Single Women's Action Network
The Single Women’s Action Network—SWAN—is a collective of single women of all ages, communities, and marital status in Tamil Nadu, India.
Herstory
Inception
SWAN grew out of a critical need during the pandemic relief of 2020 when the systemic, largescale, banal exclusion of single women surfaced as a barrier to relief and survival.
The precarity of single women had been recognised in development circles at least a couple of decades earlier, with several CSOs paying particular attention to their needs. Many had organised single women into kindred groups for peer support.
There were local initiatives earlier specifically for widows and for elder women at the sub-district level in several places by several CSOs and social movements, including by HRF.
In the post-pandemic review of the relief and civil society response, the need for a state level intervention was keenly felt.
Initiation
In 2021, several rounds of consultations were held to flesh out the ideas and focus areas. These were both online and convenings onsite in most of the 38 district headquarters of Tamil Nadu. The HRF team toured Tamil Nadu twice, meeting with civil society leaders, single women’s champions, and human rights defenders in district headquarters, small towns, and in remote villages. They unanimously endorsed the idea of a state level network for single women, and requested HRF to be the secretariat and the anchor organisation.
Subsequently, a state level consultation to consolidate the findings were held at Chennai on 4 November 2022. It was attended by 121 participants from 32 of 38 districts of Tamil Nadu.
SWAN I: First steps
On 8 March 2023, the first convention SWAN I was conducted in Chennai. It was attended by 414 participants (358 women, 56 men) of whom 289 were single women. There were 125 participants from CSOs – 125 (69 women, 56 men). There were participants from 32 of 38 districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The Single Women’s Manifesto – which was prepared after elaborate online and onsite consultations over a year – was released in Tamil and English.
SWAN II: Quiet confidence
From December 2024 to mid-February 2025, there were a series of district and regional level consultations in which 194 CSOs participated. There was a groundswell of opinion that there should be a larger state level meeting for the single women to voice their concerns.
On 22 March 2025, SWAN II was convened at Lady Doak College, Madurai. It was attended by 2,357 participants from all 38 districts of Tamil Nadu and both Puducherry and Karaikal districts of Puducherry. Of them, 2,215 were women and 142 were men. The mobilisation was done by almost 200 CSOs, of whom 140 CSOs attended.
The highlight of the meeting was the testimony of 11 single women sharing their challenges and their vision of the way forward. These were released as a charter of demands in Tamil and English.
Another highlight was the decision that only men would be onstage – a decision adhered to despite costs in participation and support. This quiet confidence marks a defining moment in the evolution of SWAN.
Rooting the vision: 31 Launches
The momentum carried forward to a strategic planning meeting from 12-13 April 2025 in which 46 participants (20 women and 26 men) from 21 districts attended. Based on this plan, 115 persons from 76 CSOs were trained as community resource persons in July – August 2025.
This paved the way for SWAN to be formally launched in 30 districts of Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Puducherry in September – October 2025. These multi-stakeholder platforms were launched with the participation of 2,162 women and 86 men (total 2,248) and 122 civil society organisations. Age-wise the spread was from minors to seniors. Occupationally the women ranged from farmers, tailors, salt pan workers, to sex workers and fishers. Several of the special invitees – police inspectors, lawyers, bankers, teachers – were themselves single women and from single women headed families.
In virtually all places there was representation from the government: the social welfare officer, the protection officer, one stop centre (OSC), legal services authority, police, both public and private sector banks and the National Bank for Rural Development (NABARD), the Fishers Welfare Board and the Single and Destitute Women’s Welfare Board.
In most places, the template was only women on the dias, women as chief-guest, single women lighting the lamp at the inaugural. In some districts men had to be on-stage as well, since the officials – the public prosecutor, welfare officer, and NABARD district representative – were men. In several instances the lone male onstage remarked on their unique situation, accustomed as there were to absent or, at most, token women’s presence onstage. The women, both onstage and off, were overjoyed that they had an exclusive (or almost exclusive) public stage of their own for the first time.
Women Lead in Solidarity
With almost 200 CSOs supporting the mobilisation and organising, the civil society capacity is a critical component of success until SWAN membership and outreach attain critical mass. Coordination, capacity building, and peer support of these CSOs, with priority to women-led CSOs, was identified as a task so that they, in turn, can better contribute to strengthening the SWAN process.
The first convening of the Women Lead in Solidarity (WLS) was on 24, 25 November 2025 where 31 women heads of CSOs supporting SWAN in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry attended.
To prioritise, design, and coordinate programmes for the year a follow up meeting was held in Tiruchirapalli on 24 January 2026 at the annual state level CSO solidarity meeting.
This network of women leaders is expected to be the engine driving the initial outreach, growth, and action of SWAN.
We count
In serving the community, SWAN is committed to best practices and international standards.
Passion and commitment needs a supporting scaffolding of data and evidence. Specific action is always on the basis of verifiable data and the results are tracked meticulously at all stages.
The approach is to secure legal documentation, access existing entitlements, strengthen income streams, and promote sustainable livelihoods while simultaneously engaging with opinion leaders and decision makers for customised interventions.
To identify the extent and specific needs, an ongoing survey is being conducted (see the dashboard for current status), analysed for needs and patterns in geographical spread, age specifics, and other local determinants to craft custom solutions.
SWAN III: Ripples
SWAN III will be conducted at the district level with the communities and the supporting CSOs and solidarity individuals and organizations on 8 March 2026 and in Chennai on 14 March 2026, where the WLS network will draw out strategies for SWAN outreach, memberships, and action. An analysis of the recorded crime against women and girls in India 2023 (the latest year for which the National Crime Records Bureau, NCRB, has disclosed data) will be released, as also a list of demands for the upcoming state assembly elections.
A national conversation of single fisherwomen will be held from 10 to 12 July 2026 in Chennai.