating destructive
assumptions and biases about their own identities.
Intervention will bring about more significant societal change by addressing internalized
oppression. As people start to question and confront oppressive beliefs, it can have a ripple effect
on cultural expectations and attitudes.
Internalizing issues like this can have negative effects on mental and emotional well-
being .Therefore, building interventions on this societal issue can help create communities of
women in which they can share and reflect on their experiences in a safe space. It will help build
a more just and inclusive society by opposing harmful cultural practices and encouraging good
representations.

The action plan for the issue of internalized oppression will be based solely upon self-
awareness.
It will establish the framework for recognizing, understanding, and confronting deeply rooted
views and behaviors.
Action Plan:
Self-reflection exercises
It will encourage people to reflect on their experiences, feelings, and ideas on internalized
oppression by implementing frequent activities. Some activities that can be done are as follows.
1. Media Analysis
1. Consider the media influences (movies, TV series, commercials) you may have
internalized to form your opinions about women.
2. List the specific depictions or messages that have influenced how you see yourself.
3. Consider watching media that supports diversified and powerful portrayals of women.

2. Sentence completion Test

A customized sentence completion task may prove to be an effective remedial tool.
The test can include sentence stems that encourage women to reflect on beliefs and
attitude towards themselves. It will help in identifying negative beliefs.
For example:
“ I feel limited because__”
“I am expected to ___”
“If I could, I would____”

3. Mindfulness Exercises
 Mindfulness techniques will help in increasing self-awareness. It will help individuals to
identify triggers by being aware of how they are feeling about certain things and what is
the meaning of those feelings. It will be beneficial in thought observation without any
judgement.
As these issues can evoke strong emotions, deep breathing and focused attention will help
in calming down.

4. Separate group intervention for Rape and Acid-attack victims

- Survivors can internalize societal beliefs that wrongly attribute guilt and shame to
victims of assault. This might trigger feelings of guilt, self-blame, and a distorted
sense of responsibility for the perpetrator's actions. In India, some cultures believe in
past life sins and they may think that they deserved this cruel punishment for the
actions they did in their past lives.
- Acid attack survivors may experience notable physical changes, which can cause
problems with body image. When survivors experience internalised oppression, it can
show up as a poor self-perception in which they feel unattractive or don't meet
society's norms for beauty.
- Victims may internalize negative beliefs of worthiness of love and healthy
relationships. It can have a negative impact on their ability to form and maintain
intimate relationships

5. Group reflective exercise

Members of older and younger generation can come together and have a discussion of
their experiences. This is help bring awareness of how different things are/can be.
Women who are working can bring up their experience of internalizing oppression the
workplace.
Non-working women can bring up their experiences of being home makers.
This will trigger issues to come up and may help in the realization of problematic
behaviors.
Some questions that can be asked to both groups are
1. How are things different now?
2. How did the younger people realize that there was a problem
3. And, if they had witnessed oppressive behavior in the females of the family?

6. Professional help
Seeking guidance from professionals in the field of mental health will help in coping with
issues and navigate the process of complex emotions.
CBT can be effective in addressing negative thought patterns and beliefs associated with
internalized oppression.
 For survivors of acid attacks dealing with changes in physical appearance, specialized
counseling on body image issues can be valuable. Professionals can provide support in
accepting and embracing one's body.

Limitations
1. Individuals may be reluctant to challenge their internalized beliefs due to the comfort
and familiarity associated with these beliefs, making change a challenging process.
2. Intervention efficacy may be hampered by unequal access to resources like
counselling, education, and support systems, especially for individuals who are less
fortunate.
3. Societal resistance to changes in gender norms may jeopardise intervention efforts, as
prevalent cultural attitudes might perpetuate stereotypes.
4. The difficulty in obtaining effective interventions arises from the stigma and shame
attached to internalized oppression, which might discourage women from seeking
support.

Critical Reflection