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It is our convenient, shifting attitudes to rape, our unrelenting focus on the victim, not the crime, that makes us all complicit. That an elected head of a state is part of this mob makes it tragic Victim blaming is not new. Survivors continue to be asked what they were wearing, why they were out, […]

For women who continue to fight for the equal agency, there is something primitive about this modern version of throwing down the gauntlet The time has come to say to men: We will fight our own battles. If you’re an ally, support us. If you’re not, get out of the way. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO) As

If a mere headscarf can disrupt public order, then who is responsible: The student who wears it or the law enforcement agencies responsible for maintaining the peace? A hijab-wearing student walks past a worker painting a wall to conceal a pro-hijab slogan, Hospet, March 16, 2022 (PTI) Two days before the Karnataka high court (HC)

A boy is dead apparently because he did not fit social ideas of what is “normal”. His mother is fighting for justice. No parent should have to ever go through this again. The unpalatable truth is that bullying remains the most common form of violence across schools. (airborne) In the note he wrote before he jumped

If you want to save Muslim women, then educate them. It really is that simple. Instead, school administrations, headed by politicians, deny girls education because of a piece of cloth on their heads Burqa-clad female Muslim students arrive to attend a class at ATNC College, Shivamogga, February. 17, 2022 (PTI) After her husband’s death, my

This tribalist culture is reflected in ways in which the mob metes out what it sees as justice. It has the sanction of the crowd, whether it’s dealing with a pickpocket, suspected ‘beef eaters’ or ‘honor’ killings Rule of law, says psychologist Rajat Mitra, remains an alien concept over seven decades after we adopted our

While we’ve been chipping away at the traditional silence around menstruation, its progression to menopause is still deemed too awful to talk about A recent survey in the United Kingdom (UK) finds that one in 10 women has quit a job due to menopausal symptoms. The Indian Menopause Society estimates that 150 million women in

G Gopakumar’s acquittal of Franco Mulakkal, a bishop of the Jalandhar diocese, is the latest in misogynist rape judgments and tells you why sexual assault survivors remain reluctant to speak up. In two words: Rape trials The acquittal of Tarun Tejpal in May 2021 falls into this pattern and is rife with graphic details about

The online ‘auction’ of Muslim women exists in an ecosystem of hate. But the sexualized attack on Muslim women is not new. Over the past year, there have been at least three “auctions” — May 2020, Eid in July, and November on Clubhouse It reflects the divisiveness sown by media that makes free use of

A year of loss and devastation still managed to have its undeniable hurrahs. More women judges in the higher judiciary, and the Delhi High Court, set to welcome its first openly gay judge, were a win for wider representation In the end, it wasn’t institutions so much as women themselves who raised the greater cheers.

Hello and welcome to Mind the Gap, a newsletter that adds perspective to the gender developments of the week. Bringing the minimum age requirement for women at par with men falls in line with Constitutional guarantees of equality for all citizens (Shutterstock) THE BIG STORY The government is planning to introduce a bill to increase