Social Enterprises is a Right Based Approach to Realize the Socio-Economic Rights of Marginalized Women? A case study conducted about ‘Vägen ut! Kooperativen’ in the City of Goteborg, Sweden

Abstract

The ‘VuK’ is a social cooperative in Sweden using handicraft method to achieve financial sustainability for underprivileged women. It is a self-helped organization implementing social and economic rights for underprivileged women. As Pakistani student I was very interested to know how this organization came into existence, facilitated women to be included, broke the patterns of discrimination and exclusion against women, and what kind of training and preparation they offered to women. The data is based on five interviews with the ‘VuK’ staff, the four interviewees were women and one interviewee was man. I interviewed one man to find out gender based views about women social enterprises. All the interviewees relies that ‘VuK’ is social cooperatives model which does not work for profit but it provide direct service to clients especially to women clients. The paper also relies on the development of ‘women social enterprise’ which replaces high values, demands to underprivileged people in Sweden. The findings show that this self-helped organization was developed as part of a welfare network, created by a private initiative. It established a platform with other local authority to promote further women integration with support from the Swedish government. By creating a strong and closely group ‘VuK’ managed to mobilize the women resources to build up a better life without discrimination and exclusion. The ‘VuK’ has also been trying to develop transnational program e.g. contacts with other cooperatives in similar programs in Italy, Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom. This has given participant’s chance to visits other land and learns new kind social enterprises in different community. In Pakistan this kind of activities has been institutionalized by big banks e.g. Bank Alfalah Limited who is connected to small branches offering working capital and experts giving financial advices along with customer’s packages to a diverse range of business clients. They also provide loans to farmers for the production of crops. After the production at the end of season farmer has responsibility to give back loan in three installments. The aim of this program is to empower farmers and create awareness about Bank products investment program.