Through the 1980s when dowry deaths were routinely passed off as kitchen accidents, Satya Rani Chadha was the face of the anti-dowry movement. To a generation of connected, social media-savvy users, Satya Rani Chadha will not be a familiar name. But this was the name that launched the anti-dowry movement in Delhi and across India. […]
Satya Rani Chadha: The face of India’s anti-dowry movement Read More »
Across India, millions of women and girls either wake up well before dawn or wait until late at night to use the open fields that function as their toilet. New Delhi: Under cover of a hot night in May in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district, two teenage cousins stepped out to do what millions of girls and
Toilets at home will not stop rapes, but can reduce risks Read More »
Compared to the geeky earnestness of her brother, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is a star. Her belated entry will not stop a likely UPA defeat, but you have to credit her with putting up a fight. If the Congress campaign suddenly seems to have shifted to a more combative mode, it has one woman to thank
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is a charismatic enigma Read More »
With a sex ratio of just 877, permitting such marriages in Haryana is less radical shift and more pragmatic solution. Hisar: The winds of change are gently blowing through Haryana, but, ironically, it is the state’s skewed sex ratio rather than social revolution that is making this possible. In a state where men are increasingly finding
Khap inter-caste marriage ruling a sign of compulsion, not reform Read More »
73 farmers in Marathwada have killed themselves after a freak hailstorm ruined their crops, and the number is mounting. Aurangabad: Dattu Narayan Shewale looked at the hailstones that submerged his crop of onion. Wordlessly he returned home and told his wife that their crop had been destroyed. He made a list of all the people he
Death and despair in hailstorm-hit Marathwada Read More »
With very few exceptions, politics no longer attracts the brightest and the cleanest. In an environment where we assume sab neta chor hain we opt for the least unattractive. The names have begun trickling in and speculation is rife. The BJP has announced that former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, forced to step down after
Nota just a symbolic act Read More »
To not be raped. To not be subject to dowry. The right to be acknowledged as their children’s natural guardian. Meet four women who forced the law to recognize these basic rights. A protest march can sometimes tell us just how far, or how little, we have travelled. In 1972 a girl called Mathura was
Women’s groups argue for a more humane approach to survivors that focuses on holistic treatment. New Delhi: News reports of a ban on the so-called two-finger test and the issuance of national guidelines on dealing with sexual assault cases by the ministry of health are wrong and misleading, say women’s groups. The file on this has
Medical examination norms for sexual assault cases await nod Read More »
Men say they are scared by this new environment. Far too many women have lived in fear of the old environment. It’s time to pack the dinosaurs off to the museum. I hear a great lament these days. Aggressive women are killing romance in the workplace with their flurry of complaints (young corporate executive) Come
Time to say ‘enough’ to sexual harassment Read More »
Political parties are slowly realising that women constitute the largest vote-bank and they need to at least look concerned. But, dressed-up manifestos and sops like saris and pressure cookers won’t cut it any longer. I am a woman. When I vote, I do not cast my ballot because my husband tells me to vote for
I will vote as a woman Read More »
In just a month’s time, it will be one year to the brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi. The incidence that shook the collective conscience of the nation has inspired a documentary film, which was screened recently in the Capital. In just a month’s time, it will be one year to the brutal
Documenting the politics of rape Read More »
Sexual harassment is an abuse of power, a betrayal of trust and one of India’s worst-kept secrets. But one thing has changed, and it is the refusal of an increasing number of women to remain silent. You could say it’s just another week in the life of working women in India. A retired Supreme Court
A new courage, a new defiance: changing the status quo Read More »