Women voters are turning up in record numbers, outnumbering male voters in 16 states. Yet political parties, with just two exceptions, remain loathe to field them in the elections as contestants. My deep dive for IndiaSpend examines the data: To understand how some political parties seem to have woken up to the need for greater […]
As women voters surge, number of women candidates tells the same, sad story Read More »
I spoke to Sujata Manohar, the Supreme Court judge who wrote the judgment on workplace sexual harassment guidelines two decades ago, on what she thinks of a contemporary movement. New Delhi: Before the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of April 2013, there were the Vishaka guidelines passed by the Supreme Court in August 1997.
“MeToo is a protest movement, doesn’t always lead to change” Read More »
One of three Supreme Court judges to pass the path-breaking Vishaka guidelines on workplace sexual harassment, Justice Sujata Manohar spoke to me about India’s MeToo movement and its larger implications. Before the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of April 2013, there were the Vishaka guidelines passed by the Supreme Court in August 1997.
Justice Sujata Manohar: ‘MeToo is a Protest Movement, Doesn’t Always Lead to Action’ Read More »
An announcement by two political parties, the TMC and BJD to earmark a significant number of seats for the 2019 general election to women has not been an example for other political parties. Despite talk of ‘women’s empowerment’ both the BJP and the Congress continue to be miserly when it comes to fielding women candidates.
Election 2019: Where on earth are the women candidates? Read More »
Men tend to over-estimate their ability and performance, while women tend to downplay both (from a Cornell University study). Men are four times more likely than women to ask for a raise (Linda Babcock, author of Women Don’t Ask). Why do so many really smart, talented women come across as diffident at the workplace? Understanding
Understanding the gender confidence gap Read More »
The world’s longest and largest march by survivors of rape and sexual assault covering 24 states over 10,000 km in India seeks to break the silence and stigma around rape. My Hindustan Times column. Y’s husband beat her senseless when he found out that she had been raped by three men in the fields where she
The long march to justice Read More »
In Hindustan Times, I argue for the need fathers to take a far more meaningful role in bringing up their children by taking paternity leave. It was after his son Viggo was born that Swedish photographer, Johan Bavman, then on parental leave, began looking for information about stay-at-home-dads. He found nothing. What he did find
Bringing up father Read More »
In Hindustan Times, I look at the bleak prospects for women in the forthcoming 2019 general election. Although women are exercising their franchise in larger numbers as voters, their presence in Parliament and the assemblies remains dismal. It is early days but already a troika of powerful women — Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati and, now, Priyanka
No new deal for women this coming election Read More »
In Hindustan Times, I argue for the need to commemorate the memory of more women, whether by building their statues or naming roads or institutions after them. Why? Because it’s crucial to remember who we are as a people and that our legacy includes not just powerful men in public life but also women who,
Whitewashing women out of public memory Read More »
A new book by my friend and college room-mate Sohaila Abdulali explores the idea that victims of sexual violence are not broken beings. Awful as it is, rape is survivable, and those who have been raped are deserving and capable of happiness again. I don’t remember the precise moment when my then college roommate, Sohaila
What we talk about when we talk about rape Read More »
We can’t seem to stop talking about sexual violence from strangers, but cannot seem to start talking about it (or even acknowledge), about the violence many women face from within their own homes. If a picture says a thousand words, then a graphic illustration of 137 figures — the number of women killed every day
Home is the most dangerous place for many women Read More »
What will it take for political parties to increase women’s representation in electoral politics? After all, there is no shortage of talent and women have occupied 33% of all seats in panchayats and local civic bodies. Exactly 101 years after the 19th Amendment granted American women suffrage, a record 116 women, including the first Muslim,
A woman’s place is in the House Read More »