ANWESHI WOMEN'S COUNSELING CENTRE , is a voluntary women's organization based in Kozhikode, one of the major cities of Kerala, the southern Indian state.

It was founded in response to the growing situation of gender related violence in Kerala. Police crime records as well as the medical survey report show the growing incidence of domestic violence and all sorts of other forms of violence against women both in the home and in the public sphere. The Kerala model of development which is celebrated throughout the world because of the high literacy rate and the comparatively better health status of the people etc.-- has now been acknowledged to be a failure due to the stagnant status of the economy.

The process of globalization with the new economic policies and the imposition of the mandates from the World Trade Organization has aggravated the situation. With the economic system completely under the control of the international market and the multinational corporations, the unemployment situation is growing alarmingly. Dowry has been one of the major social evils women in each community had to face, irrespective of their caste, religion or economic status.

In this extremely critical juncture, the consumer culture promoted by the TV networks is giving impetus to the increasing demands for dowry during and after marriage which is reflected in dowry murders and suicides. Amidst all this both the central and the state governments, are putting in all their efforts and resources to promote tourism. Tourism is highlighted as the only solution for Kerala's economic crisis, which means sex tourism and nothing else as has already happened in Thailand, Philippines and other such Southeast Asian countries.

It is in this extremely complex and difficult conditions that a voluntary organization like Anweshi's working.